EPA's $7.2 Billion FY 2008 Budget

Feb 5: U.S. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson released the Agency's $7.2 billion fiscal year 2008 budget including 17,324 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff. Overall the funding proposal is down by approximately $116 million from fiscal year 2007. EPA said the new budget emphasizes using more citizen-partners as the Agency shifts into the next phase of environmental progress -- what it called "the green culture." Johnson said, "As our nation shifts to a green culture, Americans are realizing that environmental responsibility is everyone's responsibility. Today, EPA has 300 million citizen-partners in our efforts to accelerate the pace of environmental protection. President Bush's budget request will fund EPA's role as our country enters this next phase of environmental progress."

The proposed 2008 spending plan includes $549.5 million for enforcement operations, the largest amount ever dedicated to that Agency responsibility. It is a $9.1 million increase over the fiscal year 2007 amount. This budget also features a major effort to restore, improve and protect four of the nation's most important water assets -- Chesapeake Bay ($28.8 million); Puget Sound ($1 million); Gulf of Mexico ($4.5 million); and the Great Lakes ($56.8 million).

The budget also requests an additional $687.5 million for clean water grants and $842.2 million for drinking water grants. The budget also includes: $117.9 million for EPA's climate change programs; $44 million for Energy Star programs; $5 million for the Asia Pacific Partnership; and $4.4 million for Methane to Markets to promote methane recovery and use at landfills, coal mines and natural gas facilities; $35 million for National Clean Diesel Campaign grants; $123.8 million for Clean Air and related research; and $10.2 million for Nanotechnology Research.

The budget requests a total of $1,245 million for Superfund and $162.2 million for the Brownfields program. Of the total funding requested for Superfund, $617 million and 1,080 workyears are for Superfund cleanups, including Federal facilities. In FY 2008, EPA and its partners anticipate completing 30 Superfund cleanups at NPL sites to achieve the overall goal of 1,060 total construction completions by the end of FY 2008. $72 million is requested for the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) program.

Access a release (click here). Access the detailed 61-page budget overview (click here). Access overall EPA budget information and previous year's reports (click here). Access the overall Federal government FY 2008 proposed budget information including details for various agencies and departments (click here). [*All]