Environment & Energy Congressional Round-Up | April 7 - April 11, 2025

Highlights:

The Senate passed the Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act of 2025 (S.160). Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) introduced the bill to improve aerial wildfire combat through the purchase of excess military aircraft. 

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation passed the Save Our Seas 2.0 Amendments Act (S.216). The bill, led by Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Ark.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), aims to strengthen the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Marine Debris Program. The program works to accelerate federal response to marine pollution events, increase international cooperation on ocean cleanup, and drive plastic waste reduction and reuse.

Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) reintroduced the Transformational Artificial Intelligence to Modernize the Economy (TAME) Extreme Weather and Wildfires Act (S.1378). If passed, the bill would leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to improve forecasting of and response to wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, and extreme heat. Rep. Scott Franklin (R-Fla.) introduced a similar bill (H.R.2770) to increase the use of AI at NOAA to adapt to extreme weather events.

Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) reintroduced the Foreign Pollution Fee Act (S.1325). The bill would tax imports of certain high-emissions products such as building materials, fertilizers, and battery components — including an 80-100% tax for the “worst offenders” — while working to revitalize U.S. manufacturing. 

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