PORTLAND, Ore. — A new Portland State University report found that millions of dollars in federal Clean Air Act funding could be at risk, including nearly $2 million the Environmental Protection Agency earmarked in 2024 for Northwest tribes to monitor air quality and pollution. 

Accoridng to the study, released by the Northwest Environmental Justice Center, it analyzed federal spending data from 2010 to 2024 across 468 energy and environmental programs. Researchers said the funding supports essential infrastructure such as air and water monitoring, renewable energy projects and land restoration.

The study said that between 2010 and 2024, federal agencies invested more than $20 billion in energy and environmental programs for tribes nationwide, including about $1.8 billion in Washington and $304 million in Idaho, according to the report. Those investments include projects with tribes in Eastern Washington and North Idaho, such as the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Kalispel Tribe, the Nez Perce Tribe and others in the Inland Northwest region.

The report said that 17 federally funded tribal programs, including several under the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Interior, are identified for possible cuts under the proposed One Big Beautiful Bill Act. More than $530 million in tribal energy and environmental funding across the Northwest could be affected.

Researchers said reductions could impact local programs that monitor air quality, manage pollution, and improve environmental health efforts that benefit both tribal and nearby rural communities across the region.