Environment & Energy Congressional Round-Up | July 27 - July 31, 2026

Highlights:

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced the Energy Security Pacts Act (S.4392) to strengthen U.S. critical mineral supply chains. The bill, introduced by Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), aims to secure international partnerships to support mineral and energy infrastructure development in partner countries. Reps. Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Ami Bera (D-Calif.) lead the bill’s House counterpart (H.R.7037), which passed the chamber in June. To learn more about critical mineral supply chains, as well as their role in clean energy, check out EESI’s issue brief and our latest fact sheets on lithium and cobalt.

Reps. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) introduced the Wildfire Research Coordination Act (H.R.9998) to improve cross-agency collaboration on wildfire prevention research and the Wildfire Responder Protection Act (H.R.10001) to secure appropriate health care coverage for firefighters exposed to hazardous conditions. The bills are part of a wildfire mitigation package introduced in response to the Aspen Acres and Willow fires. EESI’s briefing about wildfire policy outlines other opportunities to strengthen wildfire mitigation efforts. 

Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced the Spotted Lanternfly Research and Development Act (S.5200) to label the Spotted Lanternfly as a high-priority research area for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Rep. Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.) introduced a similar bill (H.R.4708) in the House in July 2025. 

Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) introduced the Recycling Infrastructure and Accountability Act (H.R.9987) to direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a feasibility study on launching a national recycling database. The database would track information on recycling infrastructure, materials recovery, landfill diversion, and community accessibility to recycling services. 

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