Defense Environmental Cleanup, the largest tranche of funding for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, could receive almost $7 billion under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal 2026.
The final version of the NDAA was released Monday after a House and Senate Conference Committee harmonized differences between the earlier NDAA versions emerging from the two chambers.
The House Wednesday voted 312 to 112 to pass the $900.6 billion fiscal 2026 NDAA that would authorize nearly $26 billion in funding for DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
The annual defense policy bill, which supports an $8 billion topline boost and wide-ranging acquisition reforms, awaits Senate consideration. Ahead of the House’s vote, the White House released a statement of support for the NDAA and noted President Donald Trump would sign the bill once it reaches his desk.
According to the document’s text, Defense Environmental Cleanup would be authorized to receive about $6.96 billion. That is equal to the White House request.
The figure allowed in the House-Senate NDAA is more than the $6.5-billion the House approved in September in its Energy & Water Appropriations bill. The Senate has yet to pass its own version of the appropriations bill for fiscal 2026.
The NDAA would authorize more than $2.9 billion for DOE’s largest and more expensive cleanup overseen by the Hanford Field Office in Washington state. Hanford’s Richland office would be OK’d for about $838 million and the Office of River Protection, $2.1 billion. In both instances the authorization figures are equal to the White House request.
The NDAA is a policy bill rather than an appropriations bill, although it does set ceilings on how much can be spent.
Defense Environmental Cleanup funding is used for remediation of Cold War and Manhattan Project sites. The line item makes up the bulk of the annual Environmental Management (EM) budget.
Following a month-long government shutdown, Congress passed a continuing resolution that runs through Jan. 30, 2026.