H.R. 953 would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and states authorized to issue permits under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) from requiring a permit for some discharges of pesticides. Specifically, public and private entities would no longer need to obtain an NPDES permit for certain discharges of pesticides if their use is authorized under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or in cases where the discharge is regulated as either a stormwater, municipal, or industrial discharge under the Clean Water Act.
Based on information from the EPA, CBO estimates that enacting this legislation would have no significant effect on the federal budget. Any administrative savings to the EPA that might result from issuing fewer permits would be negligible because the EPA has delegated the authority to issue most NPDES permits to states.
Enacting H.R. 953 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply to the bill. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 953 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
H.R. 953 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
