Congress

Our congressional section has the latest on energy, environmental and related legislation in the House and Senate, with must-read stories on upcoming bills, amendments, hearings and floor battles.

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Our congressional section has the latest on energy, environmental and related legislation in the House and Senate, with must-read stories on upcoming bills, amendments, hearings and floor battles.

Senate Confirms Former White House Staffer Szabo As EPA’s Air Chief

The Senate on a party-line vote late on July 23 confirmed former industry lawyer and White House staffer from the first Trump administration Aaron Szabo to lead EPA’s air office, after contentious confirmation hearings for Szabo and other Trump EPA nominees. Senators voted 49-47 to confirm Szabo, with all Democrats and independents voting against, and four Republicans not voting -- Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Katie Britt (R-AL) and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK). Szabo has officially been serving as...

House GOP Urges EPA To Prioritize Development Of CCR Permit Program

House Republican appropriators are urging EPA to prioritize development of a federal coal combustion residuals (CCR) permitting program, a rule that many stakeholders have sought to set standards for the growing number of states expected to seek authority to implement their own programs. The recommendations, contained in report language attached to EPA’s fiscal year 2026 spending bill, also call for EPA to prioritize development of measures that encourage beneficial reuse of ash waste. The House Appropriations Committee voted to advance...

Democrats Fear OECA Nominee Will Allow Political Bias In Enforcement

Senate Democrats are raising concerns that Jeffrey Hall, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as EPA’s enforcement chief, will subject the agency’s enforcement actions to political bias, citing in part the agency’s recent dismissal of a Biden-era enforcement action against a California company that donated to the Trump campaign. The Senate Environment & Public Works Committee (EPW) during a July 23 hearing reviewed Hall’s nominations, Trump’s pick to serve as assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance...

Appropriators Advance EPA’s FY26 Bill, Rejecting Democratic Amendments

House GOP appropriators have approved their bill that would cut EPA spending in fiscal year 2026 by 23 percent while rejecting a suite of Democratic amendments that sought to curb policy restrictions on Biden-era rules and reinstate funding for key water infrastructure and environmental justice programs. During a July 22 markup, the House Appropriations Committee voted 33-28 along party lines to approve the FY26 bill for EPA and related agencies, clearing the measure for floor consideration when lawmakers return from...

Former EPA officials back Tonko’s scientific integrity bill

Former EPA officials, scientists and environmentalists are urging lawmakers to vote on Rep. Paul Tonko’s (D-NY) long-running effort to enact his bipartisan bill which seeks to set clear, enforceable standards for federal agencies and federally funded research to keep public science independent from political and special interests. During a July 22 event on Capitol Hill, groups including the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and Earthjustice joined Tonko to discuss concerns that the Trump administration is “removing science from the federal...

Senate Panel Seeks To Repeal DOD PFAS Incineration Ban, Lift Purchase Bar

A key Senate panel has approved measures in annual defense policy legislation that would definitively repeal a temporary moratorium on Defense Department (DOD) incineration of PFAS, require DOD to update its PFAS destruction guidance and lift a ban on DOD procurement of certain products containing the two most studied PFAS, among other provisions. In addition, the fiscal year 2026 defense authorization bill would push DOD to conduct expedited interim response actions of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination at military...

State Officials Weigh CWA’s Effectiveness In Meeting Water Quality Goals

The Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA), which represents state water regulators, is seeking input from its members on the effectiveness of the Clean Water Act (CWA) in meeting its water quality goals, a move that opens the door to states eventually weighing in on any EPA or congressional efforts to overhaul the law. According to a state source, ACWA recently created a CWA Program Review Task Force charged with evaluating the effectiveness of the water law in meeting its...

Democrats Seek To Counter EPA Reorganization In GOP’s Pending CWA Bill

House Democrats are seeking to counter the Trump EPA sweeping reorganization of agency offices and functions, filing what are likely to be messaging amendments to pending Clean Water Act (CWA) legislation that would require officials to rehire some laid-off staff to ensure effective CWA implementation and restore the disbanded research office. While the amendments, filed with the House Rules Committee ahead of a July 21 markup of H.R. 3898, are unlikely to be ruled in order, they telegraph Democrats’ messaging...

House Defense Policy Bill Calls On DOD To Accelerate PFAS Cleanups

The House Armed Services Committee has approved defense authorization legislation that includes several provisions addressing PFAS, including an amendment that would require the Defense Department (DOD) to accelerate PFAS cleanups as well as a measure requiring DOD to provide alternative water to owners of private wells with PFAS exceedances. The committee adopted these and other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) amendments during the panel’s July 15 markup of H.R. 3838, the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The...

House GOP Backs Chemical Industry Call To Ease EPA’s Pyrolysis Rules

House Republicans are endorsing industry calls to ease EPA regulations on controversial chemical recycling processes advanced by the chemical industry, though Democrats say the technology endangers public health and are urging Congress to instead address existing deficiencies in the nation’s recycling infrastructure. Congress should “assess regulatory barriers to proliferation of new technologies and strategies to grow domestic manufacturing capabilities while keeping valuable materials out of landfills,” House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) told a July 16 hearing...

House Republicans Advance EPA’s FY26 Bill Despite Democrats’ Attacks

Republicans on a House Appropriations panel are advancing a proposal to cut EPA spending in fiscal year 2026 by 23 percent, despite criticism from subcommittee Democrats over the measure’s cuts to agency resources and numerous policy riders blocking enforcement of Biden-era regulations. During a July 15 markup, the House Appropriations Interior panel on an 8-5 party line vote approved the FY26 bill for EPA and related agencies, sending it to the full committee for consideration. Lawmakers did not amend the...

Draft Bill Language


House Republicans’ FY26 Legislation Details EPA Cuts, Policy Restrictions

House Republicans are proposing a $2.1 billion cut to EPA spending in fiscal year 2026, which is about a quarter less than its current budget but higher than the Trump administration’s request, while also floating numerous policy riders that would block or restrict Biden-era air and water policies. The House Appropriations Committee on July 14 released its FY26 bill for EPA, Interior and related agencies ahead of a planned markup July 15. Overall, it details a $2.1 billion reduction to...

House GOP Takes Aim At Biden EPA GHG Regulations In FY26 Legislation

House Republicans are proposing provisions in draft fiscal year 2026 spending legislation for EPA that would block implementation of numerous Biden-era climate rules, alongside a 23 percent cut to the agency’s budget that Democrats say would hinder the government’s response to climate change. The July 14 release of the bill text , prior to a planned July 15 House Appropriations subcommittee markup, offers a preliminary negotiating marker for the House chamber -- with the release of a Senate FY26 plan...

House Lawmakers Push Bill To Boost DOD Transparency On PFAS Cleanups

Two House lawmakers from Michigan are pushing legislation that would increase the Defense Department’s (DOD) accountability to the public on its efforts to clean up PFAS contamination, as DOD undertakes investigations and cleanups of the chemicals at hundreds of bases that are expected to exceed $9 billion. Reps. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI) and Jack Bergman (R-MI) introduced the Military PFAS Transparency Act June 27, aimed at getting the military to provide more information to more than 600 communities across the...

House Democrats Say EPA Response To Dissent Letter Is Illegal Retaliation

House Democrats are asserting that EPA’s decision to place 139 employees that dissented from Trump-era policies on administrative leave is a “plainly illegal” violation of whistleblower protections, demanding that Administrator Lee Zeldin reinstate the employees and urging EPA’s Office of Inspector General to investigate the matter. A July 8 letter from Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee comes after the employees sent a letter to Congress describing Zeldin’s “numerous abuses of office, which have harmed communities, set back...

Rollback Of IRA Credits Sparks Short-Term Fights, Look Ahead To Midterms

The renewable energy sector and climate advocates are planning their next steps after suffering significant setbacks in the new reconciliation law that rolls back numerous clean energy tax credits, with such groups aiming to resist further adverse policies in the federal budget and in pending agency rulemakings. Additionally, many supporters of low-carbon energy say they are eyeing a potential reset of the balance of power in Washington after the 2026 midterm elections, as well as efforts to use the new...

House Lawmakers Urge VA To Assess Cancer Links With PFAS Blood Testing

House lawmakers are advising the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to employ advanced blood testing methods to detect PFAS as part of its efforts to determine potential links between exposure to the chemicals during military service and kidney cancer, while also targeting specific funds for PFAS cleanup at BRAC bases. The advice is included in the House Appropriations Committee report , dated June 10, attached to the fiscal year 2026 military construction, veterans affairs, and related agencies appropriations bill. The...

Chamber CWA Policy Requests Could See Success In SRF Reauthorization

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is emphasizing its support for various water infrastructure and funding policies as House Republicans advance legislation to overhaul Clean Water Act (CWA) permitting processes, potentially pushing for such policies’ inclusion in the 2026 state revolving fund’s (SRF) reauthorization bill. The Chamber promotes “solutions that enjoy broad support,” in a June 25 letter to Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate environment committee, and Reps. Sam...

House Sends Rollback Of IRA Climate, Energy Programs To Trump’s Desk

The House in a July 3 vote concurred with the Senate’s budget legislation that effectively scuttles numerous Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) clean energy tax credits and repeals IRA climate change programs, sending the measure to President’s Donald Trump’s desk in a move that will worsen the economics of numerous low-carbon projects. The 218-214 vote to approve the budget reconciliation package culminates a marathon Republican push to enact the measure by July 4. The broad legislation combines attacks on the IRA...

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