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September 24-30, 2022
In this week's issue:
- Congress Adopts Continuing Resolution to Provide Ongoing Federal Funding and Avoid Shutdown; Removes Manchin-Sponsored Permitting Reforms (September 30, 2022)
- EPA Increases Funding for 2022 Clean School Bus Rebate Program from $500 Million to $965 Million (September 29, 2022)
- EPA Establishes Panel to Review Methods of Forecasting Ozone- and PM-Related Deaths and Illnesses to Result from Proposed CAA Rules (September 21, 2022)
- (4) EPA Launches New Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (September 24, 2022)
This Week in Review
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Congress has adopted H.R. 6833, which is a bill to provide continued funding for the federal government from October 1, 2022 (the start of FY 2023) until December 16, 2022. The House approved the bill 230-201, with ten Republicans joining all Democrats in approving it, and the Senate voted 72-25 on a bipartisan basis for the measure. President Biden is expected to sign it shortly. The measure, commonly known as a Continuing Resolution (CR), is necessary to avoid a government shutdown, since Congress did not adopt appropriations legislation to fund the federal government for the entire fiscal year by the end of FY 2022 on September 30, 2022. Congress must adopt funding legislation or another CR by December 16, 2022 to avoid a shutdown at that time. The CR provides ongoing funding at FY 2022 levels in most cases, although it contains additional funding for several efforts, including low-income energy projects, emergency assistance for Ukraine, wildfire recovery in New Mexico and disaster relief in various locations. The House of Representatives adopted appropriations bills for portions of the federal budget in July, including EPA, calling for $322.2 million for state and local air grants under Sections 103 and 105 of the Clean Air Act, as well as $100 million in Targeted Airshed Grants. The Senate has not yet taken similar action. However, while the Senate has not voted on FY 2023 appropriations, the Senate Appropriations Committee did release funding recommendations in July, calling for $265 million in Section 103 and 105 air grants, $61.9 million for Targeted Airshed Grants and $10 million in additional Section 103 grants for wildfire smoke preparedness grants. On September 27, 2022, the comprehensive permitting reform language proposed by Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) was removed from the CR at his request, a concession to threats by Republicans and many Democrats to block the legislation if the permitting reform provisions were included (see related article in the September 17-23 Washington Update). Senator Manchin vowed to continue his efforts to pass permitting reform legislation in the future, stating, “I stand ready to work with my colleagues to move forward on this critical legislation to meet the challenges of delivering affordable reliable energy Americans desperately need.”
For further information:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6833/text and https://www.congress.gov/117/crec/2022/09/27/168/156/CREC-2022-09-27-pt1-PgS5094-4.pdf and https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/H6833AM08.PDF
and
EPA announced that it will almost double the funding to be awarded this year for clean school bus rebates, a move, the agency says, was prompted by increased demand, with EPA receiving applications for 2022 Clean School Bus Rebates from school districts in every state in the nation as well as Washington, DC; Puerto Rico; the U.S. Virgin Islands; Guam; American Samoa; and federally recognized Tribes. When EPA announced the 2022 rebate program in the spring it made $500 million dollars available. Based on the response this year the agency will award $965 million. The application period for rebates under the 2022 program closed August 19, 2022 and EPA is now reviewing the applications it received; the agency expects to notify applicants of their selection status in October. In a press statement announcing the increased funding, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan is quoted as saying, “Thanks to the leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration and the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re working across all 50 states to accelerate the transition to a future where clean, zero-emissions school buses are the American standard. America’s school districts delivered this message loud and clear – we must replace older, dirty diesel school buses. Together, we can reduce climate pollution, improve air quality, and reduce the risk of health impacts like asthma for as many as 25 million children who ride the bus every day.”
For further information:
EPA announced the establishment of the BenMAP and Benefits Methods Panel of the agency’s Science Advisory Board to review the BenMAP tool as well as EPA’s technical support document, titled Estimated PM2.5-and-Ozone-Attributable Health Benefits. BenMAP – Environmental Benefits and Mapping Tool – is EPA’s new cloud-based, open-source computer program that estimates deaths and illnesses related to particulate matter and ozone air pollution, and the associated economic values, , In particular, the 20-person BenMAP and Benefits Methods Panel will assess EPA’s approach for selecting and applying evidence used to quantify and monetize the air pollution-related impacts of rules proposed under the Clean Air Act and how BenMAP performs these calculations.
For further information:
EPA announced the establishment of a new Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR), a national program office created by the merger of three existing agency programs: the Office of Environmental Justice, the External Civil Rights Compliance Office and the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Center. The new office will coordinate and elevate EPA’s efforts to advance environmental justice, enforce civil rights laws in overburdened communities and administer grants and technical assistance. Its duties will include overseeing the implementation and distribution of a $3 billion climate and environmental justice block grant created by the Inflation Reduction Act. OEJECR will be staffed by more than 200 people at EPA headquarters and across the agency’s ten regional offices. It will be led by a Senate-confirmed Assistant Administrator and will operate at the same level as other national program offices, such as the Office of Air and Radiation and Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. Until the Assistant Administrator vacancy is filled, Marianne Engelman-Lado will lead the office as Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator. Engelman-Lado joined EPA in 2021 as deputy general counsel for environmental initiatives in the Office of General Counsel.
For further information: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-launches-new-national-office-dedicated-advancing-environmental-justice-and-civil and https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/about-office-environmental-justice-and-external-civil-rights