This week, the House Appropriations Committee began work on the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill, which provides annual funding for U.S. EPA and its core clean water programs.

On Monday, the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee voted to advance the bill to the full Appropriations Committee who will take up the measure today, at which point the bill is expected to pass on a Democratic party-line vote.

Overall, the bill provides a total of $11.34 billion for EPA, an increase of $2.1 billion above the current FY 2021 enacted level, with modest increases for clean water programs, including:

• $3.2 billion for Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds

• $1.6 billion for the CWSRF, roughly same as current FY21 enacted level
• $1.1 billion for the DWSRF
• $428.6 million Community Project Funding

• $60 million for Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Control Grants, up $20 million from FY21 enacted level.
• $5 million for the Water Workforce Infrastructure grants program, up $2 million from FY21 enacted level.
• $80 million for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program, including $5 million for the more recently created State infrastructure financing authority WIFIA (SWIFIA) program and $8 million for administrative expenses, a $15 million total increase over the FY21 enacted level.
• Language supporting further funding for EPA’s ongoing activities related to integrated planning (IP) and EPA’s Office of Municipal Ombudsman.

The bill also includes increased funding for EPA’s Geographic Programs, including the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), Chesapeake Bay, and Long Island Sound, as well as funding for the Agency’s ongoing regulatory work on PFAS.

The bill report language outlines many of the committee’s directives for the spending provided in the bill text.

The full House is expected to bring appropriations bills in the form of minibus packages to the floor for a vote in July. Timing of work on appropriations in the Senate is still unclear, including whether they will include Community Project Funding requests. At this point the expectation in Congress is that a continuing resolution (CR) will be needed to temporarily fund the federal government at current levels to start the fiscal year on October 1^st through some time into the Fall.

In the meantime, NACWA will continue working with appropriators and key members of Congress to ensure any final FY22 appropriations package includes strong federal funding for clean water and NACWA’s priorities, and we encourage all members to do the same.

Please contact Jason Isakovic or Kristina Surfus  on NACWA’s legislative team to discuss further.