Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026
Updated 6 days ago
Last progress January 23, 2026 (1 week ago)
Provides funding authority and spending rules for the Department of the Interior and related agencies for fiscal year 2026 and imposes government‑wide spending, reporting, procurement, and program rules. It creates or adjusts several specific program authorities (for example, inspection fees, long‑term wild horse and burro contracts, and salmon hatchery marking), restricts some uses of funds, requires new reports and transparency on land/conservation actions, and authorizes amounts to be appropriated from the Treasury for FY2026. Sets agency-level limits and deadlines (including availability of funds, fee payment timing, and requirements to update certain federal records to use the name “Denali”), adds centralized reporting and congressional notification requirements for conservation/restoration spending decisions, places restrictions on use of funds for specified activities (e.g., lobbying, certain leasing or mining patent processing), and applies Buy American iron/steel requirements to specified drinking‑water projects. Two sections (EPA and Related Agencies) were not provided in the upload and therefore their detailed provisions could not be summarized here.
Allows (with the Secretary’s approval) appropriations in this title to be spent or transferred within each bureau/office for emergency reconstruction, replacement, or repair of damaged or destroyed aircraft, buildings, utilities, facilities, or equipment (e.g., from fire, flood, storm, or other unavoidable causes), but only after DOI emergency funds specifically made available for emergencies are exhausted; requires that funds used this way must be replenished by a supplemental appropriation requested as promptly as possible.
Allows the Secretary to use or transfer no-year appropriations in this title (beyond regular budget programs) for: wildland fire suppression or emergency prevention; emergency rehabilitation of burned lands; emergency actions for earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, storms, or other unavoidable causes; oil spill contingency planning; response and natural resource damage assessment for actual oil spills or hazardous substance releases; prevention/suppression/control of grasshopper and Mormon cricket outbreaks on lands under the Secretary’s jurisdiction; emergency reclamation projects; and transfers from no-year funds available to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement to permit assumption of regulatory authority if a primacy State is not carrying out Surface Mining Act regulatory provisions. Also allows certain wildland fire operations funds to pay prior-year obligations and reimburse other Federal agencies for equipment destroyed in wildland fire operations (credited to currently available appropriations). For wildland fire operations, bars use of this authority until the Secretary determines wildland fire suppression funds will be exhausted within 30 days. Requires that funds used under this authority must be replenished by a supplemental appropriation requested as promptly as possible, and that replenishment must reimburse accounts on a pro rata basis.
Makes DOI appropriations in this title available for specific administrative purposes, including: expert/consultant services under 5 U.S.C. 3109 (when authorized by the Secretary) up to a total of $500,000; purchase/replacement of motor vehicles (including specially equipped law enforcement vehicles); hire/maintenance/operation of aircraft; hire of passenger motor vehicles; purchase of reprints; telephone service in private residences in the field when authorized under approved regulations; and payment of dues for library membership in societies/associations under certain conditions.
Allows BIA/BIE/Bureau of Trust Funds Administration appropriations (and unobligated balances from prior Acts under the same headings) to be spent or transferred for Indian trust management and reform activities; limits settlement support activities to amounts specifically designated in this Act; requires the Secretary to notify House and Senate Appropriations Committees within 60 days after any expenditure or transfer under this section, including the amount and planned use.
Authorizes the Secretary to redistribute Tribal Priority Allocation (TPA) funds (including tribal base funds) to address tribal funding inequities by transferring funds for unmet needs, dual enrollment, overlapping service areas, or inaccurate distribution methods; limits any tribe’s reduction in TPA funds to no more than 10% in fiscal year 2026, except the 10% limitation does not apply under circumstances of dual enrollment, overlapping service areas, or inaccurate distribution methodologies.
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Broader transparency, process, and compliance effects
Who is likely less affected
Note on missing sections
Committee on Appropriations. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator Murkowski. With written report No. 119-46.
Last progress July 24, 2025 (6 months ago)
Introduced on July 24, 2025 by Lisa Murkowski