Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMs. Murkowski, from the Committee on Appropriations, reported the following …
Summary
What This Bill Does
This is the annual appropriations bill for the Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, Forest Service, Indian Health Service, and related agencies for fiscal year 2026. It provides funding for managing public lands, national parks, tribal programs, environmental protection, and forestry operations, while including dozens of policy riders that restrict or direct agency actions.
Who Benefits and How
- Ammunition and fishing tackle manufacturers benefit significantly from a provision blocking any federal regulation of lead content in their products under toxic substances laws, eliminating potential compliance costs.
- Tribal governments and organizations receive funding for self-determination programs, contract support costs, and flexibility in how Tribal Priority Allocation funds are distributed to address inequities.
- Volunteer and rural fire departments gain access to grants, training, and free transfer of excess federal firefighting equipment.
- Livestock and ranching operations are protected from EPA greenhouse gas permitting requirements and manure management reporting mandates for biological emissions.
- Forest biomass and bioenergy companies benefit from federal policy recognition of forest bioenergy as carbon neutral and renewable.
- Private landowners near federal lands have increased protections against condemnation proceedings, which now require Congressional approval.
Who Bears the Burden and How
- Oil and gas companies face inspection fees ranging from 4,470 to 31,500 annually for offshore facilities, and are prohibited from leasing within National Monument boundaries.
- Mining companies cannot obtain new federal land patents under the continued moratorium on processing applications.
- EPA and Fish and Wildlife Service face restrictions on their regulatory authority, including prohibitions on sage-grouse rulemaking and lead regulation.
- Federal agencies must provide extensive monthly and quarterly financial reports to Congress, increasing administrative burden.
Key Provisions
- Blocks EPA from regulating lead in ammunition and fishing tackle under any law
- Prohibits Clean Air Act permits for greenhouse gas emissions from livestock operations
- Prohibits oil and gas leasing within National Monument boundaries established before January 2001
- Requires 180-day notice to Congress before terminating federal building leases
- Establishes tiered inspection fee structure for offshore oil and gas facilities
- Allocates Land and Water Conservation Fund amounts for federal land acquisition
- Mandates reinstatement of "Denali" as the official name for the Alaska mountain
- Continues moratorium on new mining patent applications under general mining laws
- Authorizes transfer of excess wild horses to government agencies as work animals, with slaughter protections
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
An appropriations bill providing funding for the Department of the Interior, Environment Protection Agency, Forest Service, Indian Health Service, and related agencies for fiscal year 2026, along with policy riders and administrative provisions.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Standard annual appropriations bill with numerous policy riders that restrict spending on environmental regulations (Clean Air Act permits for livestock emissions, lead ammunition regulation, greater sage-grouse protections), while prioritizing domestic production (Buy American requirements for steel, forest biomass as energy source) and protecting cultural sites (Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Smithsonian museums)."
Likely Beneficiaries
- Livestock and ranching operations (exempt from greenhouse gas and manure reporting requirements)
- Firearms and fishing tackle manufacturers (exempt from lead content regulation)
- Domestic steel and iron manufacturers (Buy American provisions for water infrastructure)
- Forest biomass and bioenergy industry (recognition as renewable/carbon neutral)
- Timber companies in Alaska (access to western red cedar, yellow cedar exports)
- Tribal governments and organizations (contract support costs, 105(l) leases, direct hiring authority)
- Oil and gas industry (protection of offshore inspection fee structure, Chaco area restrictions maintained)
- Wild horse and burro management contractors (long-term care agreements)
- National parks and public lands (maintenance funding, LWCF allocations)
Likely Burden Bearers
- EPA regulatory authority (restricted from greenhouse gas permitting for livestock, lead regulation)
- Fish and Wildlife Service (prohibited from sage-grouse rulemaking)
- Mining companies seeking federal land patents (application moratorium continues)
- Foreign steel manufacturers (excluded from water infrastructure projects)
- Environmental advocacy groups (reduced regulatory oversight on livestock emissions)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "bia"
- → Bureau of Indian Affairs
- "bie"
- → Bureau of Indian Education
- "blm"
- → Bureau of Land Management
- "nps"
- → National Park Service
- "boem"
- → Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
- "bsee"
- → Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement
- "the_service"
- → United States Fish and Wildlife Service
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior (unless specified otherwise)
- "the_chairperson"
- → Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts
- "the_administrator"
- → Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
- "the_secretary_energy"
- → Secretary of Energy
- "the_secretary_agriculture"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
Note: 'The Secretary' typically refers to Secretary of the Interior in Title I sections (101-130), but in Title IV general provisions may refer to Secretary of Agriculture when dealing with forestry matters (e.g., sections 407, 415, 417, 429) or Secretary of Energy when dealing with energy policy (e.g., section 432).
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A population of individuals, including urban minorities, who have historically been outside the purview of arts and humanities programs due to factors such as a high incidence of income below the poverty line or to geographic isolation.
Products made primarily of iron or steel: lined or unlined pipes and fittings, manhole covers and other municipal castings, hydrants, tanks, flanges, pipe clamps and restraints, valves, structural steel, reinforced precast concrete, and construction materials.
A timber sale where the value of the timber is not sufficient to cover all logging and stumpage costs and provide a normal profit and risk allowance under the Forest Service appraisal process.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology