Funding for research on land disposal of hazardous wastes will be decreased by about one-third ($2.89 million) from 1985 levels, and the budget for alternative technology research bas not taken up the slack.
Centers of excellence
result in a total budget of $4.8 million-or an average of $0.6 million for
sisted of about 2168 lents (an EPA measure els); the 1987 level ' 1786-a decline of 15 Table 1 shows the ch
In other areas, EPA plans to reduce extramural grants by $3.5 million to $8.3 million. The reason given is that the number of new grants awarded will be reduced so that resources can be focused on high-priority research areas. Although this budget proposal effectively allows EPA's current research program to continue, it does not reflect the fact that in nearly every agency regulatory program that deals with hazardous materials, there is a significant lack of informatmn abut ambient levels, effects, or control technologies. Given the likelihood of future massive cuts to the federal budget, only Congress can resolve this serious problem.
Richard M. Dowd, Ph.D.. is a b h ington, D. C., conrultanr to Environmental Research & Technology, Inc. American Chemic& Sociely
