Budget

EPA's annual appropriations funding sets the tone for the scope of the agency's agenda during each fiscal year. Our Budget section tracks the latest news on how the agency is implementing its existing dollars and how future budgets may affect its work.

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EPA's annual appropriations funding sets the tone for the scope of the agency's agenda during each fiscal year. Our Budget section tracks the latest news on how the agency is implementing its existing dollars and how future budgets may affect its work.

Utilities Press EPA To Boost WIFIA Support Amid Loan-Closure Slowdown

A coalition of wastewater and drinking water groups is urging EPA to boost its support for its Water Infrastructure and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan program given key financial aid it provides for water infrastructure projects amid fears over significant slowdowns in WIFIA loan closings over the past year. Led by the Water Environment Federation, the groups sent an Oct. 27 letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, urging EPA to “continue growing this important source of financing for locally- and regionally-...

EPA Union Breaks With AFGE, Backs Democrats’ Shutdown Demands

The head of EPA’s largest union is urging congressional Democrats to hold out for healthcare concessions in the ongoing government shutdown battle, linking it to EPA’s role in protecting human health, apparently breaking with the larger union organization, which has recently called for an end to the shutdown. “Trump and Republicans in Congress have the power to end the shutdown now by supporting a deal that includes healthcare funding,” said Justin Chen, president of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)...

EPA Poised To Stand Up Merged Superfund-Emergency Management Office

EPA plans to stand up its new Office of Superfund and Emergency Management (OSEM) on Nov. 2, as it merges three offices -- Superfund, emergency management and federal facilities cleanup -- under the umbrella of the agency’s Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM). The move is part of its massive reorganization effort that includes overhauling various parts of the agency, including gutting EPA’s research office and changes to the air, water and chemicals offices. For example, EPA deputy chemicals...

Environmentalists Detail Venue Claims In EPA EJ Grant Funding Appeal

Environmentalists are urging the D.C. Circuit to find that district courts, rather than claims court where remedies are limited, are the proper venue for their appeal of EPA’s decision to end nearly $3 billion in environmental justice (EJ) grants, arguing that the suit targets EPA’s unconstitutional decision to eliminate a program Congress mandated. Their Oct. 27 brief in Appalachian Voices, et al. v. EPA, et al. relies heavily on Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s “controlling opinion in the Supreme Court’s...

Judge Extends Block On Shutdown Firings, Citing ‘Political Retribution’

A federal judge has extended a block on reductions in force (RIFs) at EPA and other agencies during the government shutdown, saying unions are likely correct that the Trump administration’s firing plans are illegally haphazard, politically motivated and based on the false notion that the shutdown allows for the elimination of statutorily required functions. The order means that EPA must not conduct planned firings in the waste and chemical offices -- in addition to any other RIF plans that may...

Water Utilities Raise Fears Over EPA’s Failure To Allocate FY25 LCRI Funds

Officials at Midwestern municipal water systems are calling for additional federal funding to support implementation of the Biden-era lead and copper rule improvements (LCRI), raising concerns that states have not received federal fiscal year 2025 allocations and spurring uncertainty for future funding resources. During an Oct. 22 webinar hosted by BlueGreen Alliance on implementation of lead service line replacement efforts across major cities, Patrick Pauly, superintendent of the Milwaukee Water Works, noted the success that funding from the $15 billion...

Some EPA Regulatory Staff Continue Work Amid Broad Furlough Uncertainty

As the government shutdown nears its 5th week, some EPA regulatory staff, including in the air, waste and chemicals offices, are continuing to work on the Trump administration’s policy priorities, Superfund cleanups and other matters even as the agency furloughs scores of staffers amid uncertainty over how long funding will remain. Lynn Dekleva, deputy assistant administrator in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), told reporters following an event at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Oct. 22 that...

Amid ‘Profound’ EPA Enforcement Decline, States May Pick Up Some Slack

As EPA enforcement actions crater amid dramatic staff losses and deregulatory priorities, former officials and other experts say states and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) might seek to pick up some of the slack, though resource challenges could ultimately limit their ability to fully replace the lost federal effort. “In the near term, it’s really all about the states,” said Biden EPA enforcement chief David Uhlmann, during an Oct. 23 session of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) environment section fall conference in...

EPA Said To Issue Furlough Notices To Regions, Half Of Headquarters Staff

EPA has sent furlough notices affecting several regional offices and half of headquarters employees as the ongoing government shutdown enters its fourth week, sources tell Inside EPA , a move that could signal a much broader slowdown in agency activities compared to the government shutdown’s initial few weeks. Affected employees may be furloughed up to a month or until the shutdown ends, according to a furlough notice reviewed by Inside EPA . The agency has been using “carryover” funds to...

EPA Facing Stubborn Backlog Of State Air Plans Amid Staffing, Budget Cuts

EPA is facing a stubbornly large backlog of unprocessed state implementation plans (SIPs) for meeting federal air quality standards, according to recent agency data, underscoring how challenging it will be to significantly reduce processing times in line with Trump administration priorities, as agency staffing and funding undergo reductions. In a Sept. 25 presentation to the Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies (AAPCA) Fall Business Meeting in Raleigh, NC, EPA air official Scott Matthias, director of the Air Quality Policy Division...

EPA, OIG At Odds Over Interpretation Of Audit Sufficiency For SRF Programs

EPA and its Office of Inspector General (OIG) are at odds over the watchdog arm’s finding that the agency lacks sufficient clarity on its state revolving fund programs’ (SRF) operations to identify potential waste, fraud and abuse without audited financial statements of the program, despite OIG declining to provide recommendations to the agency. OIG issued an Oct. 15 report titled “Audit of Compliance with the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Financial Statement Audit Requirements,” which aimed to...

As OMB Seeks Dismissal, Democrats Urge Court To Reject OMB Grant Freeze

Led by Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), 13 Democratic lawmakers are backing a suit filed by states urging a federal court to reject EPA and other agencies’ freeze on grants that no longer reflect “agency priorities,” though the Trump administration is urging the court to dismiss the suit. The lawmakers filed an amicus brief last month in the case, New Jersey, et al. v. OMB , in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, arguing that agencies’ claims...

Trump Sets New Political Criteria For EPA Hires, Extends Hiring Freeze

President Trump has signed a new executive order (EO) that broadly extends the hiring freeze at EPA and other agencies, except for hiring consistent with the president’s “priorities” and subject to strict management by administration appointees. The Oct. 15 EO , “Ensuring Continued Accountability in Federal Hiring,” indefinitely extends a pre-existing hiring freeze and orders the creation of political “Strategic Hiring Committees” within each agency to supervise every new hire. “No Federal civilian position that is vacant may be filled,...

RIF Targets Recycling Office That Enjoys Broad Bipartisan, Industry Support

The recycling division within EPA’s waste office that the Trump administration has targeted for reductions in force (RIFs) during the government shutdown is a primarily non-regulatory group with broad support among the waste industry and both parties in Congress, a former longtime official tells Inside EPA . “It doesn’t matter whether it’s Republicans or Democrats that are running the show at the time -- before their term is up, they all come to appreciate this program and what it brings,”...

Judge Blocks ‘Illegal’ And ‘Politically Motivated’ Shutdown Firings At EPA

A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the Trump administration’s attempts to use the ongoing government shutdown to fire 28 EPA waste office employees and thousands of other federal workers. In an Oct. 15 ruling from the bench, Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California blocked the White House, EPA and other agencies from issuing reduction in force (RIF) notices to federal employees “during or because of the federal...

EPA Signals Intent To ‘RIF’ 20-30 Waste Office Staff Amid Broader Firings

The Trump administration is moving forward on its threats to initiate firings of employees at EPA and other agencies during the ongoing government shutdown, sending notices that it intends to issue reduction in force (RIF) notices to between 20 and 30 EPA employees in its waste office, sources say. In an Oct 10 court filing , the Trump administration said EPA “issued a general ‘intent to RIF’ notice to approximately 20-30 employees on October 10, 2025, notifying them that they...

EPA Begins Furloughing Some Employees As Funds Appear To Dwindle

EPA has begun to furlough some staff amid the ongoing government shutdown, likely signaling that “carryover” funds from left-over appropriations and other sources that the administration was using to keep employees paid and working have begun to run thin. A regional union source tells Inside EPA Oct. 9 that Regions 2, 6 and 9, as well as the Office of Air and Radiation, have furloughed an unknown number of staff. Region 5 is also expected to begin furloughing employees...

Courts Stall Most Federal Environmental Cases Amid Government Shutdown

Federal courts are agreeing to most Justice Department (DOJ) requests to pause proceedings in an array of lawsuits involving EPA and other federal agencies, citing the lapse in funding and statutory furlough requirements, though some judges are making exceptions for particularly pressing cases. Many DOJ employees, along with support staff in EPA and other agencies, are statutorily barred from working during a shutdown unless they are performing narrowly defined critical functions, and DOJ has cited those requirements to justify pausing...

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