Non-nuclear Energy Research and Development Act (1974) 42 U.S.C. 5910 CEQ shall carry out a continuing analysis of the effects of application of non-nuclear energy technologies and shall make appropriate reports to the President, the Administration and Congress. Functions transferred to EPA by President Carter's Reorganization Plan No. 2 (July, 1977); See Executive Order 12040, 43 Fed. Reg. 8097 (February 24, 1978). Energy Reorganization Act (1974) 42 U.S.C. 5847 A report of the results of the nuclear energy center site survey shall be published and transmitted to CEQ not later then one year after October 11, 1974. Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Act (1976) 15 U.S.C. 7198 CEQ shall provide the opportunity for public review and comment of EISS submitted by Federal Power Commission under $719c. No later than July 1, 1977, CEQ had to submit its own comments on the EISS. 15 U.S.C. 719f CEQ shall provide the opportunity for public review and comment of EISS submitted by the President regarding any system designated for, approval which is different from those reported under $719c. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (1977) CEQ, in consultation with other agencies, shall Clean Air Act Amendments (1977) 42 U.S.C. 7546 The Chairman of CEQ or his designee shall be a 42 U.S.C. 7547 CEQ must be consulted by the Administrator of EPA SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS Senator GARN. The subcommittee will stand in recess until April 22 at 9:30, when we will receive testimony from the Environmental Protection Agency. [Whereupon, at 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 8, the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene at 9:30 a.m. April 22.] DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT-INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1982 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 1981 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 9:30 a.m. in room 1318, Everett McKinley Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Jake Garn (chairman) presiding. Present: Senator Garn. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY STATEMENT OF WALTER C. BARBER, JR., ACTING ADMINISTRATOR ACCOMPANIED BY: ROY N. GAMSE, ACTING ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT EDWARD F. TUERK, ACTING ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR AIR, NOISE AND RADIATION RICHARD M. DOWD, ACTING ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT JAMES N. SMITH, ACTING ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR WATER AND WASTE MANAGEMENT EDWIN H. CLARK, ACTING ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR PESTICIDES AND TOXIC SUBSTANCES RICHARD D. WILSON, ACTING ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR ENFORCEMENT C. WILLIAM CARTER, DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR RESOURCES MANAGEMENT C. MORGAN KINGHORN, COMPTROLLER, OFFICE OF THE COMP. TROLLER CHAIRMAN'S OPENING STATEMENT Senator GARN. The subcommittee will come to order. I am happy to welcome all of you gentlemen with us today. The responsibilities vested with EPA are very sobering-air pollution, water pollution, hazardous wastes, solid wastes, radiation, pesticides, ocean dumping. A listing of the magnitude of the problem is equally staggering. There are an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 chemical dump sites of which 1,200 to 2,000 may present potentially significant problems. About 3,500 chemical spill incidents are expected in 1981 which have the potential of releasing significant quantities of hazardous substances. Around 500 metric tons of municipal and industrial wastes are generated each year in the United States, with an estimated 41 million metric tons classified as hazardous. Up to 1,000 new chemicals are added annually to the 55,000 already in commerce by approximately 115,000 manufacturers and processors. EPA has over 11,000 active waste water projects and an estimated $90 billion in requirements to be funded under current law. For fiscal year 1982, your budget proposal totals $1,391,447,000 and 10,387 permanent work-years. This includes $1,191,447,000 for the Agency's operating programs and $200 million and 503 permanent work-years to implement the newly enacted hazardous substance response trust fund, the so-called superfund. No new budget authority is requested for the municipal waste water treatment facility construction program, although the administration has indicated that it will request $2.4 billion for this program in fiscal year 1982 if certain changes are made to the authorizing legislation. I see Mr. Barber that you have an eight-page statement and a shorter summary statement. If you would like to proceed with the summary statement, we will include the longer version in the hearing record. Mr. BARBER. Thank you, sir. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, I am Walter C. Barber, Jr., Acting Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Accompanying me here today are the Agency's six Acting Assistant Administrators and Mr. C. William Carter, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Resources Management. INTRODUCTION OF ASSOCIATES I will take a moment and introduce our Assistant Administrators. Mr. Tuerk, Acting Assistant Administrator for Air, Noise, and Radiation; Mr. Smith, Acting Assistant Administrator for Water and Waste Management; Mr. Clark, Acting Assistant Administrator for Pesticides and Toxic Substances. To my right is Mr. Carter, to my left is Mr. Gamse, Acting Assistant Administrator for Planning and Management; to his left Mr. Wilson, Acting Assistant Administrator for Enforcement; and to my far left is Dr. Dowd, Acting Assistant Administrator for Research and Development. We are here today to discuss the Environmental Protection Agency's budget request for fiscal year 1982. The President is requesting 10,387 work-years and $1.4 billion for EPA's budget in 1982. This includes 9,884 work-years and $1.2 billion for our operating programs and 503 work-years and $200 million to implement superfund. When comparing EPA's 1981 operating and superfund budgets with our request for 1982, we have a reduction of approximately 2 percent in spending and about 2 percent in the amount of work-years available. Before we begin to review each program in detail, I would like to comment on three major elements of our 1982 budget. SUPERFUND The superfund program is the most important new element of the 1982 budget. Superfund responds to a major environmental challenge. The funds requested by the President provide resources to deal with the control of hazardous substance spills and the containment and mitigation of releases from hazardous waste disposal sites. The improper and illegal disposal of hazardous waste remains one of the Nation's most serious environmental threats. The new legislation permits the establishment of a comprehensive and uniform system of notification, emergency response, enforcement, and liability. The President's request reflects a State/Federal strategy that includes: Reliance on the States as a primary mechanism in meeting the challenge of hazardous waste releases; maximum use of Federal and State enforcement tools to bring effective pressure to promote cleanup by a responsible party; focus of Federal resources-personnel and dollars on those actions most critical to public health where responsible parties cannot be identified or refuse to act; and emphasis on recovery of funds so more sites can be cleaned up in the long run. The superfund program is financed over a period of 5 years through a combination of taxes levied against chemical manufacturers and Federal appropriations. President Reagan's 1982 budget requests 503 workyears and $200 million to support the program in its first full year of operation. We are also requesting a 1981 supplemental of $68 million for development of the program and initial implementation activities. We have modified that request slightly to include the $35 million requested as an emergency supplemental for purposes of dealing with hazardous waste spills. CONSTRUCTION OF MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS Another major element in this budget is the redirection and scaling down of our funding for the construction of municipal wastewater treatment plants. The administration has recently proposed legislation that targets funding to those projects which would most significantly improve the environment. In this period of austerity, we cannot afford to finance projects that provide only marginal environmental improvement. We must develop a system that gives us the most cleanup for the limited dollars we have available. Presently, we are requesting no new 1982 budget authority for construction grants, and with this budget we are proposing to rescind $1.7 billion in budget authority from 1981 and prior years. We do plan to request $2.4 billion once our proposed legislative changes are enacted by the Congress. OPERATING PROGRAM PRIORITIES Finally, we have taken a hard look at the priorities of our operating programs. We have had to eliminate some programs and reduce spending across the board. We have made some tough tradeoffs between. programs to insure that we fund only those programs which meet our most critical national environmental goals. It is important to note that we have placed a high priority on maintaining adequate funds for the key State program grants which are critical to the implementation of the air, water, and drinking water programs. We have maintained these grants at the 1981 levels and we |