By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio
This article was republished here with permission from Wisconsin Public Radio.
Wisconsin might lose federal funding that supports state staff working to keep air, water and lands clean under proposed budget cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA released more details in late May about President Donald Trump’s proposal to slash $4.9 billion from the agency’s budget in 2026. WPR previously reported the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources would lose $55 million for loan programs that help finance upgrades to water infrastructures.
The recently released documents reveal numerous programs that would be zeroed out under $1 billion in cuts to federal grants nationwide. They include programs that manage state and local air quality, control water pollution and clean up or redevelop contaminated sites.
DNR Secretary-designee Karen Hyun told WPR’s “The Larry Meiller Show” last week that the EPA is an important partner for technical assistance and funding that supports the DNR’s work and staff as they enforce regulations under the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act.
“That kind of funding is really necessary for us to do our job and make sure that we’re providing clean water and clean air,” Hyun said.
Hyun noted Congress will ultimately decide the agency’s budget. Even so, WPR identified 91 positions that were funded by EPA grants in the current fiscal year that are slated for elimination under the 2026 budget proposal.
The DNR didn’t provide any figures on the number of positions that might be lost, saying it’s continuing to review the number of staff who might be affected. The agency did confirm it would remove grants awarded to the state that help manage air quality, control water pollution, prevent polluted runoff and address hazardous wastes.
In fiscal year 2024-25, the DNR received about $14.1 million in EPA grants for such programs that authorized 91 positions, according to Legislative Fiscal Bureau papers. They include 27.5 positions for air management, 24.5 positions to control pollution and runoff, and 39 positions to run brownfield and hazardous waste programs. The DNR would lose the grants that fund those positions.
In a statement, DNR spokesperson Molly Meister said Monday that the proposed EPA budget would remove federal funding that supports supervision of most environmental protection programs in Wisconsin.
“With the proposed cuts, the federal government would force state taxpayers to instead pay for these costs. Without state resources and investments approved by our Legislature, the DNR will not have sufficient state funding to pay for this important work,” Meister said.
The EPA recently announced about $12 million in brownfield grants in Wisconsin, including a $500,000 grant for Racine. Leslie Flynn, the city’s communications director, said Racine generally doesn’t set aside money in its budget for environmental site assessments.
“Without this grant, our ability to support brownfield activities would be significantly limited,” Flynn said in an email.
An EPA spokesperson said the brownfield grants are part of 2025 funding, not future spending.
During a recent stop in Superior, EPA Regional Administrator Anne Vogel said the agency is going to hold polluters accountable even as it cuts spending, staff and programs.
“We’re going to follow the law. We’re not going to do anything extra,” Vogel said. “Some of the programs of previous years might fall off if they weren’t based on statutory requirements, but the work of the agency is not going away.”
Nicole Cantello, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, represents about 1,000 employees with EPA Region 5, which includes Wisconsin. She said the grants are a significant chunk of funding for states.
“By zeroing out that money, it’s really going to have a devastating effect to the states,” Cantello said.
EPA would cut nearly 1,300 federal employees under 2026 budget
In addition to curtailing funding to states, the EPA plans to cut 1,274 employees to reach a new total of 12,856 workers, staffing levels not seen since the mid-1980s.
Cantello said almost 200 employees in EPA Region 5 would leave the agency as part of deferred resignations on June 16, adding that additional reductions to the region are not yet clear. A federal court ruling has temporarily blocked plans for large-scale reorganizations or layoffs. The Trump administration is appealing that decision.
EPA would also nix $235 million for the Office of Research and Development, which includes the agency’s research labs. Documents reviewed by U.S. House Democrats indicate up to 75 percent of the office’s staff might be cut, raising concerns about the future of EPA’s lab in Duluth.
The lab employed 176 people prior to the loss of about two dozen researchers in May, according to the Duluth News Tribune. Scientists there research the effects of chemicals, nutrients and invasive species on the health of the Great Lakes and other waterways. Cantello said about half of the lab’s employees live in Superior.
“We are really concerned that the Trump administration has not said that that lab is going to go forward, and we are concerned that lab is going to shut down,” Cantello said.
The lab has a $15.5 million annual impact on the local economy.
EPA budget preserves funding for Great Lakes cleanup program
One bright spot in the agency’s budget is that it would maintain current funding of $368 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, an Obama-era cleanup program.
Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, said it’s a glimmer of hope in a budget that guts funding for environmental programs.
“While we’re excited to see the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funded, you can’t have restoration without protection,” Rubin said. “We can’t continue to just degrade the Great Lakes region … because what it means is we’re just going to continue to generate more pollution in other places and contaminate our waterways.”
Under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, about $4.1 billion has been spent on roughly 8,100 projects since 2010.
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