Appropriation; Environmental Quality, Department of.

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To: Appropriations B;
Appropriations A
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representatives Bounds, Read, Anderson
(122nd), Clark, Eure, Hale, Jackson (11th),
Pigott, Rosebud

HOUSE BILL NO. 1891
(As Sent to Governor)

AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE SUPPORT AND 1
MAINTENANCE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY; AND FOR 2
RELATED PURPOSES, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2027. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 4
SECTION 1. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be 5
necessary, is appropriated out of any money in the State General 6
Fund not otherwise appropriated, for the support and maintenance 7
of the Department of Environmental Quality for the fiscal year 8
beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027.................. 9
............................................... $ 21,417,453.00. 10
SECTION 2. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be 11
necessary, is appropriated out of any money in any special fund in 12
the State Treasury to the credit of the Department of 13
Environmental Quality which is comprised of special source funds 14
collected by or otherwise available to the department, for the 15
support of the various offices of the department for the fiscal 16
year beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027............. 17
............................................... $ 252,129,128.00. 18
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SECTION 3. Of the funds appropriated under the provisions of 19
this act, not more than the following amount of funds, with the 20
exception of the provisions in this section, shall be expended 21
only for “Personal Services,” which includes “Vacancy Funding,” 22
for the following authorized number of employment headcount: 23
FUNDING: 24
General Funds: $ 11,105,932.00 25
Special Funds: $ 23,053,670.00 26
Total Funds: $ 34,159,602.00 27
PERSONAL SERVICES: 28
Employee Salaries, Wages and 29
Fringe Benefits: $ 32,762,772.00 30
Progressions: $ 0.00 31
Vacancy Funding: $ 1,396,830.00 32
Total Personal Services: $ 34,159,602.00 33
AUTHORIZED HEADCOUNT: 34
Permanent: 215 35
Time-Limited: 170 36
As used in this section, the term “Personal Services” shall 37
mean funds provided under the major object of expenditure category 38
Personal Services for Salaries, Wages, and Fringe Benefits. Funds 39
in this category shall not be transferred to any other category. 40
It is the intention of the Legislature to ensure compliance 41
with the Variable Compensation Plan, as outlined in Section 42
25-9-147, Mississippi Code of 1972. Payment from these funds 43
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shall be in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan 44
promulgated by the Mississippi State Personnel Board. It is the 45
Legislature’s intention that no employee’s salary falls below the 46
minimum salary established by the Mississippi State Personnel 47
Board. 48
The State Personnel Board shall determine and publish the 49
projected annual cost of “Personal Services” based on monthly and 50
year-to-date payroll expenditures in compliance with the 51
provisions of this act. 52
With the funds herein appropriated, it shall be the agency’s 53
responsibility to ensure that no single personnel action or 54
combination of personnel actions, when annualized, exceeds the 55
Fiscal Year 2027 appropriation for “Personal Services” with the 56
exception of escalated funds. Further, it shall be the agency’s 57
responsibility to ensure that funds required to be appropriated 58
for “Personal Services” for Fiscal Year 2028 do not exceed Fiscal 59
Year 2027 funds appropriated for that purpose unless programs or 60
positions are added to the agency’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget by the 61
Mississippi Legislature. 62
If, at the time the agency takes any action to change 63
“Personal Services,” the State Personnel Board determines that the 64
agency has taken or will take an action that would cause the 65
agency to exceed the funds appropriated in this act when 66
annualized for Fiscal Year 2027 or increase the need for “Personal 67
Services” for Fiscal Year 2028, when annualized, the State 68
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Personnel Board shall process no salary actions until such time as 69
the requirements of the provisions of this section are met with 70
the exception of new hires determined to be essential for the 71
agency. 72
When used in this section, “Vacancy Funding” shall mean funds 73
included in the Total Personal Services amount listed above and 74
designated for approved vacancies in Fiscal Year 2027. These 75
funds are to be utilized to increase the number of filled 76
headcounts that were authorized but unfilled as of the last day of 77
Fiscal Year 2026. If the agency fills additional headcounts after 78
March 1, 2026, until the end of Fiscal Year 2026, the amount of 79
available Vacancy Funding may be proportionally adjusted to 80
reflect the updated number of filled headcounts. The agency shall 81
be responsible for ensuring that “Vacancy Funding” is used to 82
increase headcounts and not for promotions, title changes, 83
in-range salary adjustments, or any other mechanism for increasing 84
salaries for current employees. 85
Any transfers or escalations shall be made in accordance with 86
the terms, conditions, and procedures established by law or 87
allowable under the terms set forth within this act. The State 88
Personnel Board shall not escalate positions or increase the 89
Personal Services total without written approval from the 90
Department of Finance and Administration. The Department of 91
Finance and Administration shall not provide written approval to 92
escalate any funds for salaries and/or headcounts without proof of 93
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availability of new or additional funds above the appropriated 94
level. Unless specifically noted, all Fiscal Year 2026 escalated 95
headcounts have been accounted for and shall be converted to 96
authorized time-limited headcounts. 97
No general funds authorized to be expended herein shall be 98
used to replace federal funds and/or other special funds used for 99
salaries authorized under the provisions of this act and which are 100
withdrawn and no longer available. 101
None of the funds herein appropriated shall be used in 102
violation of the Internal Revenue Service’s Publication 15-A 103
relating to the reporting of income paid to contract employees, as 104
interpreted by the Office of the State Auditor. 105
If the agency’s total authorized headcount decreases from 106
Fiscal Year 2026 to Fiscal Year 2027, it will be the agency’s 107
discretion as to what headcounts are removed. 108
SECTION 4. It is the intention of the Legislature that the 109
Department of Environmental Quality shall maintain complete 110
accounting and personnel records related to the expenditure of all 111
funds appropriated under this act and that such records shall be 112
in the same format and level of detail as maintained for Fiscal 113
Year 2026. It is further the intention of the Legislature that 114
the agency's budget request for Fiscal Year 2028 shall be 115
submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee in a format 116
and level of detail comparable to the format and level of detail 117
provided during the Fiscal Year 2027 budget request process. 118
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SECTION 5. In compliance with the "Mississippi Performance 119
Budget and Strategic Planning Act of 1994," it is the intent of 120
the Legislature that the funds provided herein shall be utilized 121
in the most efficient and effective manner possible to achieve the 122
intended mission of this agency. Based on the funding authorized, 123
this agency shall make every effort to attain the targeted 124
performance measures provided below: 125
FY2027 126
Performance Measures Target 127
Pollution Control 128
Percent of Days with Air Advisories 5.00 129
Percent of Air Permits Modified/Issued 130
in a Timely Manner 50.00 131
Percent of Counties That Meet NAAQ Standards 75.00 132
Percent of Air Facilities Inspected 35.00 133
Percent of Air Facilities in Compliance 134
with Regulatory Requirements 85.00 135
Percent of Waste Permits Issued/Modified 136
in a Timely Manner 60.00 137
Percent of Waste Facilities Inspected 60.00 138
Percent of Inspected Waste Facilities in 139
Compliance with Regulatory Requirements 65.00 140
Percent of Citizens who Have Access to 141
Recycling Programs 50.00 142
Percent of Underground Storage Tanks in 143
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Compliance with Regulatory Requirements 60.00 144
Percent of Contaminated Sites That Have 145
Completed Assessment 10.00 146
Percent of Contaminated Sites That Have 147
Completed Remediation 5.00 148
Percent of Waters That Have Acceptable 149
Quality for Their Designed Use 56.00 150
Percent of NPDES Permits Issued/Modified 151
in a Timely Manner 50.00 152
Percent of NPDES Majors in Compliance 66.00 153
Percent of Staff with Expertise in the 154
National Incident Management System 70.00 155
Percent of NPDES Majors Inspected per Year 50.00 156
Construction Grants 157
Percent of SRF Loan Recipients in 158
Compliance with Loan Agreements 90.00 159
Land & Water 160
Percent of Annual Prioritized Water 161
Resource Areas Adequately Characterized 80.00 162
Percent of Groundwater Use Permits 163
Issued/Modified 90.00 164
Percent of Surface Water Use Permits 165
Issued/Modified 90.00 166
Percent of Water Use Reported 80.00 167
Percent of High Hazard Dams with 168
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Emergency Action Plans 99.00 169
Geology 170
Percent of Mining Facilities Inspected 85.00 171
Percent of Inspected Mining Facilities 172
in Compliance with Regulatory 173
Requirements 90.00 174
Administrative Services 175
Administration as a Percent of Total Budget 5.00 176
A reporting of the degree to which the performance targets 177
set above have been or are being achieved shall be provided in the 178
agency's budget request submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget 179
Committee for Fiscal Year 2028. 180
SECTION 6. It shall be unlawful for any officer, employee or 181
other person whatsoever to use or permit or authorize the use of 182
any automobile or any other motor vehicle owned by the State of 183
Mississippi or any department, agency or institution thereof for 184
any purpose other than upon the official business of the State of 185
Mississippi or any agency, department or institution thereof. 186
It is the intent of the Legislature that motor vehicles 187
authorized to be owned and operated by this agency shall comply 188
with Sections 25-1-77 through 25-1-93, Mississippi Code of 1972. 189
SECTION 7. Of the funds appropriated in Section 2, an amount 190
no greater than Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) 191
shall be derived from the Pollution Emergency Fund within the 192
Pollution Operating Fund for transfer to the Department of 193
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Environmental Quality - Office of Administrative Services for 194
support of Legal Division environmental protection activities. 195
SECTION 8. Of the funds appropriated in Section 2, an amount 196
no greater than One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) shall 197
be derived from the Pollution Emergency Fund within the Pollution 198
Operating Fund for transfer to the Department of Environmental 199
Quality - Office of Pollution Control for support of the Household 200
Hazardous Waste Collection Grants Program. 201
SECTION 9. Of the funds appropriated in Section 1, Six 202
Million Eight Hundred Sixty-eight Thousand Dollars 203
($6,868,000.00), or so much thereof as may be necessary, is 204
provided for the Clean Water Grant match. 205
SECTION 10. The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) 206
may request that the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) staff 207
shall provide an economic viability assessment for any complete 208
application or group of related complete applications submitted to 209
DEQ after July 1, 1999, for which DEQ estimates that DEQ will be 210
required to devote extraordinary effort to process the application 211
or group of related applications within the one hundred eighty 212
(180) days required by Section 49-17-29(3)(c). For purposes of 213
this paragraph, "extraordinary effort" means the constant 214
dedication of more than three (3) full-time equivalent positions 215
for a period of at least one hundred eighty (180) days. The 216
economic viability assessment shall include, but not be limited 217
to: (i) an analysis of the current and future market viability of 218
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the project concerning which application(s) has been made to DEQ; 219
and (ii) an analysis of the applicant's economic ability to 220
construct, develop, maintain and operate the project as described 221
in the application(s) submitted to DEQ. If the economic viability 222
assessment concludes that the project is not economically viable 223
for any reason, DEQ shall suspend processing the permit 224
application(s), notwithstanding the provisions of Section 225
49-17-29(3)(c). Within thirty (30) days of the decision of MDA 226
staff, the permit applicant may present any additional information 227
on its behalf to the Executive Director of MDA, and the Executive 228
Director shall review the MDA staff assessment. If additional 229
information is received in writing from the applicant, the 230
Executive Director of MDA shall make a decision in review of the 231
MDA staff decision within sixty (60) days of the staff decision, 232
and the decision of the Executive Director of MDA shall be the 233
final administrative action of MDA in the matter. 234
SECTION 11. It is the intention of the Legislature that the 235
Executive Director of the Department of Environmental Quality 236
shall have authority to transfer cash from one special fund 237
treasury fund to another special fund treasury fund under the 238
control of the Department of Environmental Quality. The purpose 239
of this authority is to more efficiently use available cash 240
reserves. It is further the intention of the Legislature that the 241
Executive Director of the Department of Environmental Quality 242
shall submit written justification for the transfer to the 243
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Legislative Budget Office and the Department of Finance and 244
Administration on or before the fifteenth of the month prior to 245
the effective date of the transfer. 246
SECTION 12. It is the intention of the Legislature that 247
whenever two (2) or more bids are received by this agency for the 248
purchase of commodities or equipment, and whenever all things 249
stated in such received bids are equal with respect to price, 250
quality and service, the Mississippi Industries for the Blind 251
shall be given preference. A similar preference shall be given to 252
the Mississippi Industries for the Blind whenever purchases are 253
made without competitive bids. 254
SECTION 13. Of the funds appropriated herein, it is the 255
intent of the Legislature that the Department of Environmental 256
Quality shall pay debt service on bonds issued to provide state 257
matching funds for the State Revolving Loan Fund with interest 258
earnings derived from the fund. 259
SECTION 14. Of the funds appropriated in Section 2, an 260
amount not greater than Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00) 261
shall be derived from the Pollution Emergency Fund within the 262
Pollution Operating Fund for transfer to the Department of 263
Environmental Quality to be used for dam and reservoir 264
inspections, inventory, and reporting. 265
SECTION 15. It is the intention of the Legislature for the 266
Department of Environmental Quality to continue with any 267
agreements with Mississippi state agencies, including grant 268
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agreements, that provide environmental projects to restore 269
Mississippi’s natural resources in the wake of the Deepwater 270
Horizon Oil Spill. 271
SECTION 16. Of the funds appropriated in Section 2, One 272
Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) is provided for the purpose of 273
assessment, remediation, operation and maintenance, cost-sharing, 274
oversight, and administration of water, land, and air 275
contamination projects within the State of Mississippi pursuant to 276
the 2020 settlement in The State of Mississippi ex rel. Lynn 277
Fitch, Attorney General vs. EnPro, Inc., et.al.; Cause No. 278
CV-2017-19-JMY2. 279
SECTION 17. Of the funds appropriated in Section 2, Two 280
Million Dollars ($2,000,000.00) is provided for the Dam Safety 281
Grant Program. 282
SECTION 18. Of the funds appropriated in Section 2, One 283
Hundred Twenty Thousand Dollars ($120,000.00), or so much thereof 284
as may be necessary, shall be derived out of any money in the 285
State Treasury to the credit of the Project Poppy Fund, as created 286
in Section 57-1-631, Mississippi Code of 1972, and allocated in a 287
manner as determined by the Treasurer's Office and One Hundred 288
Thirty Thousand Dollars ($130,000.00), or so much thereof as may 289
be necessary, shall be derived out of any money in the State 290
Treasury to the credit of the Project Atlas Fund, as created in 291
Section 57-1-641, Mississippi Code of 1972, and allocated in a 292
manner as determined by the Treasuer's Office. These funds are 293
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provided for expediting services needed for Project Poppy and 294
Project Atlas. 295
SECTION 19. It is the intention of the Legislature that the 296
funds herein appropriated shall be expended in compliance with 297
Section 27-104-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, that no state agency 298
shall incur obligations or indebtedness in excess of their 299
appropriation and that the responsible officers, either personally 300
or upon their official bonds, shall be held responsible for 301
actions contrary to this provision. 302
SECTION 20. Notwithstanding any other provision, the 303
Department of Environmental Quality shall have the authority to 304
escalate its headcount for any additional operational needs 305
related to Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds, upon approval 306
of the Department of Finance and Administration and the State 307
Personnel Board. 308
SECTION 21. It is the intention of the Legislature that the 309
department shall not promulgate rules or regulations to establish 310
the State Water Alteration Program, or any similar program, that 311
would apply to permanent, intermittent, and ephemeral waters, as 312
well as certain wetlands. 313
SECTION 22. The money herein appropriated shall be paid by 314
the State Treasurer out of any money in the State Treasury to the 315
credit of the proper fund or funds as set forth in this act, upon 316
warrants issued by the State Fiscal Officer; and the State Fiscal 317
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ST: Appropriation; Environmental Quality,
Department of.
Officer shall issue his warrants upon requisitions signed by the 318
proper person, officer or officers, in the manner provided by law. 319
SECTION 23. This act shall take effect and be in force from 320
and after July 1, 2026. 321