The Trump administration’s proposals for the FY2027 budget, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were released last week, and signify an outright attack on the future of our coastlines, ocean, and beaches.
The current budget proposal calls to completely eliminate or drastically cut several of the most important federal programs that support robust coastal management, climate change research and planning, ocean protection, and ensuring our beach waters are safe for recreation. The only federal “ocean program” that is receiving more support in the President’s FY2027 Budget aims to further extract from our ocean by increasing funding and eliminating regulatory barriers to increase deep seabed mining.
The impacts of the proposed cuts to both agencies cannot be understated. With an overall agency budget proposal of $4.54 billion, or a nearly 20% overall reduction from FY2026, the NOAA budget would completely dismantle the agency as it operates currently, stripping it of its core functions in ways that will irrevocably damage our beaches and ocean.
Specifically, the effects of the proposed cuts to coastal and Great Lakes States would be devastating. State coastal programs, already reeling with budget shortfalls from the elimination of the last round of funding for coastal initiatives under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in the FY26 budget, would be effectively zeroed out or operating on shoestring budgets. Priority coastal and ocean programs slated to be eliminated or severely cut under the current budget proposal include:
Key coastal and climate research programs at NOAA are also on the chopping block. While it appears some components of the Digital Coast Program will be preserved, climate change research, cooperatives, and funding are slated to be terminated, cutting more than 300 positions, closing 15 climate laboratories across the country, and eliminating hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for climate research. The data needed to inform climate change and coastal hazard planning into the future will be completely gutted under the current budget proposal.
Meanwhile, the President’s FY27 budget is proposing a whopping 52% overall reduction in funding for the federal agency tasked with protecting human health and the environment - the EPA. Many of the programs that we rely on to ensure that water quality at the beach and in coastal watersheds can support safe recreation and healthy ecosystems are on the chopping block. Major cuts are proposed for the Border Water Infrastructure Program (57% reduction) and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (80% reduction). These programs are vital to help communities upgrade and fix their wastewater infrastructure so we can stop the flow of untreated sewage into the ocean and local waterways both here in the U. S. and at the border with Mexico. Funding is also proposed to be completely eliminated for the BEACH Act Grants program that provides assistance to coastal states and territories for the beach water quality monitoring and public notification programs. Robust beach testing programs are essential to ensuring people have the information they need to swim, surf and recreate safely in the ocean. They are also essential to safeguard our massively valuable coastal recreation and tourism economies valued at $240 billion nationwide!
It is more important than ever that we speak up to protect our coastlines and the programs that help protect our ability to recreate and enjoy our ocean, waves and beaches
Take action today and tell Congress to pass a budget worth swimming in.