In 2014, the DC Department of Energy and the Environment, armed with federal funds, completed the daylighting of the long-buried Broad Branch stream, and the restoration of the Linnean stream. That our neighborhood got two very pleasant walking trails out of these two ambitious projects was only a side benefit. The streams were reconstructed as stormwater and pollution control systems aimed at cleaning up Rock Creek and the Potomac.
DOEE has continued to be visible and active in the neighborhood. Examples of their work include water quality monitoring of local streams, the recently completed Linnean gully stormwater project, and staffers’ answers and assurances when I asked about the missing Linnean Park frogs. And DOEE and its staff protect urban nature and public health across the District.
So, when environmental groups started raising the alarm about the agency’s fiscal 2026 budget, they got my attention. Mayor Muriel Bowser proposes slashing DOEE’s budget by 24.1%. Green infrastructure maintenance and water quality monitoring programs lose 100% of their funding.
Rock Creek Conservancy said no other agency faces cuts of this magnitude. And the Sierra Club of DC called the rollbacks “sweeping and destructive.”
Several groups protested the cuts at a June 16th rally on the steps of the Wilson Building. And on June 13th, former Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh lodged her own protest, in testimony before the Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment.
Cheh had chaired the committee with oversight over the DOEE for 14 years. And pulling no punches, the former Council member referred to the mayor’s proposed budget for the agency as a “terrible waste” and a “fraud.”
On the waste: “To give you just one example: the Green Infrastructure Maintenance Program will wither away and so too the investments we have already made in stormwater management,” Cheh said in prepared remarks. “This budget also attempts to unwind, weaken, and delay programs that don’t have an effect on the District’s budget, such as the Building Energy Performance Standards Program – the first of its kind in the nation and now copied by many other states.”
The fraud, Cheh said, includes Bowser’s proposal to divert a large percentage of revenue from fees such as the District’s five-cent bag tax (currently dedicated to waterway and watershed protection projects) and some utility surcharges (funding programs such as rooftop solar for homes and apartments) into the general fund.
“We are at risk, too, of fines and penalties, and rather hefty ones, by not meeting federal mandates. For example, our federal MS4 permit allows storm water to be put into our rivers… but only if we take certain actions…. and failure to take these actions exposes us to potentially huge fines and penalties,” Cheh said.
At the same time, DC cannot rely on federal funding for air and water quality projects. The proposed federal budget slashes EPA funding by more than 50%. The Mayor’s budget provides no buffer for DOEE should federal monies also disappear.
“This budget will devastate DOEE, one of the premier agencies of our government and one of the very best in the country,” Cheh said. “DOEE’s standing is the result of years of work, and we stand to squander even the investments of the past.”
The Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment voted Wednesday, June 25th on Committee Chair Charles Allen’s budget recommendations, which restore some sustainability programs and funding.
But Rock Creek Conservancy says DOEE’s water quality monitoring budget remains zeroed out, and “overall, the marked-up DOEE budget is still dramatically below its FY2025 budget level!”
The full Council will be working on the budget until the end of July. If you have recommendations or would like to voice concerns, contact these Council members:
Phil Mendelson, Council chair: pmendelson@dccouncil.gov, 202-724-8032
Anita Bond, At-Large: abonds@dccouncil.gov, 202-724-8064
Christina Henderson, At-Large: chenderson@dccouncil.gov, 202-724-8105
Kenyan McDuffie, At-Large: kmcduffie@dccouncil.gov, 202-724-8028
Robert White, At-Large: rwhite@dccouncil.gov, 202-724-8174
Matthew Frumin, Ward 3: mfrumin@dccouncil.gov, 202-724-8062
Charles Allen, Ward 6 and Transportation and Environment Committee chair: callen@dccouncil.gov, 202-724-8062