Oh, Goody: After The Big Bullshit Bill, Here Come The 2026 House Budget Plans For Interior, EPA
House Republican appropriators unveiled their fiscal 2026 funding legislation for the Interior Department and EPA, with steep cuts proposed for both agencies. The bill would approve about $38 billion for agencies under its purview, nearly $3 billion below the fiscal 2025 amount. Interior would get about $14.8 billion and EPA would be funded at $7 billion, a 23 percent cut for the environment agency.
The legislation is, however, more generous than the president’s budget request. The bill would appropriate about $9.2 billion above what the White House requested. The Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee will meet Tuesday to mark up the bill as lawmakers race to fund the government before the Sept. 30 deadline. Congress did not pass final appropriations bills last year, instead leaning on continuing resolutions.
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The House bill’s $1.6 billion for the Fish and Wildlife Service, for instance, is $109 million below the fiscal 2025 enacted level but $430 million above President Donald Trump’s budget request. In a similar vein, the $3.1 billion proposed for the National Park Service is $213 million below the fiscal 2025 level but $1 billion above Trump’s request. In a few cases, the bill would save programs that the White House sought to kill. The legislation, for instance, offers a $5 million lifeline to the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a cut from previous years but not the elimination Trump wants.
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House Republicans have other cuts for EPA programs. Their legislation would provide $2.27 billion for the agency’s Environmental and Programs Management account, which would be a $922.9 million cut. The bill would mirror the White House’s budget request for Superfund, EPA’s program for cleaning up contaminated sites, at nearly $283 million. It’s roughly half of the $538 million Superfund received from appropriations last fiscal year, but $1.6 billion in revenue available from reinstated industry taxes is expected to keep the program’s funding at roughly the same level. The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board would also continue operations with an $8.2 million budget. It’s a $6.2 million cut from last year but would keep it alive despite the Office of Management and Budget’s request to cancel the small investigatory agency.
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https://www.eenews.net/articles/house-releases-interior-epa-spending-bill-with-deep-cuts/