Environment & Energy Congressional Round-Up | September 14 - September 18, 2026

Highlights:

The House passed the Water Resources Development Act of 2026 (H.R.9497). Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), Mike Collins (R-Ga.) and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) led the biennial reauthorization of the bill, which invests in flood control, ecosystem restoration, and other water resources projects under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The bill, which the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure advanced in early September, has since been taken up in the Senate for consideration.

The House passed three bills to facilitate domestic critical mineral recovery and recycling: the Battery Recycling for America’s Competitive Economy (BRACE) Act (H.R.9615) led by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), the Environmental Monitoring and Remediation Technology Assessment Initiative (EMRTAI) Authorization Act of 2026 (H.R.9616) introduced by Reps. August Pfluger (R-Texas) and Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), and the Coordinating and Harnessing America’s Recovery of Minerals (CHARM) Act (H.R.9617) from Reps. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.). To learn more about critical mineral supply chains and recycling, visit EESI’s critical minerals issue brief, as well as our fact sheets on lithium and cobalt. 

The House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R.9340). Reps. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) introduced the bill, which would require state utility regulators to consider federal rules for data center-related grid upgrades. These rules include requirements that certain large-load customers, such as data centers, cover the full costs of all power generation and energy infrastructure upgrades made to support them. The Senate has since taken up the bill for consideration. 

The Senate passed Reps. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) and Russ Fulcher’s (R-Idaho) Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act (H.R.3657). The House passed the bill in July 2025, and if signed into law, it would bolster the clean energy sector and help meet increased energy demand by making hydropower dam licensing processes more efficient. 

The House passed the Load Forecasting Enhancement Act (H.R.9332), led by Reps. Troy Balderson (R-Ohio) and Rob Menendez (D-N.J.). The bill would require the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) to work with state public utilities to develop a set of best practices for predicting future grid needs and capacity. For more information, watch EESI’s briefing about grid capacity.

To catch up on all of the recent environmental and energy legislation in Congress, read the pdf here.