Prior to the enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 ( P.L. 112-74 , H.R. 2055 ), on December 23, 2011, EPA and other departments and agencies funded within the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill were operating under a series of continuing resolutions sequentially extending FY2012 funding. However, on October 14, 2011, the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies released a draft bill for FY2012 to serve as a starting point of discussions for markup. 112-74 ( H.Rept. 112-331 ) provided $8.46 billion for EPA for FY2012, not including a 0.16% across-the-board rescission. The total FY2012 appropriations for EPA was an 18.3% increase above the $7.15 billion proposed for FY2012 for EPA by the House Appropriations Committee in H.R. The enacted EPA FY2012 appropriation was $219.1 million (2.6%) less than the FY2011 enacted appropriations of $8.68 billion, and $510.0 million (5.7%) below the $8.97 billion included in the President's FY2012 budget request. These EPA regulatory actions, which were also the focus of considerable attention during deliberations on EPA's FY2011 appropriations, cut across the various environmental pollution control statutes' programs and initiatives. P.L. 112-74 included several administrative and general provisions affecting EPA actions and authorities (see " Selected Provisions Regarding EPA Actions " later in this report), but not nearly as many as the more than 25 provisions proposed in the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, H.R. The Senate subcommittee draft did not include general provisions similar to the House committee-reported bill that would restrict or preclude EPA from using appropriated funds for implementing or proceeding with a number of regulatory actions. In response to congressional interest in several of the provisions affecting EPA program activities included in P.L. Only those provisions affecting EPA programs that are clearly identifiable by specific language or references are included in this report. 2584 as reported. Amendments that were agreed to or failed during House floor debate of H.R. The tables contained in the conference report ( H.Rept. Not including the 0.16% across-the-board rescission, the FY2012 enacted amount was generally the same as FY2011 enacted and the proposed amount for FY2012 in the Senate draft, more than the $250.0 million proposed in the House committee-reported H.R. P.L. 112-151 ) as reported by the House Appropriations Committee on July 19, 2011, and among amendments considered and submitted prior to suspension of the House floor debate on July 28, 2011. In addition to the rescission of unobligated balances and transfer of funds for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative discussed in the previous section (" Comparison of EPA FY2012 Enacted and Proposed Appropriations ") and presented in Table 1 above, three other provisions were included in the EPA Administrative Provisions setting terms and conditions for the use of FY2012 appropriations, under Title II of Division E in P.L. 112-74 . Division E, Title IV "General Provisions" in P.L. 112-74 , included provisions specifying requirements and restrictions for the use of appropriations for certain air quality regulatory actions and greenhouse gas emission reporting requirements, and certain Clean Water Act permitting requirements associated with silvicultural activities:
Section 425 of Division E of the FY2012 appropriations law required the President to submit a comprehensive report to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees detailing all federal (including EPA) obligations and expenditures, domestic and international, for climate change programs and activities by agency for FY2011. Section 429 in P.L. Section 426 and Section 427 of P.L. 112-331 , included extensive language with regard to specific actions by EPA. For example, under the Science and Technology account in H.Rept. 112-331 (p. 1,072), the conferees required specific refinements and modifications to EPA's policies and practices for conducting assessments under the agency's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). 2584 . 112-74 and H.R.
Enacted December 23, 2011, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (P.L. 112-74, H.R. 2055), finalized appropriations for FY2012 for those agencies typically funded under nine of the 12 regular appropriations bills. Not including a 0.16% across-the-board rescission, Title II of Division E under P.L. 112-74 provided $8.46 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for FY2012. The total was an increase above the $7.15 billion proposed by the House Appropriations Committee (H.R. 2584 as reported), but less than the $8.62 billion proposed in a draft released by the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee and the $8.97 billion included in the President's FY2012 budget request. The EPA FY2012 appropriations were $219.1 million (2.6%) less than the FY2011 enacted appropriations of $8.68 billion. Prior to the enactment of P.L. 112-74, EPA and agencies included in the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill had been funded sequentially under a series of FY2012 continuing resolutions.
In addition to FY2012 appropriations for the various EPA programs and activities, P.L. 112-74 included directive provisions regarding certain EPA authorities and program activities, including some that restricted the use of appropriated funds for implementing or proceeding with several recent and pending EPA regulatory actions. Division E, Title IV "General Provisions" P.L. 112-74, included provisions specifying requirements and restrictions for the use of appropriations for certain air Clean Air Act regulatory actions and greenhouse gas emission reporting requirements (see sections 425, 426, 427 and 432), and certain Clean Water Act permitting requirements associated with silvicultural activities (section 429). Additionally, the Conference Report H.Rept. 112-331 included extensive language with regard to specific actions by EPA. For example, under the Science and Technology account in H.Rept. 112-331 (p. 1072), the Conferees required specific refinements and modifications to EPA's policies and practices for conducting assessments under the agency's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS).
EPA regulatory actions received considerable attention during House and Senate oversight committee hearings, appropriations committee hearings, and House floor debate on the FY2012 appropriations during the first session of the 112th Congress. Several of the provisions included in P.L. 112-74 were the same or similar to a subset of more than 25 provisions included in H.R. 2584, the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012 (H.Rept. 112-151), as reported on July 19, 2011, and additional proposed provisions regarding EPA among roughly 150 amendments considered or submitted during floor debate of H.R. 2584, which was suspended on July 28, 2011. These proposed directives cut across many of the various environmental pollution control statutes' programs and initiatives. An October 14, 2011, draft released by the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies did not include comparable general provisions that would restrict or preclude the use of appropriations for certain EPA actions.
This report summarizes funding levels for EPA accounts and certain sub-account program activities as enacted in P.L. 112-74, and as proposed in H.R. 2584 as reported by the House Appropriations Committee, in the Senate subcommittee draft, and in the President's FY2012 request, compared to the FY2011 enacted appropriations. Selected provisions regarding EPA program activities extracted from P.L. 112-74, the conference report, and the House committee-reported bill are also presented. Only those provisions affecting EPA that are clearly identifiable by specific language or references contained in the bill are included. Amendments that were considered or pending during initial House floor debate at the end of July 2011 are not included.