President Transmits Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request
On the heels of Congress averting a government shutdown, the Administration transmitted its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Budget Request to Congress on March 11. Totaling $7.3 trillion, the transmittal of the President’s budget request to Congress marks the official start of the appropriations process to develop FY2025 spending bills. However, while the document identifies the Administration’s policy priorities for the next fiscal year, historically, congressional appropriators largely ignore the Budget Request’s allocations and develop their own spending levels. The 2025 fiscal year starts on October 1.

Following the release of the Budget Request, federal agencies released their Budget in Briefs outlining the programmatic allocation requests. Of interest to CASA is out of the total $10.994 billion requested for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund is requested at $1.2 billion, $80 million for the WIFIA Program, and $170 million to continue the agency’s work as directed by the PFAS Roadmap. Additionally, the Agency is requesting budget authorities and directives that States may use their Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds to support water bills’ payments once the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) expires.

Below the budget in briefs for the agencies and departments of relevance for assisting clean water infrastructure projects.

 

Senate Committee To Review PFAS CERCLA Designation Consequences
On March 20, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will host a hearing to examine the issue of consequences of designating PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances under CERCLA, otherwise known as Superfund. The hearing announcement will be posted to the committee’s hearing webpage ahead of March 20. It will be livestreamed at https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/home.