EPA, DOT make record budget requests

WASHINGTON (Feb. 8)—The Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency have made record requests for funding as part of the Clinton administration´s budget proposal for fiscal year 2001. The DOT´s request of $54.9 billion—a 9-percent increase over 2000—includes $1.7 billion for auto, highway and truck safety, DOT Secretary Rodney E. Slater said. The EPA´s proposed budget of $7.3 billion represents the biggest budget increase the administration has ever made for the agency, said EPA Administrator Carol Browner. The environmental agency´s budget request includes $1.45 billion for the Superfund program and $92 million for "brownfields," or inner-city industrial sites.