Fiscal Cliff Deal Prolongs EPA Budget Woes But Extends Clean Energy Credits

Date: January 4, 2013

Source: News Room

Congressional approval of legislation to avoid the "fiscal cliff" of budget cuts and tax increases prolongs uncertainty over EPA's future funding levels though the bill does extend several clean energy tax credits, including the production tax credit (PTC). The fiscal cliff comprises a slew of tax increases and $1.2 trillion in discretionary spending cuts over ten years as dictated by the Budget Control Act (BCA). The BCA sequestration would cut EPA's existing budget of roughly $8.4 billion down to $7.7 billion. The Senate and House bill (H.R. 8) delays the sequestration by two months while Congress works out a longer-term agreement and also extends the renewable energy PTC that had expired December 31. That includes $1-per-gallon biodiesel tax incentive of which Anne Steckel, vice president of federal affairs at the National Biodiesel Board, representing the biodiesel industry, said "is important not just for jobs but for diversifying our energy supplies, improving our energy security and reducing costly emissions."

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