House 2026 budget guts environmental protections

This story was originally published by The New Lede Republicans are proposing deep cuts to the US Environmental Protection Agency EPA in the fiscal year appropriations bill which additionally would limit federal help for farmers dealing with forever chemical contamination The bill circulated this week and debated in a US House of Representatives subcommittee on Tuesday would impact regulations for clean water and air use and management of populace land wildlife habitats and endangered species protections In addition to a broad proposed cut to the EPA s overall budget the bill seeks to reduce the budgets of the US Fish and Wildlife Organization and the National Park Amenity each by about All three proposed agency budgets however are higher than President Donald Trump requested Supporters disclosed the bill would right-size agencies that had become bloated and instead prioritize domestic capacity production tribal and wildfire promotion The bill increases funding for Tribal Community Safety and Justice programs Indian Healthcare Services wildland fire management and offshore oil and gas enhancement budgets However Democrats and environmental groups announced the deep budget cuts threaten clean air and water There are dozens of sections in the bill that target Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act regulations including blocking the use of funds to limit greenhouse gases from oil and gas operations or farms tailpipe emissions or polluted effluent from livestock farms Cuts would also limit financial assistance programs for state clean water and drinking water programs and would reduce materials for the federal Superfund undertaking which manages the cleanup of dangerously polluted sites around the country The bill also eliminates funding for diversity equity and inclusion programs and environmental justice initiatives It cuts water infrastructure funding slashes EPA programs and wipes out environmental justice and situation initiatives US Rep Chellie Pingree reported in a report Pingree a Democrat from Maine is Ranking Member of the Interior Ecosystem and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee that convened on Tuesday Related With Lee Zeldin tapped to head EPA President Trump sets the stage for regulatory rollbacks The Senate has not yet distributed its version of the FY House Interior Climate and Related Agencies bill The House version is one of countless right now going through Congress which has a September regime funding deadline Congress did not pass final appropriations bills last year rather it passed a continuing resolution to keep the regime funded through this September PFAS in sewage sludge pesticide labeling The bill also prohibits the use of any EPA funds to finalize implement administer or enforce the agency s draft assessment on two harmful types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances PFAS that are that are known to be are contaminating farms ranches and dairies around the country The assessment on perfluorooctanoic acid PFOA and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid PFOS published in January concluded there may be human wellbeing risks from PFAS-tainted sewage sludge fertilizer and outlined a series of approaches the agency would take to address the defilement PFOS and PFOA are linked to a variety of strength problems including certain cancers and immune system and reproductive harms Across the country farms have had to be condemned and livestock slaughtered due to PFAS impurity from fertilizers Laura Dumais staff counsel at Masses Employees for Environmental Responsibility PEER revealed in a comment Further delay in preventing more of these needless tragedies would be unconscionable Last year PEER sued the EPA for delays in addressing PFAS in sewage sludge fertilizers The affair was dismissed in December and PEER has appealed The bill as written would continue the Trump administration s moves to limit the federal regime s role in protecting citizens from PFAS In May the EPA mentioned it will rescind limits set under President Joe Biden on four types of PFAS widely identified in drinking water The bill wades into ongoing disagreement over pesticide labeling by blocking any federal funds from being used to issue or adopt any guidance or any agenda take any regulatory action or approve any labeling or change to such labeling for labels that are inconsistent with the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act Environmental and vitality advocates say this signals the feds want to continue discouraging states from adopting pesticide labels more strict than the EPA-approved labels which is something pesticide makers and large farm groups have pushed for And the bill would bar any action to limit use of the sterilizing chemical and fumigant ethylene oxide a known carcinogen Its continued use is in the present under review by the EPA Questioning fiscal responsibility Republicans defended the cuts as restoring fiscal responsibility This bill reflects strong stewardship of America s natural and financial tools It directs the management of our citizens lands recreation and vigor improvement while cutting millions in wasteful spending House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole a Republican from Oklahoma declared in a announcement But Pingree announced any arguments that these irresponsible cuts are somehow fiscally responsible ring hollow in the wake of Republicans adding trillion to the national deficit thanks to their disastrous so-called One Big Beautiful Bill The post House budget guts environmental protections appeared first on MinnPost