Committee on Transportation and the Environment approves FY26 report, restores limited sustainable energy funding and funds safety, transit, sidewalk projects

The Committee on Transportation and the Environment voted June 25, 2025, to approve its report and recommendations on the District’s FY2026 local budget, restoring some environmental funds cut in the mayor’s proposal and reallocating capital to transportation safety and accessibility projects. Councilmember Charles Allen, Ward 6 and chair of the committee, presided over the meeting, held in Room 500 of the John A. Wilson Building and on Zoom.

The committee’s report seeks to reverse parts of the mayor’s proposed reductions to the District Department of Energy and Environment (DOE) and related programs while also identifying new fee changes and reallocations to cover priorities. Chair Allen said the mayor’s proposal included a proposed $71 million sweep from the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund (SETF) — part of roughly $140 million the committee says has been swept across two years — and described the mayor’s plan as significantly reducing DOE’s resources. The committee restored $3.1 million to the SETF for FY26 and reallocated $5.3 million to the SETF across the financial plan. Allen said DOE’s FY26 budget under the mayor’s plan would have been about $77 million less than FY25 funding levels.

The committee also fully restored a $1.9 million proposed sweep from the Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Fund and preserved program funding for small grants and contractors that support river…