Fiscal Year 2026 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Bill
2025-07-22
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Source: Congress.gov
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I call this meeting to order. I'd like to welcome everyone to today's meeting. Today we'll be marking up our Interior Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Measure for Fiscal Year 2026. As with our previous markup, it's my intention to complete all of our work on this bill today. We'll take a recess for floor votes as needed, as we normally do. In addition, there is an event this evening at the White House where many of our members will be attending. If we're not finished with our markup at that time, which would be about 5.30, then we'll recess and come back, which would be about 8.30. I hope we can make it because we don't have that many amendments, but if not, we are going to get the bill done. We've also had some other scheduling changes that we were all up here unaware of on both sides of the aisle. So going to be consulting with the ranking member we're going to see what we can do to speed things up on wednesday and thursday it ranges everything from starting earlier and we'll agree upon a time that hopefully is everybody's convenient to potentially and i really want to underline potentially because none of this you know could we do two deals in one day we've done that before and give you back thursday but again those decisions will be made in consultation with the ranking member and If you've got opinions on the other side of the aisle, please confer with your ranking member. Same thing on our side. This has just come up recently, so we haven't had a chance to really sit down and talk about it. But my guess is you all would like to be home rather than enjoying one another's company in a markup. So we will try to work to expedite things. But I do want to be crystal clear. We will finish all three of the bills that were scheduled before we head out of here. So... Just be aware of that. And again, as soon as the ranking member, I have a chance to work this out.
Thank you Chairman Clow. I'm pleased to present the fiscal year 2026 Interior Environment and Related Agencies Appropriation Act. Today's bill has a wide reach from our national parks to the water in our pipes. It funds fighting wildfires out west and now across the rest of the country and furthers our commitment to our tribal nations. The bill before us today targets resources to reduce energy costs, protect American jobs, and preserve access to our public lands for recreation, hunting, development, and protect our natural resources that we love in this country. I recognize we cannot tackle the nation's entire debt through the Appropriations Committee discretionary spending only, because discretionary spending only amounts to roughly 26 percent of the U.S. expenditures. The national debt, however, has reached an excess of $36 trillion. The level of funding in this bill takes a necessary step toward fiscal responsibility. The Interior Bill provides $37.971 billion in spending, which is $2.54 billion, or 6.2% below the fiscal year 2025 enacted level. The bill provides funding where it is needed most by fully funding payment in lieu of taxes, that program, and wildfire fighting pay, and by making strong investments to further the federal government's trust and treaty responsibility and obligations to our tribes. The bill includes strategic increases to important tribal programs. In addition to fully funding contract support costs and the 105L leases, it provides $1.5 billion for the Bureau of Indian Education and $6 billion in advanced appropriations for Indian Health Services and $771.8 million for law enforcement within the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In addition to providing significant resources to support public safety and justice on tribal lands, The bill also reestablishes the very successful Opioid Reduction Task Force, which was created under the first Trump administration by our now colleague and former Interior Secretary Zinke and was unwisely halted during the Biden administration.
This Narcotics Reduction Task Force will dismantle and disrupt the opioid, heroin, and other dangerous drug distribution networks running rampant in Indian Country and promote safety on tribal lands. Taken together, PILT, firefighting pay, and tribal programs total $14.7 billion, or 39% of the spending in this bill. Because we've committed to prioritizing these costs, that means the rest of the bill saw even bigger reductions to hit our allocation. This includes a 23% cut to the Environmental Protection Agency.
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