Senate Committee Boosts FY25 Budgets for Key EPA and Interior Department Bay Programs

The Senate Appropriations Committee’s bipartisan fiscal year 2025 Interior-Environment bill includes welcome increases for EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program and Interior Department programs that restore wildlife habitat and increase public access and understanding of the Bay region’s history and natural resources. 

The panel adopted the $44.6 billion bill yesterday by a vote of 28-1. 

The EPA-led Chesapeake Bay Program coordinates the federal-state-local government partnership to clean up the Bay and its tributaries. Roughly two-thirds of the Program’s annual budget goes directly to state and local partners for watershed restoration, protection, and monitoring activities. 

The Senate Appropriations Committee would increase the Bay Program’s fiscal 2025 budget to $92.5 million from the current level of $92 million. The Interior-Environment bill the House adopted on July 24 by a vote of 210-205 would keep Bay Program funding flat at $92 million in fiscal 2025. 

The Chesapeake Watershed Investment for Landscape Defense (WILD) program, administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service, awards competitive grants to fund local projects that restore fish and wildlife habitat, improve water quality, and enhance outdoor recreational opportunities in the Bay region. 

Chesapeake WILD grants would see fiscal 2025 funding bumped up to $8.5 million from $8 million this year under the Senate Appropriations bill. The House-passed bill would leave funding unchanged at $8 million next year. 

The Chesapeake Gateways Program, operated by the National Park Service, manages the Chesapeake Gateways and Watertrails Network of historic, cultural, and natural sites and funds grants for community-based projects to share the Bay’s diverse stories, support tourism, and promote economic development. 

The Gateways budget would get a slight increase to $3.05 million in fiscal 2025 from this year’s $3.03 million under the Senate Appropriations Committee bill. The House-passed bill would also leave the Gateways budget unchanged in fiscal 2025. 

Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) Federal Director Keisha Sedlacek made the following statement: 

“The Senate Appropriations Committee has wisely recognized that essential federal partners like EPA and the Interior Department must have sufficient resources as we enter the next phase of the restoration effort. 

“CBF thanks the committee for boosting the budgets of the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program, which keeps the multi-agency partnership on track, and Interior Department grant programs that fund locally led projects to restore fish and wildlife habitat and increase public access to the wonders of the watershed. 

“We commend Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Vice Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), Interior-Environment Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) for their hard work and bipartisan approach to drafting this year’s bill.  

“We encourage the Senate to pass it soon and urge panel leaders to fight to preserve these important investments in the Bay region in conference with the House.”