House Appropriations Committee releases draft funding bills for public lands and environment programs
Author
Zeke Lee
Charlotte Mitchell Duyshart
Andrew Nober
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Key Takeaways
On May 20, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee began consideration of the fiscal year (FY) 2027 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies appropriations bill, which funds key environment and public lands programs at the Department of the Interior (DOI), U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The bill provides agency and program funding levels and sets policy goals for the agencies for FY 2027.
The bill funds a wide range of programs that provide critical resources for counties and shape federal land management priorities. More than 60 percent of counties are home to federal land, and counties work diligently to uphold environmental quality standards for residents, including through investments in drinking, waste and stormwater infrastructure. The bill also contains money for Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) projects, formally known as earmarks.
NACo has engaged congressional leaders on county priorities for FY 2027 in the bill, and NACo will continue to advocate for key policy priorities in the appropriations process.
Read NACo FY 2027 House Interior Letter Read NACo FY 2027 Senate Interior Letter
Public Lands Provisions
The bill provides funding levels for federal land management agencies including DOI, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), USFS, National Park Service (NPS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Major funding provisions for counties include:
- Full funding for the Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program, which provides funding for counties to deliver essential services to residents and visitors on non-taxable federal lands
- Consolidation of DOI fire assets into the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, with funding for the agency of $1.16 billion; department-wide wildland fire management was funded at $1.51 billion in FY 2026
- $2.87 billion in overall funding for NPS, including $90 million for park facility construction maintenance, a decrease from $3.27 billion in overall funding in FY 2026
- $1.2 billion in overall funding for BLM, including $144 million for wild horse and burro management, a decrease from $1.38 billion in FY 2026
- $1.36 billion in overall funding for USFWS, including $16.2 million for payments to local governments through the National Wildlife Refuge Fund, a decrease from $1.65 billion on FY 2026
- $8.79 billion in overall funding for USFS, including $3.6 billion for non-fire accounts, an increase from $8.61 billion in FY 2026
The draft bill also contains several species-specific policy provisions related to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that would affect public lands counties, including delisting the gray wolf.
Environment, Energy and Land Use Provisions
The bill also proposed the following funding levels for programs administered by the EPA:
- $7.04 billion in overall funding for EPA, a 20 percent reduction from FY 2026 enacted levels of $8.82 billion
- $1.19 billion in funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), including $665 million for capitalization grants to state funds and $525 million for CDS projects. The CWSRF received $746 million in capitalization grant funding and $893 million for CDS in FY 2026
- $911 million in funding for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), including $405 million for capitalization grants to state funds and $506 million for CDS projects; the DWSRF received $411 million in capitalization grants and $715 million for CDS in FY 2026
- $64.6 million in funding for Water Infrastructure Financing and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loans and loan guarantee programs, a decrease of 10.6 percent from FY 2026
Next Steps
The bill now proceeds to a markup before the full House Appropriations Committee, and if passed the bill would advance to a vote before the full House. The U.S. Senate has not released draft appropriations bills. NACo will continue to advocate for the inclusion of county priorities in appropriations bills, including programs that provide critical resources for counties to manage environmental health and quality and steward public land and natural resources.
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