Trump Administration's Budget Blueprint Calls For Significant Impacts To Environmental Programs

Amy Edwards is a Partner, Andrew Emerson and Aaron Heishman are Associates in Holland & Knight's Washington D.C. office

"You can't drain the swamp and leave all the people in it." – Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney at the unveiling of the President's Budget Blueprint

The Trump Administration unveiled significant rollbacks in funding for federal agencies when it released its Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again on March 16, 2017. The President's proposed budget priorities would reduce the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) budget by 31 percent to $5.7 billion, trim its workforce by 20 percent and eliminate 50 programs, including its Chesapeake Bay Initiative and Great Lakes Initiative, the Energy Star Program, the Clean Power Plan and the EPA's Office of Environmental Justice. These proposed reductions would also significantly reduce funding for the Superfund program (by 30 percent), research and development (by