Do you know what programs EPA's budget really funds?  

Do you know how EPA staff really spend their time?

There’s been a lot of  "big picture" discussion around the Trump Administration's proposal to drastically cut EPA's budget.   But there is  less discussion around what those EPA budget dollars would “buy” - the programs and on-the-ground activities that the Trump Administration's budget would slash, ignore or outright eliminate. 

Did you know that the Trump Administration has proposed to:

Eliminate EPA's work on lead contamination in homes and schools?

Eliminate EPA funding for emission improvements on old diesel school buses?

Eliminate EPA funding for community groups working to restore local rivers and estuaries?

Slash funding and eliminate studies for programs that protect groundwater drinking water supplies?

Eliminate EPA's asthma programs (while simultaneously rolling back  air quality standards for pollutants that  trigger asthma)?

Reduce funding  the Children's Health Protection Program by 70%?

Cut funding for EPA, state and local communities to respond to environmental emergencies (like oil spills,  chemical accidents and hurricanes)?

The dollars in EPA’s proposed budget  are going to change as Congress works through the appropriations process. 

But the Trump Administration's anti-public health and anti-environmental agenda will not. 

Each year,  when EPA's proposes its budget, the agency includes a "Performance Plan," detailing  exactly how those budget dollars would be spent. Compare priorities between between the 2017 fiscal year and the Trump proposal for fiscal year 2018, and you see a radically different agenda.

EPA’s priorities are shifting away from helping communities, and towards helping select industry sectors (notably oil & gas, chemical manufacturing, and mining) avoid pollution controls and safety protections.

This Administration will boast about investing in “infrastructure,” while slashing funds for capital investment and eliminating EPA programs that support well-managed and resilient utility systems - including drinking water and wastewater treatment.

We’ll hear a lot about “cooperative federalism,” while - behind the scenes - Scott Pruitt will be dismantling the federal framework that enables States to protect public health and the environment.

Our colleagues at the Environmental Protection Network are
tracking EPA's budget as it moves through the House and Senate.

EDF has fact sheets on impacts to public health from proposed EPA budget cuts

by State.

We've also taken a look at how proposed budget cuts and regulatory rollbacks will
impact our home state of Colorado.

Colorado State flag

These snapshots are drawn from a detailed look at EPA's proposed budget and workplan, pre-and post-Trump/Pruitt.   (For geeky details, click here.)

You can view download the full analysis as an Excel table here and view and/or download a pdf below. 
The analysis is organized into the five categories reflected in
EPA's 2014-2018 Strategic Plan, plus a page summarizing of EPAs long-standing mission statement and priorities.

Climate, Air & Radiation

Summary

Program Details

Chemicals & Pollution Prevention

Summary

Program Details

Compliance, Enforcement & NEPA

Summary

Program Details

Communities, Land & Development
(includes Cleanups)

Summary

Program Details

EPA's Mission & Priorities

2017 vs. 2018 Summary

This analysis is presented as a table. Download the full analysis as an Excel table here.

In the left hand column, you'll find information describing the public health and environmental protection work that EPA's budget pays for. You'll also see details about how that work is carried out, and some of EPA's accomplishments over the last few years. 

In the right hand column, you'll see proposed Trump Administration changes -  the work that this Administration wants to de-fund, reprioritize or outright eliminate.

Note: The Trump Administration continues to remove pages from EPA's website, so not all of the links included in this analysis may work. 

A snapshot of the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2017 (EPA "Mirror Site") can be accessed at https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/

Some links and historical information may also be found by searching EPA's web archive at https://archive.epa.gov/

A viewable/downloadable version of the full analysis is below in pdf format.
Bookmarks built into the pdf serve as a table of contents.

EPA budget priority comparison table (2017-2018) 9.011.17

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Save EPA has been an all-volunteer group of former EPA officials who became alarmed about the Trump agenda for EPA and joined together to fight it.

With newly-elected President-Elect Biden and VP-Elect Harris coming in January, the need to "save EPA" is much less urgent. This is not to imply all clear skies ahead - there is much re-building to do, there will be negative pressures on the new administration, and we will likely have policy differences in the future. However, we are hopeful that these differences will be discussed rationally, using science as a basis for moving forward, and keeping EPA's mission of protecting human health and the environment in the forefront.

And so, we are going back to retirement!  We're keeping our website up at http://saveepaalums.info/ , as a resource for those who want to follow and influence the restoration work. Our report on the Trump record at EPA describes the actions that need to be reversed [saveepaalums.info/Trump+era+report], and our guide to participating in the rulemaking process [http://saveepaalums.info/Resistance+Guide] can help you be part of the solution.

Thank you for your support and commitment during the past 3.5 years.  While the Trump assaults were unending, they were also frequently unsuccessful, and that was due in large part to public outrage.  Keep it up!  Although EPA will be in much better hands with a Biden administration, there is always a need for an informed and engaged public.

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