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Federal Issues
Our advocates, members, supporters, and partners work to defend our hard-earned environmental safeguards and to ensure Maine’s elected officials in Washington, DC, stand up for Maine’s environment. Decisions made there have lasting effects on Maine’s clean water, fresh air, healthy forests, thriving wildlife, and on the health of Maine people, our economy, and our way of life.
The Natural Resources Council of Maine identifies and addresses the issues at play in our nation’s capital that have the largest impacts here at home.
Find out the latest on federal issues affecting our state's land, air, water, and wildlife.
Congress Passes Environmental Budget that Largely Avoids Drastic Cuts
January 16, 2026 (Augusta, ME) – The U.S. House and Senate have passed a bipartisan budget for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other environmental agencies that largely avoids drastic cuts proposed by the Trump Administration and its allies in Congress. Environmental advocates in Maine said they appreciated the work to build a compromise but noted that even with this agreement, the EPA’s FY2026 budget will now be at an all-time low. The spending Read More
EPA’s Proposed Changes to Clean Water Act Would Gut Protections for Wetlands
For more than half a century, the Clean Water Act has helped curb pollution flowing into our rivers, lakes, and streams. And now the safeguards that are embedded in this landmark environmental law are at risk due to changes being proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin. The Clean Water Act Read More
New “Damaging Maine” Report Details Impacts of Draconian Cuts to US EPA Budget
(Augusta, ME) – A new report issued today details how the U.S. House Appropriations Committee’s FY26 budget proposal would put Maine’s clean air and water at risk, limit clean-up of old industrial sites, and halt important scientific research that is essential for safeguarding public health. The dramatic cuts being proposed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Read More
How EPA’s Proposal to Scrap Endangerment Finding Impacts Maine
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week announced that it plans to scrap its legal authority to address the threat of climate change. It’s an inexplicable move in an era of rising temperatures, escalating extreme weather, and climate-linked damage to infrastructure, communities, and human life. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is proposing to overturn the Read More
Senator Collins Must Vote No on Reconciliation Bill
June 30, 2025 (Augusta, ME) — Maine’s leading nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to protecting the environment, the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM), today called on Senator Susan Collins to vote against a massive bill that seeks to kill the growing domestic clean energy industry and underfund America’s public lands—programs that are of great Read More
Update: Pressure Rises in Maine to Oppose Cutbacks in Reconciliation Bill
The U.S. Senate is expected to vote soon on the reconciliation budget bill that would increase the national debt by trillions and give billionaires tax breaks while increasing costs for working families. Pressure is ramping up on Senator Susan Collins to oppose the most drastic environmental rollbacks in the bill and join her Republican colleagues Read More
Here’s How the Reconciliation Bill is Harmful to Maine
You may have heard some rumblings in the news about a “Big, Beautiful Bill” (H.R. 1) that is making its way through Congress right now, but it’s actually pretty ugly. The proposals being led by Congressional Republicans aim to make billionaires richer by slashing programs that serve working people, all while increasing the national debt Read More
Mainers Would Face Higher Costs, Job Creation Would Slow Under US House Energy Plan
May 13, 2025 (Augusta, ME) – Homeowners and businesses in Maine would miss out on valuable cost-savings and jobs in one of the state’s fastest growing sectors would slow under the U.S. House of Representative’s energy budget proposals released over the past few days. The plans are part of a reconciliation package being debated by Read More
