* Environmental Integrity Project press release…

New Report: Illinois Among Top in U.S. for Cutting Staffing for its State Environmental Agency

While Trump Proposes Cuts to EPA, More Than Half of States Have Also Cut Their Pollution Control Programs Over Last 15 Years

Washington, DC – At a time when the Trump Administration is proposing sharp cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, claiming that states can take on more responsibility for environmental oversight, more than half of states (27) cut their environmental agency budgets over the last 15 years, according to an examination of state records by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP).

Illinois ranked among the top states in the nation for cutting staffing from its pollution control agency, slashing 20 percent of its staff, or 193 jobs, between 2010 and 2024, according to EIP’s report, “State of Decline: Cuts to State Pollution Control Agencies Compound Damage from the Dismantling of EPA.”

The deep reductions at the state level mean that the Trump Administration’s planned downsizing of the EPA – with a vote by Congress planned next month on a proposal to slash EPA’s budget – will have an increased impact on pollution control efforts across the country. Not only will the federal pollution cop no longer be on the beat, state authorities may not show up either — because state inspectors have also been laid off in many areas.

“The Trump Administration is attempting to dismantle EPA and rollback commonsense federal pollution rules, claiming that the states can pick up the slack and protect our communities – but that’s not the case,” said Jen Duggan, Executive Director of the Environmental Integrity Project. “The implementation of our environmental laws depend on both a strong EPA and state agencies that have the resources they need to do their jobs. But our research found that many states have already cut their pollution control agencies and so more cuts at the federal level will only put more Americans at risk.”

Jen Walling, Chief Executive Officer of the Illinois Environmental Council, said: “In Illinois, we’ve asked our environmental agency to do more every year while giving it less than it had a generation ago. Because the state hasn’t invested general revenue dollars in the Illinois EPA since 2003, the agency is forced to rely on volatile fee revenue and federal grants. A 21 percent cut over 15 years has real consequences and if federal EPA funding collapses at the same time, there will be nothing left to backstop these critical protections. We are grateful to Governor Pritzker and Illinois EPA Director James Jennings for rebuilding capacity and restoring staffing to 850 employees, but even with their leadership, the agency is still operating with far fewer resources than Illinois communities need.”

EIP’s report found that seven states reduced their pollution control funding by at least a third from 2010 through 2024, when adjusted for inflation. The steepest budget cuts were led by Mississippi’s decision to slash its environmental agency by 71 percent, South Dakota’s 61 percent cut, and Connecticut’s 51 percent reduction.

* More…

· Illinois ranked sixth in the nation for percentage of staff cut from its environmental agency, eliminating 20 percent of the jobs (or 194 full-time equivalent positions) at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency between 2010 and 2024.
· Nationally, seven of the 10 states with the largest percent cuts to their environmental agencies from 2010 to 2024 had Republican governors in a majority of these 15 years, while only three had mostly Democratic governors. In Illinois, by contrast, Democratic governors have been in charge for 11 of the last 15 years during a time of generally reduced funding for IEPA.

* State funding and staffing changes map from the report…

* They’ve also posted a handy spreadsheet. The FY2010 inflation adjusted IEPA budget was $285,353,402. The FY2024 IEPA budget was $225,504,600, or a $59.85 million cut, which works out to 21 percent.

IEPA dropped from 953 staffers in FY10 to 760 in FY24, which is a 193-person difference and a 20.3 percent cut, according to the study.

* Back to the report…

Next year could bring even sharper budget and staffing reductions at EPA. The White House has been seeking a budget for fiscal 2026 that would slash EPA’s budget by 55 percent, or $4.2 billion, leaving the agency with funding levels not seen in four decades. House Republicans have proposed more modest cuts, suggesting an EPA budget for the 2026 fiscal year that is 23 percent smaller than the previous year. Meanwhile, the Republican-led Senate Committee on Appropriations voted in favor of only a five percent cut for EPA.8 At the time of this report’s writing, it remains unclear how many employees and how much funding EPA will have next year. During the first Trump Administration, Congress kept EPA’s budget fairly constant even as the president pushed for dramatic cuts.