NTEU CHAPTER 280 - U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,  NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
BEN FRANKLIN STATION,  BOX 7672, WASHINGTON D.C. 20044 - PHONE 202-566-2788
INTERNET http://www.nteu280.org  E MAIL Hirzy.John@epa.gov

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NTEU 280 CONDEMNS BUSH ADMINISTRATION EFFORTS
TO CUT THE EPA BUDGET BY $500 MILLION

Since 1980 the EPA budget has been so strangled  that its share of the total federal budget is now less than 50% of what it was in 1980.  Meanwhile, EPA's responsibilities have been significantly expanded by new laws passed by Congress.

We, the employees who work every day at the EPA, have seen the grim results of this policy.  Time and again EPA has been unable to carry out its work. 

* EPA was so short of funds in the late 1980's that it was not able to deal effectively with disastrous environmental problems at its own headquarters.

* The recent PBS documentary on the chemical industry revealed major problems in EPA’s ability to regulate the safety of chemicals that Americans use every day.

* Two years ago the EPA was so short of cash that it eliminated the entire indoor air research program, even while listing indoor air pollution as one of America’s 10 most severe environmental problems.

The continued budgetary strangulation of EPA is a threat to the health and safety of the American people.

It is deceptive to suggest that the Balkanization of American environmental policy by dismantling EPA’s enforcement programs and replacing them with a hodgepodge of state programs benefits the public. To suggest that 50 different bureaucracies in 50 different States will be more cost-effective and efficient than one well-trained professional national EPA enforcement program is absurd.

Environmental health and safety are nothing less than a national Right to Life.

EPA’s budgetary strangulation must stop, and sufficient funds must be provided for investigating and controlling such major environmental risks as indoor air quality and exposures to tens of thousands of commercial chemicals.

NOTE: Last year, only one-fourth of EPA’s funding actually went to pay for the Agency’s internal programs - the rest went to contractors and other outsiders.