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 package also includes budget cuts that would eliminate the Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and defund the Office of Energy Justice and Equity.
At the same time, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is rolling out his promised “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history,” aimed at eliminating 31 environmental and public health protections. Just this week, the EPA announced it would stop considering the impact on human health when reviewing power plant pollution emissions.
“The compromise budget for the EPA is a sign that common-sense environmental protections can be a bipartisan issue, but unfortunately it won’t stop the damage being done by Administrator Zeldin’s vicious assault on our environmental and public health laws,” said Anya Fetcher, a Federal Policy Advocate at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. “We’ll continue to stand with the people of Maine in opposing reckless attacks on Maine’s environment that undermine our clean water, thriving forests, and healthy communities.”
Maine’s Congressional delegation played an outsized role in negotiating the compromise spending package. Senator Susan Collins serves as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree sits on the House Appropriations Committee, serving as the Ranking Member for the Subcommittee on Interior and the Environment.
“We appreciate the hard work of Senator Collins and Congresswoman Pingree to reach a bipartisan agreement that will fund the basic needs of the EPA and other vital agencies,” said Fetcher.
The compromise spending package blocks several anti-environmental riders, including one that would have led to the sale of public lands, and sets legally binding spending requirements to help ensure the White House can’t withhold or misuse funds.
The set of bills provides funding at near previous levels for agencies like the National Park Service (NPS), National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), National Science Foundation (NSF), and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that play an important role delivering science, environmental, and energy programs for the American people.
A report released last year showed that the dramatic cuts being proposed by the House’s Appropriations Committee would have severely scaled back funding for superfund site clean-up, stormwater and wastewater improvements made by municipalities, implementation and enforcement of clean air programs, and funding for Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) staff that help ensure compliance with federal environmental laws, like the Clean Water Act.
