Environment & Energy Congressional Round-Up | September 28 - October 2, 2026

Highlights:

Sens. John Hickenlooper’s (D-Colo.) and John Curtis’s (R-Utah) Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program Reauthorization Act of 2026 (S.2437) passed the Senate by unanimous consent. The bill aims to improve drought management in the West by bolstering water supply prediction and monitoring capabilities, including by reauthorizing the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program through 2031. A companion bill (H.R.3857) from Reps. Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.) and Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) passed the House in September. The bill will now head to the president’s desk for his signature.

The Senate unanimously passed the Wildfire Emissions Prevention Act of 2026 (S.5045). Sens. John Curtis (R-Utah) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced the bill in July alongside four other bipartisan original sponsors to expand eligibility for states to use prescribed fires as preventative tools for wildfire emissions—without penalization from national ambient air quality standards. For more wildfire solutions, check out EESI’s briefing, Igniting Innovation: Progress and a Path Forward for Wildfire Policy.

The Senate passed the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2026 (S.528). Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) lead the bill, which reauthorizes and increases funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to address ongoing and emerging threats to the Great Lakes system for years to come. Reps. David Joyce (R-Ohio) and Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) lead the bill in the House (H.R.284).

The Senate also unanimously passed the Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act (S.1564), which Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) introduced last year. The bill would streamline approval processes for low-risk ecosystem restoration projects in floodplains while maintaining flood safety standards. Reps. Troy Downing (R-Mont.), Janelle Bynum (D-Ore.), Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) lead the bill in the House (H.R.6256).

Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, Mike Lee (R-Utah), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (S.5653). The bill would streamline approval processes for building out transmission lines, increase grid capacity, strengthen regional and interregional transmission planning, ensure that data centers pay for their associated transmission costs rather than pass those costs to consumers, and create jobs across the energy supply chain. To learn about how interregional transmission fits into this bill, RSVP for EESI’s upcoming briefing, Bridging the Transmission Gap.

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