Trump Budget Declares War on the Environment:

Slashes EPA Budget by Close to a Third

Donald Trump’s budget blueprint for fiscal year 2018 includes massive cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 31.4% of EPA funding would be cut, as well as a 35% reduction in their operational budget. The rollbacks will hurt 50 agency programs and eliminate 3,200 of the agency’s 15,000 jobs. Trump’s budget chief even said there will be no “crazy spending on climate change.” These cuts would end funding to states for things like environmental clean-up efforts and nonpoint source pollution control. We need Congress to stand up to these cuts and prevent them from happening to preserve the EPA’s ability to protect our environment.

“Donald Trump is declaring war on the environment. His budget would cut EPA by close to a third the biggest cut of any agency. There are also significant cuts to the Department of Energy, Department of Interior and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. New Jersey has many major environmental programs and we will see more cuts and more environmental damage than most other states. This includes major cuts to the superfund programs that help clean up contamination. His cuts will mean that there will not enough personnel to make sure our water is safe to drink, our land is clean, and our air is breathable,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Trump is dismantling all of the progress that has been made by ending half a dozen programs to help stop climate change and reduce air pollution. Trump’s rollbacks to clean water will mean our water will be poisoned and there will be more flooding.”

These huge cuts to the EPA will target important programs including:

• Nationally, state grants are cut in half, meaning NJ could see this much less
• There are huge cuts for enforcement
• major cuts for cleaning up Superfund Sites, up to a third
• slashed funding for cleaning up hundreds of other toxic sites
• they zeroed out the lead-risk reduction program and funding for radon detection
• major cuts to the Office of Science
• elimination of the Office of Environmental Justice
• potential elimination of the Chemical Safety Board, and Coastal Water Quality Monitoring and Sea Grant program, including NJ Sea Grant Consortium

“New Jersey will feel Trump’s cuts even harder than any other state because DEP gets half of its money from EPA to work on environmental programs, including capital projects.  We also get one third of our operational budget from the federal government. That means Trump’s budget cuts could cause us to lose over a $100 million in funding to deal with stormwater, mitigate climate change, and remove lead from pipes and upgrade our water system. Cutting state funding disrupts water quality testing at toxic sites and stops efforts to clean up our water supply and retrofit lead pipes. With Trump’s cuts, we will be headed into a crisis because we don’t have the money for core programs. There may be layoffs, closing of parks, and termination of other vital programs,” said Jeff Tittel. “He also wants to cut end the Office of Science and cut thousands of jobs at the EPA, which means the Edison lab in New Jersey will close. This will cost us 400 jobs in the state.”

In Trump’s budget, we will lose funding for the 319 program for stormwater, resiliency along the shore, restoring the Delaware Bayshore, restore wetlands as well as planting dunes.

• He is cutting air quality, water quality, and pesticides programs in half
• The budget also cuts programs for offshore wind and solar power
• The EPA’s Nonpoint Source Grant would be cut that prevents land runoff into waterways.
• The EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund for water and sewer projects could be cut in next year’s budget. This fund deals with water quality infrastructure projects to improve our clean drinking water.
• There will also be cuts to resiliency grants through the Obama Administration’s Climate Action Plan that allows sewer plants to become more resilient to deal with sea level rise and climate change impacts. This means New Jersey won’t have funding to keep people and property out of harm’s way or protect us from flooding and pollution during a storm.
• He is eliminating the National Estuaries Program and protections of coastal waterways such as Barnegat Bay

“Trump has clearly sided with polluters over our environment and public health. He is cutting back the Superfund program for cleanup of contaminated sites by hundreds of millions of dollars, which will mean our 118 Superfund Sites and hundreds of other toxic sites won’t get cleaned up. He is also attacking environmental programs by cutting the budget and getting rid of thousands of staff.  By cutting enforcement, Trump will create a polluters holiday because there will be no one to sure to make sure they aren’t violating the law. This is an outrageous attempt to protect corporate polluters over the people,” said Jeff Tittel. “During his first days in office, Trump froze $1 billion in EPA grants and contracts to states and we don’t know when or if that will come back. At the same time, he ordered Congress to cut a massive $500 million in grants to states. This could end programs for states to work on servicing handle hazardous waste, testing drinking water quality, as well as air quality monitoring. This current budget could be impacted by Trump’s freeze because if we haven’t gotten money yet, we may not get it.”

Trump’s proposed budget includes the following cuts:

• Environmental Protection Agency cut by $2.6 billion or 31.5 percent

o   This is on top of the first cut of one percent he presented in the temporary budget

• Department of Energy’s (DOE) budget cut by $1.7 billion, or 5.4 percent

o   Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy would be cut 70%

• Department of the Interior budget cut by $1.4 billion, or 10.9 percent.

“Instead of working to decrease the effects of climate change and air pollution by promoting renewable energy, Trump is pushing for fossil fuel projects instead. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will be cut a staggering 70%. This will cost our country millions of jobs and add tons more air pollution. Programs inside the Department of Energy that study energy research and development, national laboratories and radioactive waste disposal will be cut as much as 18% while militarizing nuclear science will get an increase in funding. He is cutting over a dozen programs to protect us from climate change impacts. Instead of promoting renewable and alternative energy, he’s siding with the fossil fuel industry and dirty energy,” said Jeff Tittel. “We should be working to fight climate change and pollution by pushing renewable energy. Instead, Donald Trump cares more about making nuclear power a weapon than actually protecting the people of our country.”

The budget also includes a plan to open up Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for oil drilling, and it proposes drawing down the nation’s oil reserve. Sites in the refuge would be leased out by 2022. The plan also includes selling half of the oil in the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) by 2027. The Reserve currently holds 687.7 million barrels of oil in salt caverns and tanks at designated locations in Texas and Louisiana. These are set aside for natural disasters or unplanned accidents.

“Trump’s proposed budget is a slap in the face to the environment and the people of this entire country. By cutting the EPA budget and rolling back protections, Trump lives in a fantasy world. This will have terrible consequences because when you cut enforcement, chemical plants will blow up. When you cut lead funding, children will be poisoned. When you roll back protections for clean air our air will be polluted. When you don’t clean up Superfund sites, communities will be poisoned. When you eliminate climate change protections, homes and people will be flooded. This is not a reality show, this is real. President Trump is siding with fossil fools and polluters by attacking science by trying to eliminate scientists and researchers. What Trump has proposed will dismantle the EPA by going after the budget. Combined with the environmental rollbacks by the Christie Administration, this could be devastating for New Jersey,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We will fight back against this budget by lobbying and protesting. We are launching a campaign to get our Congress members to oppose these dangerous budget cuts. The future of our clean air, clean water, environment and climate depend on it.”