Turning Points--by Watershed Legal Counsel

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...

  A year into the current federal administration, organizations working on climate resilience , watershed restoration , and infrastructure are operating with different expectations. The work continues, but the context has shifted. Federal funding is less predictable. Regulatory alignment often requires more explanation. Public conversations feel more charged, even as the underlying challenges—flooding, land loss, grid reliability—remain familiar. In Maryland, these shifts are playing out in real time. Some federal grants awarded to local governments and nonprofits have been cancelled or suspended, with disputes unresolved and reinstatement uncertain unless projects can be clearly defended as consistent with current national priorities. Energy policy, in particular, has become a flashpoint. Litigation continues over a planned offshore wind project near  Ocean City , while rising electricity demand—driven in part by  data centers  and electrification—has pushed r...