House spending panel unveils deep cuts to EPA

House Republican appropriators on Tuesday unveiled a 2013 spending bill with deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency. The bill cuts the EPA by $1.4 billion, about 17 percent, compared to current funding. The GOP points out that this brings the EPA below fiscal 1998 levels. Overall the newly revealed 2013 Interior and Environment bill has $28 billion in funding – a cut of $1.2 billion below 2012 levels. “The bill reins in funding and out-of-control regulation at the EPA, and reduces overall spending for the third year in a row,” said Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), the spending cardinal in charge of the bill. The GOP says the bill keeps the number of EPA personnel at 1992 levels and cuts the administrator’s office by 30 percent and the congressional affairs office by 50 percent. It also contains numerous riders that prevent environmental rules. They include riders to limit the reach of Clean Water Act regulations and block President Obama’s National Ocean Policy...more