House And Senate Appropriators Approve Dueling EPA Funding Bills

Last week, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees passed their respective Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) appropriations bills. The House bill retained the same funding levels as its draft version, which contained 23 percent cuts to the EPA budget and a 20 percent reduction to the Drinking Water SRF program from FY25 funding levels. 

The Senate bill, which appropriators approved with bipartisan support, makes less drastic cuts to EPA while holding SRF funding level with FY25. In the Senate’s bill, EPA would receive $8.64 billion (a seven percent cut), while total SRF funding would be maintained at $2.76 billion. Of that total, $1.126 billion would be for the Drinking Water SRF.

Both bills include level funding, $2.25 million, for EPA’s Midsize and Large Drinking Water System Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainability Program, which helps water systems pay for resilience and cybersecurity improvements. The House bill also includes level funding of $22 million for the Reducing Lead in Drinking Water grants, which helps water systems replace lead service lines.

In the Senate, appropriators accepted an amendment filed by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) to increase funding for the Reducing Lead in Drinking Water grant program by $10 million, to $32 million. AMWA’s staff and member utilities met with the Senator’s staff earlier in the year about the importance of the program and to request support for robust funding.

The two bills also differ in their allocations for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program. While the House would provide the program with level funding at $64.6 million, the Senate would cut funding by 12 percent, to $56.87 million.

Upon passing its bill through committee, the House broke for August recess and will not be back in session until September 2. The Senate is scheduled to break for the summer at the end of this week. With the continuing resolution expiring on September 30, Congress will need to pass its appropriations bills before then to continue to fund the government or otherwise risk a government shutdown. Differences between the appropriations packages will still need to be reconciled between the two chambers and passed on the floor before the end of September – or lawmakers will need to approve another stopgap extension. 

AMWA is engaged in a coalition effort with other organizations to send letters in support of FY26 water infrastructure funding to Members of Congress upon their return to D.C. in September, in an effort to make a strong impact by sending the letters en masse. If you are interested in writing a letter to your members of Congress, contact AMWA’s Legislative Affairs Manager, Megan Seymour, at seymour@amwa.net with a copy of your letter by August 29.