United States
Environmental Protection Agency
FISCAL YEAR 2023
Justification of Appropriation
Estimates for the Committee
on Appropriations
TabOO: Introduction and Overview
April 2022
EPA-190-R-22-001	www.epa.gov/cj

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United States Environmental Protection Agency
FY 2023 Budget Overview
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is guided by a clear and vital mission:
to protect human health and the environment. While the Agency, along with Tribal, state, and local
partners, has made great progress in advancing this mission over the last 50 years, much work
remains to guarantee that all people living in the United States share in the benefits of clean air,
clean water, clean land, and chemical safety. The urgency of climate change raises the stakes of
the Agency's work to protect communities. The FY 2023 President's Budget confronts these
challenges and outlines how EPA will achieve this work across seven strategic goals and four
cross-agency strategies.
The FY 2023 President's Budget request for the EPA totals $11,881 billion with 16,204.1 FTEto
advance Agency efforts to protect the environment and human health. This budget request, a
$2,644 billion increase above the FY 2022 Annualized Continuing Resolution (ACR), will support
EPA efforts to tackle the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, clean up air, land, and
water pollution, fund scientific research, and position the Agency with the workforce and capacity
required to address emerging and ongoing challenges. Additionally, the Budget includes more than
$900 million in new resources to fully fund all of the water programs authorized in the Drinking
Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (DWWIA). The FY 2023 President's Budget
complements the resources provided in the recently enacted bipartisan Infrastructure Investment
and Jobs Act (IIJA) and expands the Agency's capacity to protect human health and the
environment across the Nation, as provided in the bedrock environmental laws.
EPA's FY 2023 Budget prioritizes tackling the climate crisis and advancing environmental justice
and builds on the commitments in the FY 2022 President's Budget. To achieve its mission, EPA
recognizes that effective environmental policy must clean up the legacy pollution that many
historically overburdened and underserved communities have lived with for far too long. To better
align with this vision, the FY 2023 Budget structure reflects the new Environmental Justice
National Program Manager to help administer this important work, with resources at headquarters
and in all 10 regional offices. The FY 2023 Budget commits to the fair treatment and meaningful
involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the
development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
In addition to the FY 2023 President's Budget, EPA is publishing at the same time the FY2022 -
2026 EPA Strategic Plan, built on four foundational principles: to Follow the Science, Follow the
Law, Be Transparent, and Advance Justice and Equity. These principles form the basis of the
Agency's culture and will guide its operations and decision making now and into the future. The
Strategic Plan establishes the roadmap to achieve the Agency's and Administration's
environmental priorities over the next four years and instill scientific integrity in decision making,
tackle the climate crisis, and embed environmental justice across Agency programs. The Strategic
Plan provides a new framework of strategic goals, objectives, cross-agency strategies, long-term
performance goals, and Agency Priority Goals that tether resource investments and actions to the
outcomes that will better protect human health and the environment for all people living in the
United States.
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FY 2023 Funding Priorities
Tackle the Climate Crisis
The FY 2023 Budget prioritizes addressing climate change with the urgency the science demands.
EPA's Climate Change Indicators website presents compelling and clear evidence of changes to
our climate reflected in rising temperatures, ocean acidity, sea level rise, river flooding, droughts,
heat waves, and wildfires.1 Resources in the Budget support efforts to mitigate and adapt to the
impacts of the climate crisis while spurring economic progress and creating good-paying jobs.
Both climate mitigation and adaptation are essential components of the strategy to reduce the
threats and impacts of climate change. The FY 2023 Budget will enable EPA to work with our
partners to address the climate crisis by reducing greenhouse gas emissions; building resilience to
climate impacts; and engaging with the global community to respond to this shared challenge.
Through EPA's Climate Protection Program, the Agency is working to tackle the climate crisis at
home and abroad through an integrated approach of regulations, partnerships, and technical
assistance. EPA plays a lead role to implement a global phasedown of the production and
consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). These potent greenhouse gases, which are common
in refrigerants and aerosols, have global warming potentials hundreds to thousands of times greater
than carbon dioxide. This phasedown approach led by EPA will decrease the production and
importation of HFCs in the United States by 85 percent over the next 15 years. As a result, it will
help promote American leadership in innovation and manufacturing of new climate-safe products
and create new jobs in this emerging sector. A global HFC phasedown is expected to avoid up to
0.5 degree Celsius of global warming by 2100. In FY 2023, the Agency invests an additional $100
million in grants to Tribes and states that will support on-the-ground efforts to reduce methane
emissions and increase resiliency in the Nation's infrastructure. The Budget also provides an
additional $35 million and 28 FTE for regulatory and collaborative enforcement and compliance
assurance efforts as required by the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act of 2020
to facilitate the next phasedown stages for HFCs. The phasedown in the production and
consumption of HFCs is a FY 2022-2023 Agency Priority Goal.
In FY 2023, EPA is taking action to reduce dangerous air pollution and greenhouse gases and
through mobile source air pollution. For example, the FY 2023 Budget provides $150 million for
the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grant program to expand the availability of DERA
grants and rebates to reduce harmful diesel, with a focus on priority areas including school buses,
ports, and communities disproportionately affected with air quality problems.2 DERA grants
accelerate the pace at which dirty engines are retired or retrofitted and target resources in areas
with poor air quality, especially those with significant emissions from ports and goods movement.
These locations also are often where lower income communities and communities of color suffer
from higher levels of pollution. Work in this Program directly supports Executive Order 14008:
Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad and its Justice40 Initiative to target 40 percent
of the benefits of climate and infrastructure investments to overburdened and underserved
communities.
1	For more information please visit: https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators
2	DERA Fourth Report to Congress: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-07/documents/420rl9005.pdf.
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The Agency also will commit $152.2 million and 350.5 FTE to the Federal Vehicle and Fuels
Standards and Certification Program. Resources will support efforts to develop, implement, and
ensure compliance with national emission standards to reduce air pollution from light-duty cars
and trucks; heavy-duty trucks and buses; nonroad engines and equipment; and from the fuels that
power these engines. In December 2021, EPA finalized revised national greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks for Model Years 2023 - 2026. Executive
Order 14037: Strengthening American Leadership in Clean Cars and Trucks kicked off development
of a longer-term rulemaking to set emission standards that will save consumers money, cut pollution,
boost public health, advance environmental justice, and tackle the climate crisis. In support of this
Executive Order and under EPA's Clean Air Act authority, EPA will establish new multi-pollutant
emissions standards, including for greenhouse gas emissions, for light- and medium-duty vehicles
beginning with model year 2027 and extending through at least model year 2030.
Acting domestically to reduce GHG emissions is an important step to tackle the climate crisis;
however, environmental protection is a shared responsibility that crosses international borders, and
climate change poses a threat that no one government can solve alone. Through a collaborative
approach with international counterparts, we will make progress to abate pollution and tackle the
climate crisis. To this end, President Biden has ambitiously laid out a path, by 2030, for the United
States to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least half from 2005 levels. EPA is in a critical
position to show our international partners that America is doing its part to reduce global
emissions. The FY 2023 request increases funding by $9 million for EPA's contribution to the
international Multilateral Fund (MLF) to support efforts related to the Kigali Amendment to the
Montreal Protocol. EPA will continue to engage both bilaterally and through multilateral
institutions to improve international cooperation on climate change. These efforts help fulfill
EPA's commitment to Executive Order 14008: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.
Tackling the climate crisis depends not only on the Agency's ability to mitigate greenhouse gases
but also the capacity to adapt and deliver targeted assistance to increase the nation's resilience to
climate change impacts. As part of a whole-of-government approach, EPA will directly support
federal partners, Tribes and indigenous communities, states, territories, local governments,
environmental justice organizations, community groups, and businesses as they anticipate, prepare
for, adapt to, and recover from the impacts of climate change. EPA needs significant resources to
ensure it can continue to meet its mission and prepare communities for the risks of climate change.
In FY 2023, the Budget provides $20 million and 12 FTE for Climate Adaptation efforts to
strengthen the adaptive capacity of Tribes, states, territories, local governments, communities, and
businesses. In addition, EPA will lead through example and prioritize climate resiliency
investments across EPA-owned facilities. In FY 2023, EPA will invest $35 million and 10 FTE to
pursue aggressive energy, water, and building infrastructure improvements to advance the
Agency's use of carbon-pollution free electricity.
Take Decisive Action to Advance Environmental Justice and Civil Rights
The communities hardest hit by pollution and climate change are most often communities of color,
indigenous communities, rural communities, and economically disadvantaged communities. For
generations, many of these communities, which also are among the most vulnerable, have been
overburdened with higher instances of polluted air, water, and land. The inequity of environmental
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protection is not just an environmental justice issue but also a civil rights concern. Neither an
individual's skin color nor the wealth of their zip code should determine whether they have clean
air to breathe, safe water to drink, or healthy environments in which their children can play. And
yet, the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and
policies have not always ensured the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people
regardless of race, color, national origin, or income. This year, EPA has added "justice and equity"
as a fourth essential principle for its work, and the FY 2022-2026 EPA Strategic Plan provides the
framework for the Agency to center its mission on the integration of justice, equity, and civil rights
across the Nation's environmental protection enterprise.
The FY 2023 Budget reframes how we implement our work by considering environmental justice
impacts and benefits across programs. EPA will implement the President's Justice40 Initiative
with the goal of delivering at least 40 percent of the overall benefits of relevant federal investments
to underserved and overburdened communities. Advancing the Administration's environmental
justice priorities is a foundational component of the Agency's FY 2023 Budget, and success
requires a whole-of-EPA approach. EPA's Budget recognizes the importance of embedding
environmental justice principles in all agency programs and implementing Executive Order 14008:
Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, and Executive Order 13985: Advancing Racial
Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. To elevate
environmental justice as a top Agency priority, EPA is proposing a new National Program
Manager for environmental justice and external civil rights compliance, to be headed by a Senate-
confirmed Assistant Administrator, to coordinate and maximize the benefits of the Agency's
programs and activities for underserved communities.
The FY 2023 Budget will expand upon the historic investments in environmental justice in the FY
2022 President's Budget to greatly enhance the Agency's ability to develop, manage, and award
new competitive grants to reduce the historically disproportionate health impacts of pollution in
communities with environmental justice concerns. In FY 2023, $300.8 million and 211.9 FTE in
the Environmental Justice program will expand support for community-based organizations,
indigenous organizations, Tribes, states, local governments, and territorial governments in pursuit
of identifying and addressing environmental justice issues through multi-partner collaborations.
Delivering tools and metrics for EPA and its Tribal, state, local, and community partners to
advance environmental justice and external civil rights compliance is a FY 2022-2023 Agency
Priority Goal.
To fully implement its external civil rights mission with quality and consistency and in a way that
yields positive and sustainable impacts for the most overburdened and vulnerable communities,
EPA must embed civil rights obligations into its programmatic actions and provide the level of
funding and staffing necessary for success. All applicants for and recipients of EPA financial
assistance, including state and local governments as well as private entities, have an affirmative
obligation to comply with federal civil rights laws, both as a prerequisite to obtaining EPA
financial assistance and in administering their programs and activities. EPA enforcement of these
anti-discrimination provisions is a vital part of the Agency's goal to advance equity and
environmental justice. Consistent enforcement of federal civil rights laws for recipients will
prevent decisions that can overburden underserved communities and create or exacerbate
significant inequities in human health protection and environmental pollution. In FY 2023, EPA
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provides a total of $25.9 million and 121.9 FTE to increase civil rights capacity across the Agency.
In the long term, the vigorous enforcement of civil rights laws will address historical and systemic
barriers that contribute to the environmental injustice affecting vulnerable communities.
Enforce Environmental Laws and Ensure Compliance
Ensuring compliance and enforcement of the Nation's environmental laws is foundational to
achieving EPA's mission. The Agency will hold bad actors accountable for their violations, with
a particular focus on communities with multiple pollution sources. In FY 2023, EPA also will
provide enhanced tools and technical assistance to the regulated community to support
understanding and compliance with environmental laws. EPA will implement a comprehensive
action plan in FY 2023 for integrating environmental justice and climate change considerations
throughout all aspects of its enforcement and compliance assurance work.
Within EPA's Compliance Monitoring program, $147.9 million is provided for enforcement and
compliance assurance efforts while incorporating environmental justice considerations into
programmatic work. EPA will provide targeted oversight and support to Tribal, state, and local
programs. The Agency will prioritize work with states to develop methods that successfully
leverage advances in both monitoring and information technology to increase the availability of
information about environmental conditions in disadvantaged communities.
EPA's Civil Enforcement Program is designed to protect human health and the environment by
ensuring compliance with the Nation's environmental laws. In FY 2023, EPA requests $213.2
million for civil enforcement efforts and to further develop and implement a comprehensive civil
enforcement plan for addressing environmental justice, climate change, per and polyfluoroalkyl
substances (PFAS) issues, and coal combustion residue rule compliance. PFAS are a group of
man-made chemicals that threaten the health and safety of communities across the Nation. These
resources will enhance EPA's ability to incorporate environmental justice and climate change
considerations into all phases of case development without displacing other important enforcement
and compliance assurance work. For example, EPA may focus on opportunities to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions while providing co-benefits in underserved communities, expand
inclusion of greenhouse gas mitigation and climate resilience remedies, and prioritize
environmental justice concerns in case resolutions.
Overburdened and underserved communities are often victims of environmental crime. EPA's FY
2023 Budget supports the development of a specialized Criminal Enforcement Initiative focused
on addressing environmental justice issues with other Agency priority National Compliance
Initiatives in partnership with the Department of Justice (DOJ). The Criminal Enforcement
Initiative focuses on the prioritization of investigative resources to overburdened communities and
vulnerable populations, while maintaining case initiation standards and reducing the impact of
pollution. The FY 2023 request provides $69.5 million and 291 FTE to expand EPA's capacity for
criminal enforcement to hold illegal polluters accountable, particularly in vulnerable communities.
In FY 2023, EPA also will advance efforts to protect fenceline communities at risk to
environmental health hazards from nearby oil and chemical facilities and underground storage tank
releases. Fenceline communities are often low-income and/or communities of color facing
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disproportionate risks from environmental health hazards, particularly in light of severe weather
events caused by a changing climate. With an investment of $14.6 million and 53.5 FTE provided
in FY 2023, EPA will advance protection of these communities by increasing inspections and
compliance assistance to ensure nearby facilities are adhering to regulations designed to protect
vulnerable populations. This investment also will be used to create and expand programs to
improve environmental protections and increase monitoring capability in fenceline communities.
Ensure Clean and Healthy Air for All Communities
Providing clean and heathy air for all communities is a central tenet of EPA's mission. Long-term
exposure to elevated levels of certain air pollutants has been associated with increased risk of
cancer, premature death, and damage to the immune, neurological, reproductive, cardiovascular,
and respiratory systems, while short-term exposure can exacerbate asthma and lead to other
adverse health effects and economic costs.3 Relying on the latest science, EPA will continue work
to reduce emission of the six National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) pollutants—
particulate matter (PM), ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and lead—and
air toxics from mobile and stationary sources. The FY 2023 request leverages several approaches
including regulatory tools, innovative market-based techniques, public and private-sector
partnerships, community-based approaches, voluntary programs that promote environmental
stewardship, and programs that encourage adoption of cost-effective technologies and practices.
The FY 2023 Budget includes $100 million to develop and implement a community air quality
monitoring and notification program to support efforts to ensure equitable environmental outcomes
to advance environmental justice for overburdened and marginalized communities. This program
will provide real-time data to the public in areas with greatest exposure to harmful levels of
pollution. In FY 2023, the Agency will continue to work closely with Tribes, states, and local air
quality agencies to develop the most effective approaches to meet community concerns. The
request includes resources to fulfill the President's commitment to engage meaningfully with
overburdened and vulnerable communities during the entire rulemaking process, from pre-
proposal through final promulgation and implementation.
In FY 2023, EPA will make critical resource investments in air regulatory development and
implementation work, particularly to support NAAQS review and implementation activities. The
President directed EPA to review the 2020 PM NAAQS and the 2020 Ozone NAAQS in accordance
with Executive Order 13990: Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science
to Tackle the Climate Crisis. In FY 2023, EPA will continue reviewing the NAAQS and make
revisions, as appropriate, and has requested resources commensurate to support these reviews. Each
review involves a comprehensive reexamination, synthesis, and evaluation of scientific
information, the design and conduct of complex air quality and risk and exposure analyses, and the
development of a comprehensive policy assessment providing analysis of the scientific basis for
alternative policy options. In FY 2023, the Agency provides $299.4 million and 945.4 FTE to the
Federal Support for Air Quality Management program.
The Agency also will seek to address the air quality challenges presented by wildfires. Wildfire
smoke can vary from year to year but can typically make up approximately 30 percent of total
3 For more information, please visit https://www.epa.gov/air-research/research-health-effects-air-pollution
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PM2.5 emissions in some regions of the U.S., aggravating heart and lung disease and causing
premature death. Climate change has already led to a marked increase in wildfire season length,
wildfire frequency, and burned area.4 In FY 2023, EPA will work together with the U.S. Forest
Service and other federal, state, and community agencies and organizations to improve ways to
reduce the public health risk from air pollution resulting from wildfires. Additional resources will
enhance EPA's ability to forecast where smoke will impact people and communicate when and
where smoke events will occur so communities can be Smoke Ready. The Budget includes an
additional $12.7 million and 15.7 FTE to advance wildfire prevention and readiness in FY 2023.
The Agency also will provide robust financial support through Categorical Grant programs to
EPA's Tribal, state, and local partners to support their efforts in implementing air quality
management programs. In FY 2023, EPA requests $322.2 million for the State and Local Air
Quality Management program, including $100 million in grants to Tribes and states that will
support on-the-ground efforts to reduce methane emissions. This funding will support state and
local air quality networks, air permitting programs, emission inventories, air quality forecasts, air
quality training, visibility improvements, and air toxic monitoring efforts. In FY 2023, EPA also
requests $23.1 million for the Categorical Grant: Tribal Air Quality Management program.
Funding will assist Tribes to develop and implement air pollution control programs for Indian
Country to prevent and address air quality concerns, including mitigating and adapting to the
effects of climate change. EPA will work with Tribes to assess environmental and public health
conditions in Indian Country by developing emission inventories and, where appropriate,
expanding the siting and operating of air quality monitors.
Ensure Clean and Safe Water for All Communities
EPA's most recent clean and drinking water needs assessment surveys, published in 2012 and
2015, respectively, determined that the country will need to invest more than $743 billion over the
next 20 years to maintain, upgrade, and replace critical drinking water and wastewater
infrastructure.5 Today, up to 10 million homes in America and more than 400,000 schools and
childcare centers rely on drinking water distribution lines that contain lead—a clear and present
danger to the health of children. Replacing these lead pipes and adapting America's water
infrastructure to be more resilient to climate change is critical to keeping communities healthy and
safe, consistent with the President's Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan.6 As the climate warms, more
extreme rainfall and flooding events could damage or overwhelm water systems, leaving entire
communities without safe water supplies for days or weeks. The Budget builds on the bipartisan
IIJA, which provides $8,429 billion to EPA's State Revolving Funds in 2023.
EPA's water infrastructure financing programs will advance the Agency's ongoing commitment
to infrastructure repair and replacement and build climate resilience into the water sector. At the
same time, these investments will create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs across the
4For more information on climate impacts, risk and adaptation in the United States visit:
https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/downloads. doi:10.7930/NCA4.2018.
5For more information on EPA's Clean Water and Drinking Water Needs Survey Reports, visit: https://www.epa.gov/cwns and
https://www.epa.gov/dwsrf/epas-6th-drinking-water-infrastructure-needs-survey-and-assessment
6 https://www.whitehouse.gOv/briefmg-room/statements-releases/2021/12/16/fact-sheet-the-biden-harris-lead-pipe-and-paint-
action-plan.
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country.7 In the FY 2023 Budget, EPA proposes approximately $4.4 billion for water infrastructure
programs. This includes a total of $2,765 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Funds
(CWSRF) and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (DWSRF), and $80.3 million for the Water
Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program. Also included is approximately $1.2
billion for grant programs authorized in the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act
of 2016 (WIIN), the America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018, and the Drinking Water and
Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021 (DWWIA). These resources are intended to upgrade aging
infrastructure, address the threat of climate change, invest in new technologies, and provide
assistance to communities.
Another goal of the Agency's infrastructure repair and replacement efforts is to address lead and
other contaminants such as PFAS in drinking water, especially in small and underserved
communities. AWIA strengthened many existing programs within EPA, including programs
authorized by the WIIN Act, while creating new programs to tackle significant public health and
environmental concerns. DWWIA, as authorized under the IIJA, builds on the foundation of
AWIA and WIIN to strengthen the Federal government's ability to upgrade the Nation's drinking
water and wastewater infrastructure. These investments will enable the Agency to increase water
infrastructure resilience and sustainability, provide assistance for underserved communities, and
reduce lead in drinking water. Investing in water infrastructure to enhance the livability and
economic vitality of overburdened and underserved communities is a focus of a FY 2022-2023
Agency Priority Goal. In total, the FY 2023 Budget provides approximately $1.2 billion in funding
for the AWIA, WIIN, and DWWIA grant programs, including the creation of twenty new grant
programs, which will provide communities with historic funding to address infrastructure needs,
provide climate resiliency, and create much needed jobs.
Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Programs
The FY 2023 Budget includes $1.639 billion for the CWSRF program to capitalize state revolving
loan funds in all 50 states and Puerto Rico to finance infrastructure improvements for public
wastewater systems and projects to improve water quality. It represents the largest source of
federal funds for states to provide loans and other forms of assistance for water quality projects
including construction of wastewater treatment facilities, water and energy efficiency projects, and
green infrastructure projects. In addition to capitalizing the CWSRF Program, a portion of the
request will provide direct grants to communities in Tribal nations and territories. The sanitation
infrastructure in these communities often lags the rest of the country, causing significant public
health concerns.
EPA's DWSRF is designed to assist public water systems in financing the costs of drinking water
infrastructure improvements needed to comply with Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
requirements, protect public health, and support Tribal, state, and local efforts to protect drinking
water. The FY 2023 Budget requests $1,126 billion for the DWSRF to help finance critical
infrastructure improvements to public water systems. States have considerable flexibility to tailor
their DWSRF program to their unique circumstances and needs, allowing each state to carefully
and strategically consider how best to achieve the maximum public health protection and
7 Jobs Created estimates are based on the U.S. Water Alliance: The Value of Water Campaign: The Economic Benefits of Investing
in Water Infrastructure.
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infrastructure development that benefit all people living in the United States and are resilient to
the impacts of climate change.
Infrastructure within the water sector goes beyond repair and replacement to include the health of
the systems used to monitor clean and safe water. In FY 2023, EPA requests $25 million for a new
grant program to advance cybersecurity infrastructure capacity and protections within the water
sector. Cybersecurity represents a substantial concern for the water sector, given the prevalence of
state-sponsored and other malevolent attacks on the sector as well as the sector's inherent
vulnerability and limited technical capacity to address cyber issues.
WIFIA
The WIFIA program, created in 2014, is a critical tool to increase water infrastructure investments
by leveraging public and private sources of funds to maximize the reach of federal funds. As of
February 2022, the WIFIA program has issued 72 loans to communities across the country totaling
$13.3 billion in credit assistance to help finance nearly $28 billion for water infrastructure projects.
WIFIA loans for these projects have saved communities nearly $5 billion, which can be used for
additional infrastructure investment and to keep rates affordable for water system users. These
WIFIA-financed projects have created over 82,000 jobs and serve more than 37 million people,
demonstrating that WIFIA credit assistance is an effective tool to help address a variety of water
infrastructure needs to support communities nationwide. The FY 2023 request for the WIFIA
program would enable EPA to provide up to $8 billion in direct credit assistance and help spur
more than $16 billion in total infrastructure investments.
Geographic Programs
Beyond water infrastructure, the Agency recognizes the important role federal assistance provides
to protect water bodies of special ecological and economic importance to our Nation. Through
EPA's Geographic Water programs, the Agency assists states and multi-state partners and Tribes
to accelerate and manage the restoration of the ecological health of these water bodies. In total, the
FY 2023 request provides $578.6 million for EPA's Geographic Water programs to advance work
on proj ects that target the most significant environmental problems in these important water bodies
and watersheds. In FY 2023, EPA will provide resources to accelerate ecological restoration and
sustainable management in the Chesapeake Bay, Columbia River, Gulf of Mexico, the Great
Lakes, Lake Champlain, Lake Pontchartrain, Long Island Sound, Northwest Forest Watershed,
Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay, South Florida, and Southeast New England. Funding will help
monitor and restore these ecological treasures and enable sustainable use for years to come. The
Agency also will receive $343 million under the IIJA to increase support for EPA's Geographic
funding in FY 2023.
Safeguard and Revitalize Communities
Cleaning up contaminated lands so that they can be redeveloped and returned to productive use is
a challenge faced by many communities. Cleaning up America's most contaminated land and
reducing exposure to toxic substances are critical components of the Agency's strategy to address
human health, particularly in underserved communities where many of these sites are located.
Reuse and restoration of Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) sites directly support the
Administration's Justice40 initiative, as articulated in President Biden's Executive Order 14008:
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Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, which acknowledges the urgent need to restore
lands. Approximately 22 percent of Americans live within three miles of a Superfund site. Recent
research shows Superfund cleanup actions lowered the risk of elevated blood lead levels by
roughly 13 to 26 percent for children living within 1.24 miles of a Superfund NPL site where lead
is a contaminant of concern.8 Remediating contaminated land and restoring it to productive use is
not only an environmental imperative but presents an economic opportunity as well. A peer
reviewed study conducted by researchers at Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh
found that residential property values within three miles of Superfund sites increased between 18.7
and 24.4 percent when sites were cleaned up and removed from the NPL.9
The FY 2023 Budget enables the Agency to clean up hazardous waste sites in communities across
the Nation, including those where vulnerable populations, such as children, the elderly, and
economically disadvantaged individuals, reside. These hazardous sites also are vulnerable to the
effects of climate change, making remediation even more urgent. Federal data in a recent
Government Accountability Office (GAO) report suggests that approximately 60 percent of
Superfund sites overseen by EPA are in areas that are vulnerable to wildfires and different types
of flooding—natural hazards that climate change will exacerbate.10 The Agency is working to
clean up these sites with climate change in mind to protect at-risk populations. The FY 2023
Budget includes $454.6 million for the Superfund Remedial program to balance appropriated
resources with anticipated Superfund chemical tax receipts that were reauthorized through the
IIJA. The Agency will have Superfund chemical taxes collected in FY 2022 that will be available
for use in FY 2023. EPA will use the Superfund chemical taxes, along with the $3.5 billion
provided to EPA under the IIJA and other appropriated resources, to implement the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).
Like Superfund remediation, investing in brownfields cleanup and redevelopment can revitalize
main streets, neighborhoods, and rural communities, increase residential property values, and
create good-paying jobs. The FY 2023 Budget includes $214.8 million to build on current work to
provide financial and technical assistance to assess, clean up, and plan reuse at brownfields sites.
In FY 2023, the Budget also provides an increase of 60 FTE for Brownfields Community
Development Specialists. This investment of 60 regional FTE will provide expanded technical
assistance and build capacity in small, rural, environmental justice, and other historically
overburdened and underserved communities. These Community Development Specialists manage
land revitalization projects, provide one-on-one financial planning support, and educate
communities on how to address brownfields-related issues.
Since its inception, the EPA Brownfields Program has fostered a community-driven approach to
the reuse of contaminated sites. Approximately 143 million people (roughly 44 percent of the U.S.
population) live within three miles of a brownfields site that receives EPA funding.11 As of March
8	Details can be found at https://www.epa.gov/environmental-economics/research-environmental-economics-ncee-working-paper-
series
9	Shanti Gamper-Rabindran and Christopher Timmons. 2013. "Does cleanup of hazardous waste sites raise housing values?
Evidence of spatially localized benefits," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 65(3): 345-360,
http://dx.doi.Org/10.1016/j.jeem.2012.12.001.
10	https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-20-73
11	U.S. EPA, Office of Land and Emergency Management 2020. Data collected includes: (1) Superfund, Brownfield, and RCRA
Corrective Action site information as of the end of FY 2019; (2) UST/LUST information as of late-2018 to mid-2019 depending
on the state; and (3) 2015-2018 American Community Survey (ACS) Census data.
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2022, grants awarded by the Program have led to more than 146,300 acres of idle land made ready
for productive use and more than 183,000 jobs and $35.2 billion leveraged. Cleaning up
contaminated sites to enhance the livability and economic vitality of overburdened and
underserved communities is a focus of a FY 2022-2023 Agency Priority Goal.
In FY 2023, the Agency will continue to invest in domestic recycling and solid waste infrastructure
that builds a circular economy. According to the U.S. EPA Recycling Economic Information
Report, the U.S. recycling industry supports 680,000 jobs and provides $5.5 billion annually in tax
revenues. In addition to these human resources and financial returns, the materials themselves hold
great value, as recent data indicate that materials worth $9 billion are thrown away each year. The
FY 2023 Budget includes $10.4 million and 43.4 FTE in the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act Waste Minimization and Recyling Program to better support the sustainable management of
resources, in addition to $10 million for Solid Waste Infrastructure in grant funding under State
and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG).
The Agency has a statutory role to ensure that contamination is quickly and effectively cleaned up
while ensuring protection of human health and the environment from releases of hazardous
substances. In FY 2023, an additional $10 million is invested to address critical gaps in EPA's
ability to oversee federal agencies/facilities cleanup, including Department of Defense PFAS
cleanup under CERCLA. The Agency also will assist with homeland security goals by investing
$10 million in critical resources to replace outdated Portable High-Throughput Integrated
Laboratory Identification System (PHILIS) equipment. PHILIS is EPA's mobile laboratory asset
for the on-site analysis of chemical warfare agent and toxic industrial compound contaminated
environmental samples.
Ensure the Safety of Chemicals for People and the Environment
The FY 2023 Budget provides additional resources to build Agency capacity to manage chemical
safety and toxic substances. EPA has significant responsibilities under amendments to the Toxic
Substances Control Act (TSCA) to ensure the safety of chemicals in or entering commerce and
addressing unreasonable risks to human health or the environment. Chemicals and toxic substances
are ubiquitous in our everyday lives and are often released into the environment from their
manufacture, processing, use, or disposal. EPA's work in managing chemical safety and toxic
substances is particularly important to vulnerable populations, including low-income, minority,
and indigenous populations, as well as children, who may be disproportionately affected by, and
particularly at risk from, exposure to chemicals.
To ensure that EPA can achieve the statutory requirements under TSCA, the Agency needs a
substantial increase in scientific expertise and financial resources. To facilitate this need, the FY
2023 Budget provides an additional $64.0 million and 201 FTE to the TSCA program. Based on
five years of implementing TSCA since enactment of the Lautenberg Act, the Agency has
determined that additional FTE are required to increase the capacity of the program to address the
heavy workload associated with chemical risk evaluations and risk management to support the
Agency's ability to meet statutory mandates. EPA will continue to emphasize quality, adherence
to statutory intent and timelines applicable to pre-market review of new chemicals, chemical risk
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evaluation and management, data development and information collection, and review of
Confidential Business Information (CBI) claims.
The Agency also has significant responsibility under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act (F1FRA) to screen new pesticides before they reach the market and ensure that
pesticides already in commerce are safe. In addition, EPA is responsible for complying with the
Endangered Species Act (ESA) and ensuring that federally endangered and threatened species are
not harmed when the Agency registers pesticides. Endangered species risk assessments involve
consideration of risks for approximately 1,200 active ingredients in more than 17,000 pesticide
products to more than 1,600 listed endangered species and 800 designated critical habitats in the
U.S. Given the complexity of evaluating potential effects to diverse listed species, EPA has been
unable to perform ESA evaluations for most of its required actions, which has resulted in numerous
successful litigation challenges for registration and registration review actions. To begin making
incremental progress toward meeting ESA mandates, the FY 2023 Budget includes an additional
$4.9 million and 10 FTE to enable the Pesticide program to integrate ESA requirements in
conducting risk assessments and making risk management decisions that protect federally
threatened and endangered species from exposure to new active ingredients.
In FY 2023, EPA will continue to work across environmental programs to advance Agency efforts
to tackle PFAS pollution, following the Agency's PFAS Strategic Roadmap.12 As part of the
President's commitment to tackling PFAS pollution, the FY 2023 Budget provides approximately
$126 million for EPA to increase its understanding of PFAS and human health and ecological
effects, restrict use to prevent PFAS from entering the air, land, and water, and remediate PFAS
that have been released into the environment. The FY 2023 Budget includes an increase of $4.2
million and 9 FTE for EPA's Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program to protect the public
from potential effects of PFAS through labeling to help purchasers identify products that meet
specific environmental performance criteria.
Restoring EPA's Core Capacity
The FY 2023 Budget includes 16,204.1 FTE, an increase of 1,907.1 above the current level, to
restore the Agency's capacity. Strategically increasing staffing levels across the Agency will
facilitate and expedite EPA's work to address air, water, and climate priorities and advance
environmental justice. EPA strives to provide modern and efficient workforce services and serve
as a model for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. The FY 2023 Budget supports this
goal by providing funding for increased efforts to enhance diverse hiring practices and more
equitable internship access to build the workforce of the future. The FY 2023 Budget also provides
robust support for implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of
2018. Resources also will ensure the Agency's IT assets and infrastructure are secure. In addition
to these investments, the Budget will provide 115 FTE to strengthen EPA's grants and procurement
workforce and ensure programmatic integrity. By increasing capacity at the Agency, the FY 2023
Budget will better position the Agency staff to fulfill our mission of protecting human health and
the environment efficiently and effectively.
12Formore information, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-strategic-roadmap-epas-commitments-action-2021-2024
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As EPA continues to strengthen its ability to recruit, hire, develop, promote, and retain top talent
and to remove barriers to equal opportunity at the management and staff levels, the Agency must
also provide resources and opportunities to strengthen and advance diversity, equity, inclusion,
and accessibility across executive leadership. The FY 2023 Budget provides $10 million and 62
FTE to support Agency-wide implementation of and Executive Order 14035: Diversity, Equity,
Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Federal Workforce. In FY 2023, EPA will implement
the actions identified in the Agency' s DEIA Strategic Plan and work to ensure Agency recruitment,
hiring, promotion, retention, professional development, performance evaluations, pay and
compensation policies, reasonable accommodations access, and training policies and practices are
equitable. The requested increase will support two key DEIA initiatives—the SES Candidate
Development Program and the paid internship program. The SES Candidate Development
Program will emphasize DEIA leadership so future EPA executives reflect the diversity of the
American people and are effectively trained in the skills necessary to lead a diverse workforce.
The paid internship program is being expanded to provide Federal work experience to more than
180 additional students, including from underrepresented and underserved populations, and
provide opportunities for conversion to permanent federal service after successfully completing
the program.
Expanded capacity also extends to ensuring that rigorous scientific integrity guides policy and the
Agency's regulatory process. Scientific and technological information, data, and evidence-based
decision making are central to the development and iterative improvement of sound policies and
to the delivery of effective and equitable programs. Environmental challenges in the 21st century
are increasingly complex. For example, the interplay between air quality, climate change, and
emerging energy options requires different thinking and solutions than those used in the past.
These solutions require research that transcends disciplinary lines and involve EPA regions and
programs working together with Tribal, state, and local partners, stakeholders, and communities.
The FY 2023 request includes $644 million and 1,853.8 FTE for EPA's Office of Research and
Development.
EPA has embarked on a multi-year effort to strengthen how the Agency identifies, prioritizes, and
undertakes evidence-building activities and develops evidence-building capacity to inform its
policies and decisions, consistent with the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of
2018. The FY 2023 Budget will promote program evaluation as an essential component of federal
evidence building. This effort will advance an evaluation culture through a bottom-up approach
and increase agencywide engagement in program evaluation. It also provides an opportunity for
capacity building throughout the Agency by engaging programs and regions with less evaluation
experience and broadening the types of evaluations that the Agency conducts. Work in this area
will increase the use of program evaluation and evidence building to inform Agency program,
policy, and resource decisions.
In FY 2023, EPA will leverage $31.6 million, an increase of $22.6 million, to protect the Agency's
information technology infrastructure and support implementation of Executive Order 14028:
Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity. In FY 2023, EPA will continue implementing multifactor
authentication, encrypting data at rest and in transit, implementing "Zero Trust Architecture"
network design, and implementing advanced logging technologies. These changes will

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dramatically increase information technology resiliency in the event of a malicious attack and limit
the amount of damage that can be done by bad actors.
By restoring EPA's core capacity and ensuring that mission support services are adequately
funded, the FY 2023 Budget will enable the Agency to carry out its goals effectively while being
a good steward of federal resources.
Resource Allocations to Goals and Objectives
In accordance with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) and the GPRA
Modernization Act of 2010, the FY 2023 Budget identifies resources aligned with the strategic
goals and objectives of the Agency's FY 2022 - 2026 EPA Strategic Plan. The Budget also
allocates agencywide mission and science support resources and FTE across the goals and
objectives. These resources provide support for multiple goals to achieve their objectives. This
support involves the provision of foundational agencywide and cross-agency research and
development, science, and essential mission assistance services by the EPA Offices of the
Administrator (OA), Chief Financial Officer (OCFO), General Counsel (OGC), Inspector General
(OIG), Mission Support (OMS), and Research and Development (ORD). The resource summaries
by Strategic Goal and Objective within the Congressional Justification provide the total of both
direct and allocated resources.
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