Federal Grant Rules, Local Environmental Consequences
Why environmental nonprofits should comment like the record matters On May 29, 2026, the Office of Management and Budget, joined by federal award-making agencies across the federal government, proposed significant revisions to the Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance —the government-wide framework that governs federal grants, cooperative agreements, and other forms of federal financial assistance. The deadline for submitting comments is July 13, 2026. The proposal is framed as a transparency, accountability, and oversight measure, but its practical effect would be to make federal funding less predictable by giving agencies broader discretion to screen, condition, suspend, or terminate awards based on shifting agency priorities, broadly stated “national interest” concerns, and new restrictions tied to DEI, immigration, and other administration policy priorities. For nonprofits, local governments, universities, and other recipients and subrecipients of federal funds, this is no...