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Trump's proposed budget would cut funds to clean up Puget Sound

President Donald Trump's proposed federal budget was delivered to Congress Tuesday as the White House began to release details.

It dramatically shifts federal money toward the military and away from domestic programs.

Besides the military, border security would also get a huge increase in spending, including money for building a wall.

Medicaid, anti-poverty programs and arts programs would be severely cut or eliminated.

Also cut would be millions of dollars to clean up the Puget Sound.  The White House is placing responsibility for the cleanup on the state.

Puget Sound is a source of pride for many in Washington State, so many are not happy about the new budget that is expected to cut nearly $28 million for regional cleanup.

The cut stems from the White House slashing the annual funding for the Environmental Protection Agency from $8.2 billion to $5.6 billion -- a 30 percent drop.

That cut would make a ripple effect to programs to protect oceans and wildlife across the country, including in the Puget Sound.

KIRO 7 has been talking to people on both sides of the issue as word of the new budget leaked earlier this year.

"One of the things I have been pushing for is rather than let the EPA make the decisions about what gets done here, we let the Puget Sound Partnerships make the decision,” said Todd Myers with Washington Policy Center.

“It's an incredibly reckless choice to cut all this funding. It's going to destabilize a lot of programs that are long running and rely on the federal funding and that are protecting the public health and public resources,” said Amelia Apfel with the Puget Soundkeepers Alliance.

Governor Jay Inslee says he supports local efforts to clean up the Puget Sound, but with tens of millions of dollars he has committed to funding K through 12 education, it will be challenge to find extra funding.