	Introduction

Early during the 113 th Congress, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 ( P.L. 113-6 . On September 28, 2012, the President signed a continuing resolution ( P.L. 117 ), the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013, to provide appropriations for federal departments and agencies, including EPA, funded under each of the regular appropriations bills through March 27, 2013. The continuing resolution ( P.L. Subsequent to the passage of H.J.Res. 117 by Congress, the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies released a draft bill on September 25, 2012, that proposed $8.52 billion for EPA for FY2013. 117 by Congress, the House Committee on Appropriations reported the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Act, 2013 ( H.R. 112-589 ), on July 10, 2012. Title II of the House committee-reported bill proposed a total of $7.06 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for FY2013, $1.29 billion (15.5%) less than the President's FY2013 request of $8.34 billion, and $1.39 billion (16.5%) less than the $8.45 billion (including applicable rescissions ) as enacted in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 ( P.L. The vast majority of the agency's annual funding consists of discretionary appropriations. H.R. Most of the proposed decrease in the STAG account is attributed to a combined $507.0 million reduction below the FY2013 request and $866.3 million below FY2012 enacted funding for grants to help capitalize Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) (see " Wastewater and Drinking Water Infrastructure " below). These grants also assist multimedia projects. The House committee-reported bill proposed a variety of decreases and increases in funding for many of the individual programs and activities funded within the eight appropriations accounts compared to the FY2013 requested and FY2012 enacted levels. Key Funding Issues

Much of the attention on EPA's appropriations for FY2013 during the 112 th Congress focused on federal financial assistance for wastewater and drinking water infrastructure projects, various categorical grants to states to support general implementation and enforcement of federal environmental laws, funding for implementation and research support for air pollution control requirements, climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, and funding for environmental cleanup. In addition to funding priorities among the various EPA programs and activities, several recent and pending EPA regulatory actions that were central to debates on EPA's FY2011 and FY2012 appropriations were again prominent in the debate regarding the FY2013 appropriations. Several regulatory actions under other pollution control statutes administered by EPA also received attention. 6091 as reported for FY2013. H.R. 6091 as reported proposed $689.0 million for the Clean Water SRF capitalization grants for FY2013, 41% below the President's FY2013 request of $1.18 billion and 53% below the FY2012 enacted level of $1.47 billion. The $829.0 million for the Drinking Water SRF capitalization grants in the House committee-reported bill was also less than the FY2013 requested and FY2012 enacted levels, but the magnitude of decrease was significantly smaller, as shown in Table 2 . Categorical Grants

H.R. 6091 as reported by the House Appropriations committee proposed $994.4 million to support state and tribal "categorical" grant programs within the STAG account, $203.0 million below the President's FY2013 budget of $1.20 billion, $94.8 million less than the FY2012 appropriation of $1.09 billion. ), and are generally used to support the day-to-day implementation of environmental laws, including a range of activities such as monitoring, permitting and standard setting, training, and other pollution control and prevention activities. Congress appropriated $9.9 million for this categorical grant for FY2012. Additionally, in lieu of certain general provisions proposed for FY2013 in H.R. 6091 as reported. 6091 . Brownfields102

EPA also administers another cleanup program to provide financial assistance to state, local, and tribal governmental entities for certain types of sites, referred to as "brownfields." 6091 . The provisions included in H.R.
Preceding the March 26, 2013, enactment of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (P.L. 113-6), during the 113th Congress, the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013 (P.L. 112-175, H.J.Res. 117), enacted September 28, 2012, provided appropriations for federal departments and agencies—including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—funded under each of the regular appropriations bills through March 27, 2013. The continuing resolution provided funding generally at FY2012 levels with an across-the-board increase of 0.612% unless otherwise specified. Subsequent to the passage of the joint resolution in 112th Congress, the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies released a draft bill on September 25, 2012, that proposed $8.52 billion for EPA for FY2013. As reported July 10, 2012, by the House Committee on Appropriations, Title II of H.R. 6091, the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Act, 2013, proposed $7.06 billion for EPA for FY2013. The proposed level was $1.28 billion (15.5%) below the President's FY2013 request of $8.34 billion, and $1.39 billion (16.5%) below the FY2012 enacted appropriation of $8.45 billion.
The House committee-reported bill, H.R. 6091, would have decreased funding for seven of the eight EPA appropriations accounts compared to the President's FY2013 request, and for six of the accounts relative to FY2012 enacted levels. The largest decrease in H.R. 6091 as reported was for the State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG) account: $2.60 billion for FY2013, compared to $3.36 billion requested (23% decrease) and $3.61 billion for FY2012 (28% decrease). This account consistently contains the largest portion of the agency's funding among the eight accounts. The majority of the proposed decrease was attributed to a combined $507.0 million reduction in funding for grants that provide financial assistance to states to help capitalize Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs). Respectively, these funds finance local wastewater and drinking water infrastructure projects. H.R. 6091 as reported included $689.0 million for Clean Water SRF capitalization grants and $829.0 million for Drinking Water SRF capitalization grants, compared to $1.18 billion and $850.0 million requested for FY2013, and $1.47 billion and $917.9 million appropriated for FY2012, respectively.
The STAG account also includes funds to support "categorical" grant programs. States and tribes use these grants to support the day-to-day implementation of environmental laws, such as monitoring, permitting and standard setting, training, and other pollution control and prevention activities, and these grants also assist multimedia projects. The $994.0 million total proposed for FY2013 for categorical grants in H.R. 6091 as reported was $208.4 million less than the $1.20 billion requested for FY2013, and $94.8 million below the $1.09 billion FY2012 enacted amount.
Other prominent issues receiving attention during the 112th Congress within the context of FY2013 EPA appropriations included funding for implementing certain air pollution control requirements including greenhouse gas emission regulations, climate change research and related activities, cleanup of hazardous waste sites under the Superfund program, cleanup of sites that tend to be less hazardous (referred to as brownfields), and cleanup of petroleum from leaking underground tanks. Additionally, several recent and pending EPA regulatory actions continued to be controversial in the FY2013 appropriations. H.R. 6091 as reported included a number of provisions (similar to those considered in the FY2012 appropriations debate) that would have restricted the use of funding for the development, implementation, and enforcement of certain EPA actions that cut across the various pollution control statutes' programs and initiatives. These provisions were not included in the September 28, 2012, FY2013 continuing resolution.