FY 2007 EPA Budget Request
Tax Incentives Before Supreme Court
New EPA Reports Available
Smart Growth Achievement Awards

FY 2007 EPA Budget Request

President Bush’s 2007 budget for the U.S. EPA was recently announced. For 2007, 23 percent of the budget falls under Goal 3: Land Preservation and Restoration, which aims to “preserve and restore the land by using innovative waste management practices and cleaning up contaminated properties to reduce risks posed by releases of harmful substances.” This is approximately $33 million more than the 2006 enacted budget. Superfund and RCRA fall under this category, along with emergency preparedness, response and Homeland Security and other programs.

The president requested nearly $1.3 billion for the Superfund program, a $17 million increase over last year’s enacted budget. EPA intends to achieve the following results in FY 2007:

Make 350 final site-assessment decisions under Superfund
Increase by 10 the total number of Superfund sites where all identified unacceptable human exposures are controlled to at or below health-based levels for current land and/or groundwater use conditions
Increase by 10 the total number of Superfund sites where the migration of contaminated groundwater is under control through engineered or natural processes
Select final remedies at 25 Superfund sites on the National Priorities List (NPL)
Complete construction of remedies at 40 Superfund sites on the NPL
Increase the percentage of high priority RCRA facilities with human exposure to controlled toxins from an estimated 82 percent in FY 2006 to 89 percent
Increase the percentage of high priority RCRA facilities with toxic releases to groundwater contamination to 75 percent from an estimated 68 percent in FY 2006
Complete 13,000 leaking underground storage tank cleanups

The president also requested $184 million for EPA Homeland Security efforts, an increase of $55 million over the FY 2006 enacted budget. This funding includes:

$33 million to protect drinking water from terrorist attack, including additional Water Sentinel pilots
$10 million to develop Environmental Laboratory Preparedness and Response capability
$10 million to provide for environmental decontamination, including related research and development

Other budget increases include approximately $38 million in underground storage tank funding (a $26 million increase) to prevent future releases. Additionally, the Great Lakes Legacy Act programs will receive $50 million, an increase of more than $20 million, to support four to six sediment remediation projects, which will result in cleanup of approximately 500,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments.

Read more at the EPA Web site.

Tax Incentives Before Supreme Court

On March 1, 2006, the Supreme Court heard Cuno v. DaimlerChrysler. The argument centered on a previous ruling that Ohio’s investment tax credit ran afoul of the U.S. commerce clause by discriminating against interstate activity.

The State of Ohio, the City of Toledo and the local school districts provided investment tax incentives to DaimlerChrysler, which relied on this to make a decision to invest $1.2 billion and create 5,000 new jobs.

The ruling could remove state flexibility to offer such an incentive package, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The National Association of Manufacturers, which has filed three briefs thus far, asserts that the decision, which held Ohio’s investment tax credit for new manufacturing machinery and equipment to be invalid, threatens similar tax incentives for economic development purposes in other states.

New EPA Reports Available

EPA’s Office of Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment has released two new reports. Both documents were prepared by Kristen R. Yount and Peter B. Meyer from Northern Kentucky University.

“Environmental Insurance Products Available for Brownfields Redevelopment, 2005” provides up-to-date information on pollution liability, cost cap and secured lender policies and pre-funded insurance programs. Basic characteristics of the products are discussed, including policy dollar limits, premiums, deductibles and policy periods. The report ends with a discussion of changes in the market since the last review of products was conducted in 1999, including turnover of insurers and modifications of policy periods and premiums. The information is based on in-depth interviews with representatives of nine insurance companies.

The second report, “Update: State Brownfield Insurance Programs, 2005,” is a short supplement to a 2004 study of existing state-level programs and efforts in other states to develop or investigate the desirability of a state program.

Both reports, plus the 2004 study, are available at www.epa.gov.

Smart Growth Achievement Awards

The U.S. EPA is now accepting applications for the fifth annual National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. This competition is open to local or state governments and other public sector entities that have used the principles of smart growth to create better places.

Interested parties are encouraged to submit applications for smart growth activities that have shown significant activity between May 1, 2001, and May 1, 2006. Applications are due on May 1, 2006. Up to five winners will be recognized at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. in November, 2006. For more details about the Smart Growth Achievement award, including an application packet, visit: www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/awards.htm. BFN