EPA Readies New Plan To Improve Key Nonpoint Source Funding Program

摘要

EPA is set to issue a new plan to the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) to improve the effectiveness of its Clean Water Act (CWA) section 319 program for funding efforts to limit nonpoint source pollution, a move that could help the agency make the case for protecting funds for the program at a time of budget cuts. The agency's latest efforts to pitch OMB on improving the program come as states have been increasingly raising the alarm about limited section 319 funding and calling on the administration to bolster its funds. "I think EPA feels very strongly, and we agree, that this program needs to be better understood," one state source says. The program is "perceived by many as a pilot program" and "funded at minimal levels. And this year it was cut," the source says, referring to a $25 million cut that the program received in the agency's FY11 budget.