EPA details slimmer 2013 budget plans

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says its 2013 proposed budget, $8.34 billion, will allow it to focus on core environmental and human health protection.

The Obama administration's proposed FY 2013 budget reflects a government-wide effort to reduce spending and find cost-savings, and is $105 million below the EPA's enacted level for FY 2012, an EPA release said Monday.

"This budget is focused on fulfilling EPA's core mission to protect health and the environment for millions of American families. It demonstrates fiscal responsibility, while still supporting clean air, healthy waters and innovative safeguards that are essential to an America built to last," EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said.

The budget includes $1.2 billion in grants for states on the front lines of implementing environmental statutes such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, the EPA said, and $2 billion for Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving funds.

It includes $755 million in funding for the Superfund Cleanup program to support cleanup at the nation's highest priority hazardous waste sites.

The budget provides for $50 million in savings accomplished by eliminating several EPA programs that have either completed their goals or can be implemented through other federal or state efforts, the agency said.