Trump proposes massive cuts to EPA

Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program, Chemical Safety Board face the axe

US President Donald Trump has proposed major cuts to the EPA, reducing the agency's annual budget by 31%, eliminating approximately 3,200 agency jobs and defunding more than 50 programmes.

The 'budget blueprint' follows through on campaign statements from Mr Trump, who regularly said he believed the agency overstepped its authority. It calls for cutting the EPA's annual budget from $8.1bn to $5.7bn, dropping agency funding levels to their lowest since the 1990 federal fiscal year.

"You can't drain the swamp and leave all the people in,"said Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). "The president wants a smaller EPA. He thinks they overreach, and the budget reflects that."

The budget proposes to axe the EPA's Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). This programme screens pesticides, chemicals and environmental contaminants for their potential effect on oestrogen, androgen and thyroid hormone systems.

More than 50 "lower priority and poorly performing programmes" would also be stripped of funding, though the full list has not yet been made available.

It also proposes to eliminate the Chemical Safety Board, an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents.

TSCA impacts?

The budget outline does not mention the amended TSCA or what impacts these cuts could have on the law's ongoing implementation.

But Mark Duvall, a principal at the law firm Beveridge & Diamond, told Chemical Watch that even if the funding for this remains flat, it is likely to be difficult for the agency to meet its planned activities on schedule.

And although the TSCA budget is expected to be bolstered by the introduction of user fees next year, those increases will not be enough to offset the increased agency activity that TSCA creates, he said.

"EPA may have the resources under this budget to implement TSCA, but not at the level it would like," Mr Duvall said. And this could affect compliance with statutory deadlines, he added: "While the TSCA programme can borrow employees from other programmes within EPA, there might simply not be enough bodies available."

Strong reaction

NGO the Environmental Working Group (EWG) said the budget proposed would "effectively cripple" the EPA's ability to protect public health and the environment, leaving the burden on local and state governments.

Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, said the cuts to the EPA's budget are unnecessary, as it only receives 2 cents for every $10 the government spends.

"This is an overzealous attempt to undermine America’s most basic environmental protections, with no concern about the serious harm it will cause," Mr Krupp said.

The blueprint is not a complete budget and does not include revenue projections, impacts to mandatory spending or policy projections. The Trump administration plans to release its full budget in May.

The proposed budget will be submitted to Congress and subject to changes from lawmakers, who will then vote to approve it before the president signs it into law. With the Republican party in control of both the House and the Senate, provisions in Mr Trump’s proposed bill may remain relatively intact.

The Trump administration has targeted the EPA from its first days. Mr Trump nominated Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt, a known EPA critic, to be the agency's administrator. The administration also blocked all EPA communications with the public and has issued far-reaching executive orders aimed at restricting its regulatory authorities.