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.

MAHA Backers Warn Of Fallout For GOP Over PFAS Biosolids Measure

Supporters of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement are pressing President Donald Trump to oppose a measure included in FY26 House spending legislation that would bar EPA from acting on a Biden-era draft risk assessment of two legacy PFAS in biosolids. In an Aug. 11 letter to the president, as well as EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, they warn of potential political repercussions for Republicans in the...

EPA Bid To Terminate Solar Grants Hinges On Trump’s Budget Law

EPA is arguing last month’s budget reconciliation law requires it to terminate nearly $7 billion in grants for community solar energy deployment because the statute rescinded the agency’s ability to oversee the awards, but recipients are readying litigation against the move and are likely to argue EPA is misinterpreting the new law. “As both the grant appropriations and the EPA’s administrative cost appropriation are rescinded, the agency no longer possesses either the substantive legal authority or the financial appropriations needed...

Key EPA Union Chief Vows Continued Fight Amid ‘Existential’ Threats

The president of EPA’s largest union says the agency’s termination of its contract is an “existential threat” to the organization, but the union will continue to advise employees and pivot to a more politically oriented strategy in a bid to defend labor rights at EPA. Justin Chen, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Council 238, told members at an Aug. 13 town hall meeting that the union is “fighting for our lives . . . as far...

House Democrats urge EPA to preserve ORD

Nearly 90 House Democrats are urging the Trump administration to preserve EPA’s Office of Research & Development (ORD), warning that without the crucial scientific research the office conducts, the agency will be unable to ensure safe air, water and land. Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI), ranking member of the Science, Space & Technology Committee’s environment panel, and Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC), led the Aug. 7 letter signed by 88 House Democrats to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin demanding answers for why ORD...

EPA Reorganization Foes Ask To Return Suit To Trial Court As RIFs Proceed

The plaintiff coalition attempting to block reorganization and mass firings at EPA and other agencies is urging an appeals court to return its lawsuit to the district court, arguing that the case should be reconsidered after two Supreme Court orders and in light of “ongoing discovery and evolving circumstances” surrounding the reorganization. Cities, nonprofits and federal unions filed an Aug. 5 motion to remand the preliminary injunction being appealed in the case -- though the Justice Department (DOJ) opposes the...

Environmentalists Urge Court To Enjoin EJ Grant Freeze, Reject Dismissal

Environmentalists are hoping a federal district court will prevent EPA from continuing to enjoin $2.5 billion in already-obligated environmental justice grants and reject the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss the novel class-action case, following an Aug. 5 hearing. Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia heard Aug. 5 arguments over the competing motions in Appalachian Voices, et al. v. EPA , the suit where environmentalists are seeking class-action status that could overcome procedural hurdles...

Two Democratic Governors Join State AGs’ Suit Over OMB Grant Freeze

The Democratic governors of Kansas and Kentucky are joining forces with Democratic attorneys general (AGs) in a lawsuit seeking to halt what they say are unlawful Trump administration grant freezes at EPA and other agencies, bringing to 24 the number of states and localities challenging the freezes. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) joined the case, New Jersey, et al. v. U.S. Office of Management & Budget (OMB)., et al. , in the U.S. District...

Most House Democrats Back States’ Suit Challenging Trump Funding Freeze

Nearly two-thirds of House Democrats have signed on to an amicus brief in support of Democratic states’ suit challenging the Trump administration’s sweeping funding freeze at EPA and other agencies, arguing the freeze on appropriated funds to states violates the Constitution, harms constituents and decimates Congress’ ability to function. “The President is attempting to override Congress’s constitutional lawmaking authority,” the lawmakers say. “When a new President is elected, the laws of the United States are not wiped clean and...

Court To Weigh First Class Action Injunction Request Over EPA Grant Freeze

A district court judge is slated to hear arguments next week in the first class-action suit seeking to force the Trump EPA to release previously obligated environmental justice (EJ) grants, even though the agency is arguing the case is moot because the grant funds were rescinded in Republicans’ recently enacted reconciliation law. However, environmentalists say the case is not moot because the vast majority of the $3 billion at issue was not rescinded in the law. Judge Richard Leon of...

EPA Seeks To Extend Energy Star ICR, Opening Door To Retaining Program

EPA is seeking to extend an expiring Information Collection Request (ICR) to inform its Energy Star voluntary efficiency labeling program, a routine step that appears to leave the door open to retaining the program that a broad range of supporters feared the Trump administration was planning to eliminate. The agency is set to publish the proposed ICR in the Federal Register Aug. 1. Although the extension request is not a definitive indication of EPA’s plans, if the ICR is...

EPA Extends Third-Round Buyouts Amid Continued Employee Interest

EPA has extended its third round of buyouts and early retirement offers targeting employees in offices slated for reorganizations and mass firings, driving forward on downsizing despite having already reduced staff to the lowest levels since 1985. In a July 25 mass mailer email , EPA announced that it is extending the third round of its Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) and Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) until Aug. 1. With some exceptions, the offer -- first announced July 17 --...

EPA watchdog warns of brownfields staff drop-off in FY 2027

EPA’s inspector general is warning that a large spike in brownfields grants funded by the Biden-era infrastructure law will outlast the more-modest increase in EPA staff that administer and provide oversight for the projects, potentially degrading cleanup outcomes after the end of fiscal year 2026. The July 23 report from EPA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), “Audit of the EPA’s Brownfields Program Management and Funding Allocations,” also identified inaccuracies in an internal EPA database that tracks already-awarded grants. The...

‘Appalled’ Appropriators Order EPA To Preserve ORD, Improve Transparency

‘Appalled’ Senate appropriators are criticizing EPA’s plans to eliminate its research office in unusually strong terms while ordering officials to maintain and restore the office’s staffing levels and functionality, in addition to expressing frustration with EPA’s reorganizations, staff cuts, grant terminations and lack of transparency. The committee voted 26-2 July 24 to approve EPA’s fiscal year 2026 spending legislation , which says EPA “shall maintain staffing levels within the Office of Research and Development by hiring, retaining, and rehiring after...

Senate’s FY26 Bill Boosts EPA’s SRF Spending But Earmarks 21 Percent

Senate appropriators are seeking to boost spending on EPA’s state revolving loan funds (SRFs) for water infrastructure to $2.8 billion in fiscal year 2026, a significant increase from what the administration requested, though the bill earmarks almost $600 million of that for local projects, a move that is likely to renew criticism of the practice. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its interior and environment appropriations bill in a 26-2 vote July 24 . Overall, the bill funds EPA at $8.6...

Senate Appropriators Rebuke Multiple EPA Climate Policy Rollbacks

Senate appropriators in their fiscal year 2026 spending bill are rebuking multiple aspects of EPA and other agencies’ climate and clean energy policy rollbacks, voicing support for continued EPA efforts to curb “harmful” greenhouse gases and to take various steps to cut planet-warming emissions. The legislation would give EPA $299 million for “efforts to address harmful air pollutants including greenhouse gases that are contributing to climate change,” the Senate Appropriations Committee says in a report accompanying their FY26 bill for...

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Senate Appropriators Double EPA’s Budget Request, Setting Showdown

Senate appropriators have approved EPA’s fiscal year 2026 budget at $8.6 billion, more than double the $4.16 billion the agency requested and more than the $7 billion House Republicans are planning to provide, with the increased spending aimed at boosting funding for water infrastructure, agency personnel and other measures. But the funding increase could spark a showdown as policymakers scramble to approve the spending before the end of the fiscal year at the end of September. The Senate Appropriations Committee...

Appropriators Advance EPA’s FY26 Bill, Rejecting Democratic Amendments

House GOP appropriators have approved their bill that would cut EPA spending in fiscal year 2026 by 23 percent while rejecting a suite of Democratic amendments that sought to curb policy restrictions on Biden-era rules and reinstate funding for key water infrastructure and environmental justice programs. During a July 22 markup, the House Appropriations Committee voted 33-28 along party lines to approve the FY26 bill for EPA and related agencies, clearing the measure for floor consideration when lawmakers return from...

EPA Staff Weigh Legal Options To Oppose ORD Elimination, Mass Firings

EPA employees are weighing their legal options to challenge the agency’s forthcoming mass firings at the Office of Research and Development (ORD), while environmental, public health and civil service advocates renewed warnings that the move would damage public protections and hand more regulatory influence to industry. “ORD employees will have recourse” in the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), said Timothy Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) representing some EPA employees, in a July 21 message to...

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