Fund the BEACH Act FY2026

Hundreds of millions of Americans and visitors enjoy U.S. beaches every year, trusting that the water is safe for recreation. The Surfrider Foundation has long been advocating for congressional support for the EPA’s BEACH Act grant program that provides funding to coastal states to run their beach water quality monitoring and public notification programs. This program is critical to provide families with the information they need to stay safe at the beach and to safeguard our valuable coastal tourism-based economies. The President’s Budget for FY2026 proposed to eliminate all funding for this critical public health program. Without continued federal funding, beach water quality monitoring programs in many coastal states would stop completely. Other states would be forced to cut back on testing by shortening their sampling seasons, testing fewer beaches or less frequently - leaving public health unprotected in many instances. 

There are other important programs at EPA vital to protecting clean water and healthy communities that were also on the budget chopping block this year. The President’s Budget called for deep cuts and the potential complete elimination of EPA grant programs that states and communities rely on to help pay for wastewater infrastructure projects to restore clean water and protect public health from sewage spills.

In fact, the President’s budget proposed to reduce the agency’s overall budget by 55%!  A funding reduction of this size would cripple the EPA’s ability to enforce the Clean Water Act and other critical public health and environmental regulations, resulting in more pollution in our nation’s waterways and coastal communities. 

The Surfrider Foundation engaged our vast network of volunteers and staff policy experts to reach out to Congress to reject the drastic cuts proposed in the President’s budget. By meeting directly with over 150 Congressional offices during Coastal Recreation Hill Day, connecting with Congress members willing to champion EPA and beach water quality protections, and fostering relationships with bipartisan member offices across the US, Surfrider and our coalition partners were able to galvanize Congress to reject the FY26 presidents budget and secure level funding for the EPA BEACH Act grants programs in FY26 while avoiding extreme cuts to the EPA.