AUGUSTA — Proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency would strip funds from clean water and air programs, limit clean-up of contaminated sites and eliminate climate research, according to a report released Thursday by the Natural Resources Council of Maine.

NRCM and other environmental groups are speaking out against cuts proposed in the House budget bill released in July. The proposal seeks to reduce spending at EPA by about $2 billion, which is a 23% reduction from current levels.

“The proposed cuts represent the most extreme rollback of environmental funding in decades,” Anya Fetcher, NRCM’s federal policy advocate, said during a Thursday press conference at the State House.

The budget also calls for cutting more than 1,200 jobs, according to NRCM. 

The report explains that the Maine Department of Environmental Protection gets nearly $11 million in grants from the EPA, which is 22% of its budget and supports about 100 jobs.

“Without question, these cuts would create widespread damage, undermining DEP’s ability to ensure that our water is clean, our air is healthy, and our communities and Maine people are protected from toxic hazards,” according to the report.

Fetcher said the Trump administration originally proposed a 54% cut to EPA, followed by the House proposal at 23% and a Senate budget proposal with a 5% cut.

She said although NRCM would advocate for no reduction in spending, they are encouraged that the draft budget from the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is chaired by Republican Sen. Susan Collins, “largely retains the EPA’s role of protecting health and the environment.” 

In response to the report, an EPA spokesperson sent a statement to Spectrum News saying they “are confident” EPA will have enough money to meet its core mission.

“The Trump EPA is committed to being an exceptional steward of taxpayer dollars as we protect human health and the environment, unleash energy dominance, implement permitting reform, make America the AI capital of the world, and bring back the American auto industry,” read the statement from the EPA press office. 

In March, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the agency would be reconsidering 31 environmental regulations, including those on power plants, the oil and gas industry, emission standards for air pollution and electric vehicle regulations.

“Today, the green new scam ends as the EPA does its part to usher in the golden age of American success,” Zeldin said in a video announcement. 

The NRCM report outlines “deep cuts” to programs that help pay for wastewater treatment facilities, drinking water infrastructure, air pollution inspection and enforcement and redeveloping polluted industrial sites.

It says funds would be eliminated for climate change programs that set standards for greenhouse gas pollution and those that work to understand and reduce the risks of climate change.

“Everyone in Maine — and worldwide — will suffer the impacts of this administration’s flagrant disengagement from activities aimed at addressing the threat of climate change,” the report states.

Dr. Sydney Sewall, an Augusta area pediatrician, said during the news conference that he worries about what a reduction in air quality will mean for children. 

“Air pollution effects are comparable to the outcomes resulting from maternal smoking where both low birth weight and prematurity become more common,” he said.