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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment sent a letter to David Gadis, the Chief Executive Officer of DC Water requesting information on the failures that led to the spill in the Potomac River and what steps are being taken to ensure it is contained. “The Committee has concerns about how this incident will impact public health, safe drinking water, the environment, interstate commerce, and tourism, all of which fall within the Committee’s jurisdiction,” said Chairmen Guthrie, Joyce, and Palmer. “DC Water is responsible for delivering drinking water and wastewater services to communities in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia (DC), as well as the federal government, including operation and maintenance of the 54-mile Potomac Interceptor line. The Committee is requesting documents and information from DC Water about what is already being referred to as ‘one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history.’” Key excerpt from the letter: “Public health warnings have been given for people and pets to avoid contact with water from the Potomac River and to avoid fishing, rowing, and other activities in the area.The warnings to avoid the contaminated water come shortly before the annual Cherry Blossom Festival, which is centered around the Tidal Basin along the Potomac River, and the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, both of which are expected to attract millions of visitors to the District of Columbia. “An incident of this size and scale presents a significant threat to the public health and welfare of the affected communities, and swift mitigation of these risks is critical. Understanding the nature of how this incident occurred and how future incidents of this scale may be prevented in the future is imperative.” CLICK HERE to read the full letter. BACKGROUND: The letter comes as Washington, DC, Virginia, and Maryland residents continue to deal with the fallout of the spill that occurred on January 19, 2026, and now has resulted in e. coli levels at the spill site measuring at hundreds of times above EPA safety thresholds. As part of its oversight authority, the Committee is requesting information on what DC Water knew about the risk of a potential spill prior to January, documents discussing why emergency contracting was warranted to repair the pipe, why any approved contracts were not implemented, as well as actions DC Water has taken to address the environmental impacts of the spill.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, announced a hearing titled From Source to Tap: A Hearing to Examine Challenges and Opportunities for Safe, Reliable, and Affordable Drinking Water . “Every American deserves access to safe, reliable, and affordable drinking water. Yet, failing infrastructure creates the potential threat of contamination in the safe drinking water that American families rely on, putting the health and safety of our communities at risk,” said Chairmen Guthrie and Palmer. “This hearing will examine the current state of our nationwide drinking water infrastructure, how the Safe Drinking Water Act is being implemented, and the security of our water systems against cyber threats and other risks to ensure our communities are being served effectively.” Subcommittee on Environment hearing titled From Source to Tap: A Hearing to Examine Challenges and Opportunities for Safe, Reliable, and Affordable Drinking Water . WHAT: Subcommittee on Environment hearing on safe drinking water. DATE: Tuesday, February 24, 2026     TIME: 10:15 AM ET LOCATION: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building  This notice is at the direction of the Chairman. The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be live streamed online at  energycommerce.house.gov . If you have any questions concerning the hearing, please contact Seth Ricketts with the Committee staff at Seth.Ricketts@mail.house.gov . If you have any press-related questions, please contact Ben Mullany at  Ben.Mullany@mail.house.gov .

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, led a hearing titled Chemicals in Commerce: Legislative Proposal to Modernize America’s Chemical Safety Law, Strengthen Critical Supply Chains, and Grow Domestic Manufacturing.

“The process for reviewing new chemicals – which was a significant focus of the 2016 effort – is broken. This regulatory uncertainty makes it difficult for the chemical industry to bring safer alternatives or new technology to the market in the U.S. and impacts human health and the environment by slowing the transition to safer alternatives,” said Chairman Palmer. “The bill would reauthorize the fee provision for another 10 years and require increased transparency and accountability in how fees are used by EPA.”

Watch the full hearing here.

Below are key excerpts from today’s hearing:

Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13): “Dr. White, we've had this discussion and my colleagues have opened the door, but I want to give you an opportunity to speak to how provisions in this legislative proposal today will guide EPA to focus their consideration on conditions that reasonably could be foreseen, and not just theoretical or even unlikely, because I think we're opening up potential areas that will waste time to be able to allow important chemicals to be assessed. Can you discuss that for us, please?” Dr. White: “For every single chemical that the EPA has evaluated since TSCA was modernized, they have found it to be an unreasonable risk. This has really been because of their scientific practices and principles. They have ignored submitted data. They have mischaracterized worst case exposure scenarios and not understood what exposure actually looks like when they're making decisions. And they focused on conditions of use that were not relevant or that were not really going to provide or have a specific high level of exposure. So, this has led to really flawed assessments by the agency, leading to overly conservative risk management decisions by the agency. What this new approach does is it requires the agency to focus on those conditions of use that are more likely than not to occur. So, it really helps to, again, focus the agency on looking at actual real-world scenarios for how a chemistry might be used.”

Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01): “For states like Iowa, where agriculture, manufacturing, including chemical manufacturing, and innovation are central to our economy, we need a regulatory system that protects human health and the environment without relying on duplicative regulation or unnecessary delays. This discussion draft refocuses TSCA on real world risk, best available science, and coordination with other federal and international regulators. It encourages safer innovation, strengthens domestic supply chains, and ensures EPA is accountable for its decisions while preserving strong protections for workers, consumers, and families.”

Congressman Gabe Evans (CO-08): “One of the processes that's used at EPA to manage and look at these chemicals and do cost benefit analysis is what's called a risk evaluation. In your experience, do EPA's risk evaluations and subsequent risk management rules provide health and safety benefits that are commensurate with the costs and burdens of the rules? And if not, what can we do to address that?” Dr. White: “EPA's risk evaluation process can be improved upon. It has a best available science and a way to vet the scientific evidence statute that it should be relying on. It has been missing the mark over the last several years. And so, there's really an opportunity to strengthen that, maintain that language.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, delivered the following opening statement at today's hearing titled Chemicals in Commerce: Legislative Proposal to Modernize America's Chemical Safety Law, Strenghten Critical Supply Chains, and Grow Domestic Manufacturing.

Subcommittee Chairman Palmer’s opening statement as prepared for delivery:

“Good afternoon and welcome to Ranking Members Pallone, Tonko, my colleagues, and to our witnesses for this hearing of the Subcommittee on the Environment.

“Today we will be examining a legislative proposal to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act – or TSCA.

“First enacted into law in 1976 with broad bipartisan support, TSCA provides the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with broad authority to regulate chemicals that pose an unreasonable risk to human health and the environment.

“Forty years later, Congress made several improvements to TSCA with passage of the bipartisan Lautenberg Amendments in 2016.

“As we heard at our hearing last January, chemicals are central to many aspects of modern life, and a strong, U.S. chemical industry is key to our economic prosperity and national security.

“The 2016 law authorized EPA to collect user fees to help provide resources and funding but in the decade since the Lautenberg Amendments were passed, it has become clear that this important law is still not working as Congress intended and that further changes are needed to ensure chemicals are reviewed in a predictable and efficient process without undermining safety.

“The process for reviewing new chemicals – which was a significant focus of the 2016 effort – is broken. As we heard in January and will again hear from witnesses today, EPA does not meet the 90-day review deadline for the vast majority of all new chemicals submitted for EPA review. This regulatory uncertainty makes it difficult for the chemical industry to bring safer alternatives or new technology to the market in the U.S. and impacts human health and the environment by slowing the transition to safer alternatives.

“To be clear: The draft would not scrap the safety protections enacted in the 2016 Amendments and is not reopening up TSCA as a whole.

“The bill would reauthorize the fee provision for another 10 years and require increased transparency and accountability in how fees are used by EPA.

“The draft also makes targeted changes to modernize section 5 and section 6 concerning the review and regulations of new and existing chemicals, including requiring increased coordination between EPA and other agencies and prioritizing chemicals that are essential to critical manufacturing supply chains.

“Our witnesses today are: Dimitri Karakitsos, a partner at the law firm Holland & Knight who worked on the 2016 Amendments as a Senate staffer; Dr. Kimberly Wise White of the American Chemistry Council, John Carey of DSM-Firmenich, an international chemical manufacturer with significant operations in the U.S., and Professor Tracey Woodruff of the University of California, San Francisco.

“The legislation we are considering today is a discussion draft. It reflects input the Subcommittee received at our January hearing and in the months since.

“Majority staff also met with their counterparts on the minority staff half a dozen times to discuss ideas and language for this proposal, and several changes were made to the text based on input from minority staff.

“We look forward to getting additional feedback in the weeks after this hearing and hope to continue discussions with the minority on areas for bipartisan cooperation as we work on an updated draft, prepare legislation for introduction, and plan for a future markup to advance this important legislation.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, led by Chairman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), reported 11 pieces of legislation to the full House of Representatives.

“Today, our Committee advanced commonsense legislation to reform permitting under the Clean Air Act, unleash American energy, and improve public safety communications,” said Chairman Guthrie. “Thank you to our members who have worked to support these bills that will strengthen American manufacturing, support reliable and affordable power, and enhance community safety, we look forward to this legislation being considered by the full House of Representatives.”

Legislative Vote Summary:

• H.R. 6409, Foreign Emissions and Nonattainment Clarification for Economic Stability (FENCES) was reported to the full House by a roll call vote of 25 yeas - 22 nays.
• H.R. 4218, Clean Air and Economic Advancement Reform (CLEAR) Act was reported to the full House by a roll call vote of 27 yeas – 23 nays.
• H.R. 6387, Fire Improvement and Reforming Exceptional Events (FIRE) Act was reported to the full House by a roll call vote of 27 yeas – 23 nays.
• H.R. 4214, Clean Air and Building Infrastructure Improvement Act was reported to the full House by a roll call vote of 28 yeas – 24 nays.
• H.R. 161, New Source Review Permitting Improvement Act was reported to the full House, as amended, by a roll call vote of 28 yeas – 23 nays.
• H.R. 6373, Air Permitting Improvements to Protect National Security Act was reported to the full House by a roll call vote of 25 yeas – 23 nays.
• H.R. 6398, Reducing and Eliminating Duplicative Environmental Regulations (RED Tape) Act was reported to the full House by a roll call vote of 23 yeas – 22 nays.
• H.R. 2072, To require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend the time period during which licensees are required to commence construction of certain hydropower projects. was reported to the full House by a roll call vote of 44 yeas – 0 nays.
• H.R. 5200, Emergency Reporting Act was reported to the full House by a roll call vote of 45 yeas – 0 nays.
• H.R. 5201, Kari’s Law Reporting Act was reported to the full House by a roll call vote of 46 yeas – 0 nays.
• H.R. 2076, LuLu’s Law was reported to the full House by a roll call vote of 46 yeas – 0 nays.

Watch the full markup here.

Below are key excerpts from today’s markup:

Congressman Gabe Evans (CO-08): “My commonsense bipartisan bill will help address a critical issue in western states that makes life less affordable for working families. My Fire Improvement and Reforming Exceptional Events Act, or FIRE Act, ensures that states like Colorado are not punished for smoke and emissions they can't control, while still maintaining strong environmental protections. We've heard the data, 70 percent of the emissions in Colorado originate from outside of the state's jurisdiction. This includes things like Canadian wildfires, Chinese pollution, and naturally occurring atmospheric events. But the resulting regulations that states like Colorado put onto industry and consumers are a leading cause of the affordability crisis facing families in my district.”

Congressman Bob Latta (OH-05): “H.R. 2072 will require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend the time period during which licensees are required to commence construction of certain hydropower projects. Hydropower is critical to part of our nation's energy mix, supplying power to approximately 30 million homes and businesses and accounting for 40 percent of our black start capacity, which means they can restart themselves without external power. The legislation requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend the time period in which licensees are required to commence construction of relevant hydropower projects.”

Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06): “Lulu's Law is named after Lulu Griffin who—at 15 years old—lost part of her left arm, her hand, and her right leg during a shark attack last year. Lulu's Law would enable authorities to quickly deploy wireless emergency alerts to the public if someone is attacked by a shark, or conditions for a shark attack are present nearby. About 90 minutes before Lulu was attacked, another woman about a mile down the beach had suffered critical injuries from the same shark. Passage of this bill will allow an alert system that will go out to cell phones to let people know to get their children out of the water, to get out of the water themselves in the event of a shark attack nearby.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, announced a hearing titled Chemicals in Commerce: Legislative Proposal to Modernize America’s Chemical Safety Law, Strengthen Critical Supply Chains, and Grow Domestic Manufacturing.

“Since our first hearing of this Congress, our Committee has been working to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act,” said Chairmen Guthrie and Palmer. “Targeted and measured reforms will increase accountability, strengthen domestic manufacturing, and safeguard the health and safety of our communities. The legislation we’ll be discussing in this hearing would support these goals and help to ensure TSCA processes are working effectively to evaluate chemical safety and support American innovation.”

Subcommittee on Environment hearing titled Chemicals in Commerce: Legislative Proposal to Modernize America’s Chemical Safety Law, Strengthen Critical Supply Chains, and Grow Domestic Manufacturing

WHAT: Subcommittee on Environment hearing to discuss legislation to modernize America’s Chemical Safety Law

DATE: Thursday, January 22, 2026

TIME: 2:00 PM ET

LOCATION: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building

This hearing will focus on the following bills:

• H.R.____, Discussion Draft of Legislation to Modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act

This notice is at the direction of the Chairman. The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be livestreamed online at energycommerce.house.gov. If you have any questions concerning this hearing, please contact Jackson Rudden at jackson.rudden@mail.house.gov. If you have any press-related questions, please contact Ben Mullany at Ben.Mullany@mail.house.gov.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing titled Examining the Impact of EPA’s CERCLA Designation for Two PFAS Chemistries and Potential Policy Responses to Superfund Liability Concerns.

Subcommittee Chairman Palmer’s opening statement as prepared for delivery:

“Welcome to today’s hearing before the Subcommittee on Environment. This year, we’ve revisited some of our country’s most important environmental laws and confronted emerging challenges in protecting our environment and promoted a regulatory climate that encourages innovation and economic growth.

“Among other things, we’ve identified shortcomings with the administration of the Toxic Substances Control Act that delay newer, safer chemistries from reaching consumers; explored opportunities to revitalize brownfields sites for crucial infrastructure projects; evaluated the state of technologies to improve our recycling systems; and passed common-sense Clear Air Act reforms.

“Today, we are examining EPA’s decision last year to designate two PFAS chemistries—PFOA and PFOS—as hazardous substance under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, also known as ‘CERCLA’ or the Superfund law. CERLCA was enacted in 1980 to facilitate the cleanup of the most contaminated sites around the country and to establish a scheme to hold liable for cleanup costs the parties responsible for that contamination. Superfund imposes strict, and joint and several liability on parties.

“In other words, a responsible party could be responsible for the entire cost to cleanup a contaminated site even if its contribution to the pollution was minimal. CERCLA includes exemptions as well as defenses to liability for certain parties such as ‘bona fide prospective purchasers’ and ‘innocent landowners,’ as they are referred to. However, in the context of the hazardous substance designations for PFOA and PFOS, there are concerns that the existing exemptions and defenses may not adequately protect a class of parties commonly known as ‘passive receivers’ who did not manufacture or use PFOA or PFOS, but may have acquired, used, or disposed of material containing these chemicals. Today, we will examine the impacts of potential liability for PFAS contamination on these entities. Congress has clarified and expanded liability protections before, such as by passing the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act in 2002. We will consider how concerns about PFAS liability may deter a range of economic activities and whether changes to CERCLA, or other legislative action, are needed.

“Additionally, at our March hearing on reauthorization of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Brownfields Program, we discussed the tremendous potential of the estimated 450,000 brownfields sites in our country for housing important infrastructure such as power generation, semiconductor manufacturing facilities, and data centers.

“We hope to examine whether concerns about liability for PFAS hinder the redevelopment of these sites.

“To this end, we welcome Susan Bodine, who previously served as Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response at EPA during the George W. Bush Administration and then as Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance in the first Trump Administration, in addition to senior staff roles in both the House and the Senate.

“We are also joined by Lawrence Falbe, Chair of the International Council of Shopping Centers Environmental and Land Use Policy Committee. Mr. Falbe will share his experience on how potential PFAS contamination impacts real estate transactions for those seeking to reuse those sites.

“Next, Emily Donovan joins us a co-founder of Clean Cape Fear, a grassroots community advocacy organization focused on the presence and impact of certain PFAS in communities. We also welcome Tracy Mehan, who represents the American Water Works Association and served as EPA Assistant Administrator for Water, also during the George W. Bush Administration. I thank all of our Members and witnesses for being here, and I look forward to today’s discussion.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, led a hearing titled Examining the Impact of EPA’s CERCLA Designation for Two PFAS Chemistries and Potential Policy Responses to Superfund Liability Concerns.

“CERLCA was enacted in 1980 to facilitate the cleanup of the most contaminated sites around the country and to establish a scheme to hold liable for cleanup costs the parties responsible for that contamination. Superfund imposes strict, and joint and several liability on parties,” said Chairman Palmer. “In other words, a responsible party could be responsible for the entire cost to cleanup a contaminated site even if its contribution to the pollution was minimal.”

Watch the full hearing here

Below are key excerpts from today’s hearing:

Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13): “CERCLA was established to hold polluters liable for the cleanup of chemical contamination that they caused. This polluter pays liability framework is helpful in many instances where there is a need for expensive environmental cleanups, so that the party that generated or released the hazardous substance can be held responsible for the associated costs. However, the liability established by CERCLA does not stop with the polluters. Under the statute’s liability framework, any person who has had incurred costs related to the remediation of hazardous substances can file suit against not just polluters, but so-called passive receivers. These passive receivers are not involved in the initial generation or discharge of hazardous chemicals, but might receive water, soil or other materials containing such substances. Given how common the use of PFAS is, the 2024 final rule designating two PFAS chemistries as hazardous substances creates a system where many passive receivers will be drawn into costly legal proceedings for contamination that they bear little or absolutely no responsibility for having created.”

Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01): “As the Representative from Iowa, I take seriously our responsibility to protect public health and the environment while also ensuring that federal policies are fair, clear, and feasible in Iowa. Clean water affects our farmers, our rural communities, our drinking water systems, and our local employers, as well as families. Many of the entities now worried about the circle of liability like water utilities, wastewater facilities, landfills and farmers, who responsibly apply biosolids, did not create PFAS but could still be swept up in a liability scheme that is retroactive, strict, joint, and several. Cost to passive receivers is only one piece of the problem. We should also explore options that support swift remediation and provide the liability certainty necessary for American industry to focus on solutions that allow them to continue to invest in the US, rather than endless courtroom battles. At the same time, we should be encouraging innovation and American ingenuity. Iowa agriculture is already helping lead the way with promising alternatives to PFAS, including soy-based fire suppressants made from soybean meal. These kinds of homegrown solutions can reduce reliance on legacy chemicals, create new markets for farmers, and strengthen our economy without heavy handed mandates from Washington.”

Congressman Buddy Carter (GA-01): “This is certainly an important hearing, and Mr. Chairman, I applaud you and thank you for holding it. […] We've established the fact that PFAS are used in a number of different areas and a number of different things, and consumer products and industrial purposes. And oftentimes they're used in life saving devices, electronics and firefighting foams. I'm going to touch on that in just a second, but while they're essential for everyday life and many life saving devices, its very complex nature makes the cleanup and the disposal difficult. So, I want to talk about the practicality of how we deal with this. I'm not denying we need to deal with it, I just want to talk about the practicality.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, announced a hearing titled Examining the Impact of EPA’s CERCLA Designation for Two PFAS Chemistries and Potential Policy Responses to Superfund Liability Concerns.

“We’ve heard from many stakeholders who do not produce or use PFAS, but encounter these substances passively through their essential work managing residential waste, growing food, or bringing clean water to our homes,” said Chairmen Guthrie and Palmer. “Federal actions have caused concerns about potential liability in the wake of EPA’s designation of two PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances under the Superfund law. This hearing is an opportunity to assess the current statutory and regulatory landscape for PFAS and consider what steps Congress may need to take to respond to these concerns.”

Subcommittee on Environment hearing titled Examining the Impact of EPA’s CERCLA Designation for Two PFAS Chemistries and Potential Policy Responses to Superfund Liability Concerns.

WHAT: Subcommittee on Environment hearing to discuss the current statutory and regulatory landscape for PFAS.

DATE: Thursday, December 18, 2025

TIME: 10:00 AM ET

LOCATION: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building

This notice is at the direction of the Chairman. The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be live streamed online at energycommerce.house.gov. If you have any questions concerning the hearing, please contact Jackson Rudden with the Committee staff at Jackson.Rudden@mail.house.gov. If you have any press-related questions, please contact Ben Mullany at Ben.Mullany@mail.house.gov.