AP Photo Obama proposing clean-water cuts amid Flint outcry

The Obama administration is expected to propose a $250 million cut to its primary funding source for water and sewer systems as part of its budget proposal Tuesday — a prospect that is bringing bipartisan criticism amid the furor over lead contamination in Flint, Mich.

The budget calls for adding $158 million to an Environmental Protection Agency program that offers grants and low-interest loans to help states and cities improve their drinking water systems, according to a source familiar with the proposal. But it would pay for that by making even larger cuts to an EPA clean water program that helps reduce pollution at the source, a trade-off that lawmakers on both sides call foolish.


"We cannot take money away from the fund that cleans up the polluted Flint River — the source of Flint’s drinking water — and put it into fixing Flint’s pipes," said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who called himself "grossly disappointed" by the proposal. Cardin noted that the administration's expected request for drinking water spending is lower than what President Barack Obama sought last year, even if it's more than what Congress wound up providing.

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, accused Obama of making clean drinking water a lesser priority than climate change, a frequent complaint of Republican lawmakers about Obama's EPA budget proposals.

“It took the media bringing to light the crisis in Flint, Michigan for the president to become concerned with the EPA’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund," Inhofe said in a statement, referring to the program that Obama is proposing to increase. "Every year previous, the president’s budget proposal has sought to short change this fund while increasing funding for subsidies for his corporate friends that share his global warming views."

Both water programs "are fiscally responsible," Inhofe said. "The federal government can responsibly help Flint, and help prevent another Flint from happening by supporting infrastructure investment."

But environmentalists said GOP lawmakers have been standing in the way of protecting clean water.

“For years, they have been slashing EPA's overall funding, and trying to block water quality protections proposed by the Administration,” Mae Wu, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, wrote in a blog post Monday. “The endless attacks have made it harder for the agency to do its job, chilled efforts of agency staff, and contributed to the timidity of the officials in responding to the growing Flint crisis.”

Wu also criticized the administration’s proposed cut to the clean water fund, however. “Both of the [programs] need more funding,” she wrote.

The EPA has not responded to requests for comment about the budget request.

Obama's budget request is landing as Flint's water crisis is becoming an ever more prominent cause for Democrats like Hillary Clinton, who took a detour from her New Hampshire presidential campaign on Sunday to visit an African-American church in the beleaguered city and condemn the lead pollution as "immoral." The contamination, which arose after a state-imposed emergency manager signed off on switching the city's water source to save money, has spurred Democratic attacks on Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and, by extension, the GOP's entire approach to governing.

But the EPA budget is also part of an annual tug of war between Obama and congressional Republicans, who have repeatedly attacked the administration for proposing cuts to the agency's popular water infrastructure program while boosting spending on causes like air pollution and climate change. Because Congress typically restores much of the water money, proposing those cuts is seen as a politically expedient way for the administration to look like it's holding the line on spending when it rolls out Obama's yearly budget proposals.

But this year, Flint has dramatically raised the stakes on the politics of drinking water. In addition to Clinton's visit to Flint on Sunday, she and Democratic rival Bernie Sanders agreed last week to hold a presidential debate in the city March 6.

The administration's proposed $158 million increase for EPA's drinking water fund would bring it to a total of $1.02 billion for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, the source said.

But that extra money comes at the expense of the fund’s sister, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which helps state and local authorities upgrade wastewater treatment plants whose pollution damages the rivers and lakes that serve as sources of drinking water. All told, the two programs would get $250 million less than Congress gave them last year, down to $2 billion, the source said.

The White House’s budget request will seek a total of $8.27 billion for the EPA. That’s down 3.8 percent from what the administration requested for the agency last year, but it's more than the $8.1 billion that Congress actually provided.

The administration will also propose $20 million in first-time funding for a water infrastructure loan program that Congress authorized in 2014, the source said. The program, known as the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, has yet to make a loan, but senators have eyed it as a possible source of money during their negotiations over a federal aid package to Flint and other cities.

Under WIFIA, Treasury can make low-interest loans for 10 times the amount of money that Congress appropriates — an appealing characteristic for budget-conscious Republicans. The loans must be repaid, though, which would make it a challenge for impoverished cities like Flint.

Alex Guillen contributed to this report.