Senate appropriators will hear testimony on U.S. EPA's budget request for fiscal 2013 on Wednesday, in advance of writing their own bill to fund the agency.

President Obama has requested $8.3 billion for EPA next fiscal year, 1.2 percent less than it received last year but still more than Congress is likely to provide for the coming year (E&E Daily, May 11).

The Senate Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee already held a similar hearing for the Interior Department in February.

But a stand-alone spending bill for Interior, EPA and other agencies is not expected to see a floor vote in either the House or Senate, given a short legislative schedule and a long list of controversial policy riders that would be likely be offered at every stage.

House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said in an interview last week, "If we're going to have an open process, we need to be more restrained with our amendments"(E&ENews PM, May 10).

Last year the House version of the spending bill included provisions to bar EPA from implementing its greenhouse gas and mercury rules for utilities, among other restrictions. And more were added by the full Appropriations Committee and by the House. The measure was finally pulled from the floor with no vote before Congress left for its August recess (E&ENews PM, Aug. 1, 2011).

The Senate bill never received a full-committee markup.

EPA appropriations are likely to be wrapped into a combined spending bill that will provide for several agencies at once.

But although they may not finish work on their spending bills, appropriations chairmen in both chambers have said they want to follow regular order by holding hearings, drafting bills and marking them up.

The biggest proposed EPA budget cuts would hit the Drinking Water and Clean Water state revolving funds, through which money flows to states. The administration proposed cutting those funds to $2 billion from $2.38 billion.

Obama's budget proposal also calls for trimming $33 million from the Superfund hazardous waste cleanup program.

The proposal calls for $249 million to support air pollution and climate change research and analysis and $473 million for implementing climate and air quality regulations.

Schedule: The subcommittee hearing is Wednesday, May 16, at 10:30 a.m. in 124 Dirksen.

Witnesses: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson; EPA Chief Financial Officer Barbara Bennett