EPA chief tells governors he’ll try to protect programs

In case there was any question whether President Donald Trump’s administration has put a bull’s eye on the Environmental Protection Agency, the White House’s proposed budget cuts at the agency leave little doubt. Plans reviewed by The Washington Post this week outline a wish list for cutting the agency’s staff by onefifth and entirely eliminating dozens of programs.

But Thursday morning, new EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt — himself a longtime agency critic who has made clear he intends to scale back the EPA’s reach — told a group of mayors from around the country that he intends to defend at least some pieces of the EPA.

“Superfund is an area that is absolutely essential,” Pruitt told a gathering of the U.S. Conference of Mayors at the Capital Hilton. “The brownfields program, as well.”

The programs have been considered successes and are popular among lawmakers and their constituents. The White House budget proposal this week, however, would shrink EPA grants to states by 30 percent and potentially cut the brownfields funding altogether.

Pruitt also said that he intends to advocate for water infrastructure funding as part of a broader infrastructure push by the Trump administration. He did not address other deep cuts proposed at the agency.

The White House’s initial proposal would reduce the agency’s staff from 15,000 to 12,000 in the first year and would slash the EPA’s budget from $8.2 billion a year to $6.1 billion. Grants to states, as well as the agency’s air and water programs, would be cut by nearly a third. The massive Chesapeake Bay cleanup project would receive only $5 million in the next fiscal year, down from its current $73 million. The agency’s Office of Research and Development could lose up to 42 percent of its budget. EPA’s environmental justice program could vanish. In total, 38 separate programs would be eliminated entirely.

Congress would have to approve any cuts.