Appropriations Bill Blocks Funds for EPA Climate Rules, Mandates Oil Sales, and Freezes Endangered Species Protections

This massive appropriations bill sets the budget for the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Forest Service, and several related agencies for the fiscal year 2026. While the bill secures billions for essential services like wildfire management and Tribal health programs, it’s far more than just a budget. It packs a heavy punch by including numerous legislative provisions that use the power of the purse to block, reverse, or mandate specific federal actions, fundamentally changing how environmental protection and resource management are handled.

The Budget Breakdown: Essential Services Get Funded

At its core, this bill ensures the lights stay on and the work gets done. The Department of the Interior receives over $1.19 billion for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) operations, including $144 million dedicated to the Wild Horses and Burros program. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is allocated over $1.37 billion for resource management, and the National Park Service (NPS) gets $2.7 billion for managing parks. Critically, the bill dedicates massive funding to fighting fires, with the DOI receiving over $1.19 billion and the Forest Service getting $2.42 billion for wildland fire management. For the Indian Health Service (IHS), the bill sets aside over $5.18 billion for services starting October 1, 2026, and provides flexibility for Tribes to manage their contracts and leases, which is a huge deal for ensuring continuity of care in Tribal communities.

Regulatory Rollback: The Environmental Freeze

If you were hoping for smoother environmental regulation, this bill throws a wrench in the gears. It includes over a dozen provisions that specifically prohibit the EPA and DOI from spending any money—from this bill or any other source—on implementing or enforcing recent rules. This is how policy gets made in appropriations bills: by starving the agency of the funds needed to do its job.

For example, the bill blocks funding for the EPA’s final rules on greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants (May 2024 rule) and heavy-duty vehicles (April 2024 rule). It also stops the EPA from enforcing the 2023 Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Improvement Rule and the 2024 rule on oil and gas sector climate review. For the average person, this means that major federal efforts to curb air pollution and climate-warming emissions are effectively paused, potentially leading to higher long-term health and climate costs.

Endangered Species Protections on Ice

The bill takes direct aim at the Endangered Species Act (ESA), freezing or reversing several high-profile conservation efforts. It prohibits the use of funds to enforce rules concerning the Lesser Prairie-Chicken, the Northern Long-Eared Bat, and the North American Wolverine. Most notably, it mandates that the Secretary of the Interior must reissue the final rule to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list within 60 days of the bill’s enactment, and explicitly states that this reissuance cannot be challenged in court. For anyone concerned about conservation, this bill essentially slams the door on several key species protections that were years in the making.

Energy Mandates and Carbon Cost Ban

On the energy front, the bill pushes aggressively for resource extraction. It mandates that the Secretary of the Interior must hold a minimum of four onshore oil and gas lease sales every fiscal year in key states like Wyoming and New Mexico. If a sale is canceled or fails to attract bids on 25% of the acreage, a replacement sale must be held. Offshore, the Secretary is required to hold at least two region-wide lease sales annually in the Gulf of Mexico. This signals a clear legislative priority to speed up domestic fossil fuel production.

Perhaps the biggest blow to climate policy is the ban on using any federal funds to consider or include the “social cost of carbon” in any official analysis. This calculation is a key metric used to determine the economic impact of climate change in regulatory decisions. By removing it, the bill makes it much harder for agencies to justify regulations based on the long-term benefits of reducing emissions, tilting the scales heavily toward short-term economic gains for industry.

New Fees and Administrative Restrictions

For those working in or regulated by these agencies, there are significant administrative changes. The bill imposes new, nonrefundable inspection fees on Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) operators (up to $31,500 annually for complex facilities), which will offset the BSEE’s appropriation. While this shifts the cost of oversight to industry, it also introduces a new operational expense for those companies.

Finally, the bill explicitly prohibits the use of any funds for programs, offices, or training related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) or the advancement of Critical Race Theory (CRT). This is a direct injection of cultural policy into the appropriations process, restricting how federal agencies can address workforce diversity and equity issues, regardless of their operational needs or existing mandates.