President Donald Trump’s administration’s proposed Environmental Protection Agency cuts could leave Minnesota communities struggling to keep drinking water safe.

The EPA’s 2026 budget would cut clean and drinking water programs by 90%, reducing funding from $2.7 billion to $305 million, according to Great Lakes Now. Minnesota would lose an estimated $41 million in federal clean water programs funding under the plan. 

Jay Eidsness, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy senior staff attorney, said those changes would have direct consequences for Minnesota residents.

“The biggest things are the rollbacks of the new drinking water standards for PFAS,” Eidsness said. “These are standards that would apply to all of the public drinking water systems throughout the country, including about 80% of Minnesotans who access water.”

PFAS are widely-used chemicals that break down very slowly over time. PFAS are found in water, air, fish and soil across the nation, according to the EPA. They are persistent in the environment and can contaminate water sources. 

Former President Joe Biden’s administration finalized strict PFAS limits at the end of 2024, covering six compounds with a compliance deadline of 2029. But under Trump’s EPA, four of those compounds would no longer be regulated, and the deadline would be pushed back to 2031.

“That means more years of pollution, more years of people drinking water that is not regulated to the level that the federal drinking water standards require,” Eidsness said.

While Minneapolis and many Twin Cities suburbs currently report low PFAS levels, contamination hotspots remain in the east metro, including Woodbury, Cottage Grove, Mahtomedi and Stillwater. Other affected areas include St. Cloud and Cloquet, Eidsness said.

Minnesota Department of Health spokesperson Amy Barrett said in a statement that the proposed cuts would “greatly impair the ability of Minnesota’s water systems to implement projects to keep water safe and infrastructure sound.”

“We continue to closely monitor federal funding proposals and changes, including the president’s proposed budget for federal fiscal year 2026,” Barrett said in a statement. “Should the EPA funding reductions included in the proposed budget be adopted, this would greatly impair the ability of Minnesota’s water systems to implement projects to keep water safe and infrastructure sound.”

She added, “Further, the ability of Minnesota and other states to implement the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act could be significantly compromised.”

“This isn’t just an issue that affects Minneapolis,” Eidsness said. “This will affect a lot of people.”

Eidsness said deep federal budget cuts threaten the science behind environmental protections, beyond the rule changes.

“We have seen a dramatic slash in funding and research in developing the scientific bases to put standards in place,” Eidsness said. “It is just going to be more and more difficult to see real environmental protection from the federal government going forward.”

Correction: A previous version of the article stated the Department of Health spokesperson Amy Barrett was Amy Coney Barrett. This is incorrect, it is just Amy Barrett.