On June 7, the House Appropriations Committee approved a $27.6 billion Interior-Environment spending bill that increases the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) FY 2008 budget to $8.1 billion, a $361 million increase over current spending. It is also $887 million more than President Bush's budget request, which will likely trigger a veto threat.

The appropriations bill currently allocates $788 million for core scientific research. This may be welcome news for EPA's network of libraries and laboratories, which have suffered from downsizing attempts in anticipation of significant 2008 budget cuts. The budget restoration may allow EPA to abandon its controversial plans for closings and consolidations.

In both cases, EPA cited the proposed cuts as necessitating restructuring efforts and has initiated plans to close multiple libraries and labs. The agency moved quickly in closing libraries in Chicago, Washington, DC, Dallas and Kansas City and limiting public access in four others. Congress voiced strong objections to the agency's actions, including a letter from powerful Democrats to halt all additional EPA library closings. In response, EPA agreed to not close any of its remaining 22 libraries, but took no action on the five regional libraries it had already closed.

However, the EPA labs, for which plans to cut staff and consolidate offices were leaked after the congressional hearings on EPA libraries, currently have no such protection. Stephen Johnson, EPA's administrator, has promised that no agency labs will be closed during his tenure, although a June 2006 memorandum indicates differently.

The exact amount of the research funding that would go to EPA libraries and labs cannot be determined from the broad breakdown provided in the bill. Such decisions will be left to the agency, should the appropriations bill make it through Congress and be signed by the president. However, the prospect of additional funding may be sufficient to derail restructuring efforts for labs and libraries that were predicated on severe funding reductions.

The House Interior and Environment bill is expected to be voted on the week of June 11.