Environment & Energy Congressional Round-Up | February 3 - February 7, 2025

Highlights:

The House passed the Emergency Wildfire Fighting Technology Act of 2025 (H.R.836). Reps. David Valadao (R-Calif.) and Jim Costa (D-Calif.) introduced the bill, which would mandate a joint study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of the Interior on the use of aerial firefighting technologies to mitigate the spread of wildfires. EESI explores other wildfire mitigation tools on our podcast, The Climate Conversation.

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works passed the Strategies to Eliminate Waste and Accelerate Recycling Development (STEWARD) Act of 2025 (S.351). Introduced by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), alongside Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and John Boozman (R-Ark.), the bill would establish a pilot grant program to improve and expand domestic recycling efforts, particularly in rural and underserved areas. The STEWARD Act would also require the agency to collect and report data on domestic recycling and composting rates. 

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works passed the Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 2025 (S.347), which Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) reintroduced in January. If signed into law, the bill would reauthorize funding for the remediation and redevelopment of contaminated legacy industrial sites, or brownfields.

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