Statement by EPA Administrator Regan on the President’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget

The President’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget requests $11.881 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s essential work to protect people from pollution.

WASHINGTON (March 28, 2022) –The Biden-Harris Administration today submitted to Congress the President’s Budget for fiscal year 2023. The President’s Budget details his vision to expand on the historic progress our country has made over the last year and deliver the agenda he laid out in his State of the Union address—to build a better America, reduce the deficit, reduce costs for families, and grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out.

The Budget makes historic investments to advance key priorities in the FY 2022-2026 EPA Strategic Plan, including tackling the climate crisis, advancing environmental justice, protecting air quality, upgrading the Nation’s aging water infrastructure, and rebuilding core functions at the Agency.

“The President’s budget request for EPA reflects this Administration’s unwavering commitment to protect people from pollution, especially those living in overburdened and underserved communities across America. It funds a broad suite of transformational programs enacted by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and it will enable us to implement the President’s historic Justice40 commitment, among other key priorities,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Almost half of the Budget announced today, $5.7 billion, will support Tribes, states, and localities, reaffirming EPA’s commitment to work in concert with our partners and local communities to tackle the climate crisis and ensure that no American family has to worry about the air they breathe, the water they drink, or the environmental safety of their homes and workplaces.”

The Budget makes critical investments in the American people that will help lay a stronger foundation for shared growth and prosperity for generations to come. At the EPA, the Budget invests in:

• Upgrading Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Nationwide. The Budget provides approximately $4 billion to advance efforts to upgrade drinking water and wastewater infrastructure nationwide, with a focus on underserved communities. The Budget funds 20 new targeted water grant programs authorized in the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (DWWIA). In total, more than $940 million in new resources are provided to implement DWWIA in FY 2023. The Budget also supports water infrastructure with an increase of $160 million in grants to reduce lead in drinking water and an increase of $240 million for the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse grant program. The Budget proposes a new $25 million water sector cybersecurity grant program. The Budget also maintains funding for the State Revolving Funds, which will complement the $23.4 billion provided for the traditional SRF programs over five years in the recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
• Ensuring Clean and Healthy Air for All Communities. The Budget allocates $1.1 billion to improve air quality and reduce localized pollution, reduce exposure to radiation, and improve indoor air for communities across the country. This includes $152 million to support the development and implementation of national emission standards to reduce air pollution from vehicles, engines and fuels. The Budget also supports $299 million to assist air pollution control agencies in the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and to establish standards for reducing air toxics.
• Tackling the Climate Crisis. The Budget prioritizes funding for tackling the climate crisis and invests an additional $100 million in grants to Tribes and states that will support on-the-ground efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase resiliency in the Nation’s infrastructure. The Budget proposes an additional $35 million to implement the American Innovation in Manufacturing Act to continue phasing out potent greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons and invests an additional $13 million in wildfire prevention and readiness.
• Advancing Environmental Justice. The Administration is committed to increasing efforts to deliver environmental justice in communities across the Nation. The Budget supports the President’s Justice40 commitment to ensure at least 40 percent of the benefits of federal investments in climate and clean energy reach historically overburdened and underserved communities. The Budget invests more than $1.45 billion across the Agency’s programs that will help create good-paying jobs, clean up pollution, advance racial equity, and secure environmental justice for all communities. To elevate environmental justice as a top Agency priority, EPA has proposed a new national environmental justice program office, to coordinate and maximize the benefits of the Agency’s programs and activities for underserved communities.
• Protecting Communities from Hazardous Waste and Environmental Damage. Preventing and cleaning up environmental damage that harms communities and poses a risk to public health and safety continues to be a top priority for the Administration. The Budget provides $1.15 billion for EPA’s Superfund programs to continue cleaning up some of the Nation’s most contaminated land and respond to environmental emergencies. The Budget also includes $215 million for EPA’s Brownfields programs to provide technical assistance and grants to communities, including overburdened and underserved communities, so they can safely clean up and reuse once contaminated properties. The Budget supports additional Community Development Specialists to manage land revitalization projects and works with Tribal, rural, and overburdened and underserved communities to address brownfields.
• Strengthening Our Commitment and Ability to Successfully Implement Toxic Substances and Control Act (TSCA). The Budget provides $124 million and 449 FTE for TSCA efforts to deliver on the promises made to the American people by the bipartisan Lautenberg Act. These resources will support EPA-initiated chemical risk evaluations and protective regulations in accordance with statutory timelines.
• Tackling Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Pollution. PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals that threaten the health and safety of communities across the Nation. As part of the President’s commitment to tackling PFAS pollution, the Budget provides approximately $126 million in FY 2023 for EPA to increase its understanding of human health and ecological effects of PFAS, restrict uses to prevent PFAS from entering the air, land, and water, and remediate PFAS that have been released into the environment. EPA will continue to act on the Agency’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap to safeguard communities from PFAS contamination.
• Enforcing and Assuring Compliance with the Nation’s Environmental Laws. The Budget provides $213 million for civil enforcement efforts, which includes increasing enforcement efforts in communities with high pollution exposure and to prevent the illegal importations and use of hydrofluorocarbons in the U. S. The Budget also includes $7 million to operate a coal combustion residuals compliance program, $148 million for compliance monitoring efforts, and $69 million for criminal enforcement efforts, including the development of a specialized criminal enforcement task force to address environmental justice issues in partnership with the Department of Justice.
• Restoring Critical Capacity to Carry Out EPA’s Core Mission. The Budget includes more than 1,900 new Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) relative to current levels, for a total of more than 16,200 FTEs, to help rebuild the Agency’s capacity. Restoring staffing capacity across the Agency will facilitate and expedite EPA’s work to reduce air, water, and climate pollution and advance environmental justice. The Budget continues to strengthen the Agency’s ability to recruit, hire, develop, promote, and retain top talent and remove barriers to equal opportunity at the management and staff levels in order to strengthen and advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

The Budget makes these smart investments while also reducing deficits and improving our country’s long-term fiscal outlook.