President Donald Trump, who promised in his campaign to rein in the agency’s funding and rulemaking authority, has also placed a freeze on hiring federal workers, a hold on fresh regulations from the Obama administration’s final months, and—most recently—blocked EPA employees from issuing press releases, blog updates or social media posts.
The freeze on grants and contracts, should it extend into spring, could affect a wide range of environmental efforts, from the cleanup of contaminated waste sites, to water quality testing and analysis of climate change research. Much of those funds go to state agencies, where the absence of a budget for this fiscal year means some states are nearing the end of their reserves.
“There are states that will run out of federal funds very quickly,” Alexandra Dapolito Dunn, executive director and general counsel for the Environmental Council of the States told Bloomberg BNA, adding “at least one state has indicated they are down to their last $60,000.” Dunn, whose organization represents state environmental agencies, declined to say which states are facing the steepest challenges.
Congress did not pass the fiscal year 2017 spending bill for the EPA last year, and instead voted on a continuing resolution in December to fund the federal government through April 28, 2017. Some states have not yet received funding through April, Dunn said.
Dunn said that her organization and its state agency members received no information on the scope or duration of the freeze, whether it affects state and tribal assistance grants, or whether it will freeze performance partnership agreements or third-party contractors.
