State leaders and environmental groups sound alarm over EPA budget cuts

Billions will likely be cut from state environmental programs, including for lower income communities, under Trump Administration plan

The head of Mississippi’s environmental agency has joined peers in three other states to warn the Trump administration that sweeping proposed cuts to federal environmental programs would severely undermine public health, economic growth and ecological protections.

In a letter dated May 3, Chris Wells, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, joined environmental agency leaders from New Mexico, Oregon and South Carolina in urging the administration to reconsider its fiscal year 2026 budget proposal for environmental programs.

Alongside the administration’s proposed 54 percent reduction to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s overall budget, which funds many of state regulatory programs, the White House has revoked more than $1.5 billion in previously awarded environmental justice grants, affecting nearly 400 community organizations nationwide. That includes more than $22 million in funding promised to Mississippi-based groups, according to a list provided by the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

The cuts have already triggered layoffs and program shutdowns across the state, disrupting efforts ranging from climate education and disaster resilience to public health services for low-income and minority communities.

Writing on behalf of the Environmental Council of States, a nonprofit representing environmental agencies in all 50 states and U.S. territories, Wells and other state leaders who signed onto the letter warned EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin that a $1 billion cut to state environmental grants would endanger core programs and jeopardize the longstanding state-federal partnership under which states hold primary enforcement authority for key federal laws.

“States carry out more than 90% of the nation’s federal environmental programs in communities around the United States, and states, state legislatures, and the business community depend on Congress to fund our efforts through grants and partnerships with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),” the letter noted. “Such dramatic budget cuts to states will incapacitate state environmental programs while creating significant uncertainty for state legislatures and businesses across the United States.”

The White House budget proposal would reduce the EPA’s funding from $9.1 billion to $4.2 billion -- the agency’s lowest level since 1986, according to internal EPA records. The administration also seeks to eliminate or dramatically reduce funding across multiple programs: $254 million from Superfund site cleanups; $100 million from non-IRA environmental justice initiatives; $90 million from diesel emissions reduction grants; and $100 million from atmospheric protection efforts. A $235 million cut is also planned for the Office of Research and Development, which faces a broader restructuring, according to a White House proposal document.

Wells also raised alarm over a proposed $2.46 billion cut to the EPA’s Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds -- loan programs that help states, tribes and municipalities finance critical infrastructure projects such as replacing lead pipes and upgrading wastewater treatment systems.

“These programs are necessary not only to protect human health and the environment but also to grow the economy,” Wells wrote.

In October 2024, Mississippi received nearly $34 million for water infrastructure projects through the fund.

The fallout from tandem cuts to environmental justice grants is already being felt in Mississippi. The Steps Coalition, a Gulfport-based nonprofit founded after Hurricane Katrina, is set to lose $378,000 in funding that supported partner non-governmental agencies focusing on food justice, pest control and outreach to underserved African American and Vietnamese communities.

“It’s devastating for our organization and the ones we support,” said Jonathan Green, the group’s executive director. “It’s a values debate about the right and wrong way to do things.”

Although the EPA administers both types of grants, they are funded differently. State environmental grants, also known as categorical grants, are part of the regular congressional budget process and must be reauthorized annually. In contrast, the current wave of environmental justice grants was funded through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and already approved by the 117th Congress.

The White House’s attempt to claw back funds allocated under a different congress and president has proven controversial. A series of judges have ruled against the administration, including to reclaim $20 billion in Biden-era climate grants.

“We had a committed agreement that was approved by the Congress of the United States,” Green added. “But the current administration has not followed policy or law.”

Other organizations across the state are facing similar cuts. Dominika Parry, CEO of the Ridgeland-based 2CMississippi, which will lose more than $20 million to support sustainable development and climate education, said the group is “considering litigation.”

In Moss Point, Willie Nettles, founder of the Nettles Foundation, said he lost $75,000 in funding, laid off five employees, and was forced to shut down a COVID-19 outreach program that had provided masks, hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies to low-income communities along the Gulf Coast.

“It’s a major loss to the communities we serve,” Nettles said. “Not only do we lose the program, but we lose an opportunity for communities to come together and discuss real life issues.”

Jackson State University is set to lose $40,000 in grant support. It is unclear whether organizations such as the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians or the Institute for the Advancement of Minority Health -- both of which already received funding -- will be required to return their money.

A second EPA list of proposed grant cancellations, which is expected to match the current list of 400 organizations, is expected to be released in the coming weeks, according to Washington Post reporting.

Although the White House budget is not binding, given that Congress ultimately decides federal spending, it represents a dramatic policy shift, signaling a retreat from longstanding federal efforts to protect the nation’s environment and more recent efforts to prioritize environmental justice and local community resilience.

---

Image: Chris Wells (via MDEQChannelOne)