Overnight Energy: Trump aiming for big spending cuts at EPA

by Timothy Cama and Devin Henry - 02/27/17 5:51 PM ET

EPA SPENDING CUTS ON THE HORIZON: President Trump is preparing deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of a massive overhaul of federal spending.

The White House on Monday said Trump would look to boost defense spending by $54 billion in exchange for equal cuts to domestic discretionary spending accounts.

According to reports, the EPA is among the agencies expected to absorb deep cuts in order to boost that influx of spending at the Pentagon.

The EPA’s $8.1 billion annual budget is a fraction of not only overall federal spending but also the Defense Department boost that Trump envisions. But the White House is reportedly considering taking a hatchet to the EPA’s climate change programs as part of the spending plan.

Read more about Trump’s EPA funding plan here and his Pentagon spending proposal here.

Watchdogs upset about the proposal: Possible EPA cuts raised alarm bells among environmental advocates on Monday.

“Trump’s rigged budget would stack the deck in favor of Big Oil and other corporate lobbyists who want to take the cops off the beat that protect clean drinking water, healthy air, and a safe climate for all people in this country,” Alex Taurel, the deputy legislative director at the League of Conservation Voters, said in a statement on Monday.

{mosads}The Environmental Defense Fund called the proposal a “reckless budget,” adding, “here’s what cutting EPA’s budget means in the real world: more air pollution, more asthma attacks for kids, more health problems.”

Read more here.

Pruitt aims for ‘aggressive’ regs rollback: Trump’s new EPA administrator is likely to be an ally of the president’s budget cutting plans.

At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said he will target an “aggressive” regulatory rollback at the EPA and criticized the Obama administration’s focus on climate change.

“I think there are some regulations that in the near term need to be rolled back in a very aggressive way,” he said. “And I think maybe [this] week, you may be hearing about some of those, as it relates to some of these key issues.”

Pruitt has previously signaled his openness to cutting spending at his agency, though he has pledged to support the state grant programs that make up nearly half of the agency’s budget.

Read more here.

SENATE TAKES UP INTERIOR PICK: The Senate is set to take a procedural vote Monday evening to move forward on Trump’s nomination of Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) to be Interior secretary.

The vote on Zinke would kick off a formal 30 hours of Senate debate on his nomination and allow a final confirmation vote as early as Wednesday morning.

Zinke easily passed through the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last month by a 16 to 6 vote, picking up support from numerous Democrats.

He made a point at his confirmation hearing to emphasize plans to increase cooperation with local and state representatives and to break with the GOP and strongly oppose large-scale transfers of federal land.

Opposition to Zinke among Democrats and conservationists has not been nearly as high-pitched as the fights against nominees like the EPA’s Pruitt.

EPA DELAYS MINING RULE: The EPA decided late Friday to extend the public comment period on a proposed rule to ensure hard rock mining companies can pay to clean up their operations.

The move by Pruitt effectively pushes the rule back four months, although the agency still plans to make it final by a court-ordered Dec. 1 deadline.

The rule is opposed by Republicans and the mining industry, who say it would unnecessarily increase their costs. Democrats and environmentalists say it would help ensure mines are cleaned up and taxpayers aren’t stuck with the bill

Pruitt said extending the comment period will allow affected stakeholders a better opportunity to weigh in.

“As I said to EPA staff on Tuesday, we are here to listen, and by extending this comment period we are demonstrating that we are listening to miners, owners and operators all across America and to all parties interested in this important rule,” he said in a statement.

Read more here.

INTERIOR BACKS OFF JOBS CLAIM: The Interior Department has edited a blog post about a coal mining rule to remove disputed figures about the number of jobs it would have impacted.

A Feb. 21 blog post on Interior’s website claimed that the Stream Protection Rule, a regulation to protect waterways from the negative impacts of coal mining, would have led to the loss of “7,000 clean coal jobs in 22 states.” Trump signed a resolution nixing that rule the previous week.

Supporters of the rule disputed that figure, saying its actual impact on employment would have been much lower.

On Friday, the figure was removed from the blog post. The page now says it was updated “for clarification,” and it still hails Trump’s action blocking the rule as one that will “harness the power of American energy, restore their jobs and reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens.”

Office of Surface Mining research said the rule would have ended about 124 mining jobs each year by decreasing demand for coal. But implementing the rule would have create about 280 compliance-related jobs each year, for a net gain in employment.

Read more here.

ON TAP TUESDAY I: President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress for the first time. Follow along at The Hill.

ON TAP TUESDAY II: The House Science Committee will hold a hearing on the social cost of carbon metric.

Rest of Tuesday’s agenda …

A federal district court judge will hear arguments in a tribe’s legal challenge to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

A House Agriculture Committee panel will meet to discuss conservation issues in next year’s farm bill.

AROUND THE WEB:

St. Paul, Minn., has launched a “Climate Action Plan” to go carbon neutral, the Star Tribune reports.

Several members of the California state legislature are opposing a new fossil fuel power plant outside of Los Angeles, the Ventura County Star reports.

Workers are shutting down water flows to the damaged Oroville Dam spillway in California in order to clear debris and examine the structure, the Sacramento Bee reports.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out stories from Monday and the weekend …

-Interior backs off claim about jobs saved by coal rule change
-Regulatory watchdogs concerned about Trump’s budget cuts
-EPA delays rule on mining cleanup funding
-Week ahead: Confirmation votes lined up for Interior, Energy picks
-Trump to ask for major EPA, State cuts to boost military spending: reports
-Five takeaways from the Scott Pruitt emails
-EPA chief calls for ‘aggressive’ rollback of regulations at CPAC