NEWS RELEASES
DOI, US Forest Service, EPA & Other Agencies Receive Appropriations From House Committee
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through NACo's website.
Last month, the 2019 Interior & Environment Appropriations Bill to fund the US Department of the Interior (DOI), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US Army Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies was released by the US House Appropriations Committee to provide funding to help them protect the nation's natural resources. Overall, the bill would provide roughly $35.25 billion in appropriations, equal to FY 2018 enacted levels. The package also includes various policy measures aimed at reducing regulations from EPA and other agencies.
According to writer Austin Igleheart from NACo (National Association of Counties), DOI’s Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Program, which reimburses counties for forgone property tax revenue due to the presence of tax-exempt federal lands within their jurisdictions, would be funded at $500 million for FY 2019. The EPA would be funded at $7.96 billion in the appropriations package, representing a decrease of $100 million below FY 2018, including a reduction of $228 million to EPA’s regulatory programs. The U.S. Forest Service would be funded at $6.1 billion under this package, $3 billion of which would be allocated to fire suppression and prevention. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) would receive $1.4 billion in the appropriations package, an increase of $55 million over FY 2018. The National Park Service (NPS) would be funded at $3.25 billion for an increase of $53 million over FY 2018, and would increase funding to address deferred maintenance on NPS lands by $175 million. The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) will be provided $360 million for its state and local recreation and battlefield preservation programs.
For more information on the new bill and the full press release on NACo's website, click here.