03/26/2026 at 10:00AM
On Thursday, March 26, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hold a legislative hearing on the following bills:
- H.R. 5694 (Rep. Begich), “Alaska’s Right To Ivory Sales and Tradition Act” or the “ARTIST Act”, to extend the exemption of the taking of marine mammals for subsistence purposes or for the creation of Alaska Native handicrafts and to to allow for the sale of authentic Alaska Native handicrafts and clothing to be sold in interstate commerce
- H.R. 6893 (Rep. Scott of VA), “Chesapeake Bay Watershed Advancement for Training, Education, Restoration, and Science (WATERS) Act”, to reauthorize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Chesapeake Bay Office
- H.R. 7250 (Rep. Downing), To reauthorize the Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System Act of 2000, to continue supporting the development and maintenance of rural water infrastructure serving the Fort Peck Reservation and surrounding communities through 2028
- H.R. 7889 (Rep. Wittman), “Advancing Water Research and Collaboration Act of 2025” or the “AWRC Act of 2025”, to include research into the AI industry’s water use and increase the program’s authorization of appropriations from $15 million to $16 million per year
Witnesses:
Panel I (Members of Congress)
- To Be Announced
Panel II (Administration Witnesses)
- Dr. Tim Petty, Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. [H.R. 5694 and H.R. 6893]
Panel III (Outside Experts)
- Megan Onders, Chief, King Island Native Community, Nome, Alaska [H.R. 5694]
- Rick Knick, Chairman, Board of Directors, Dry Prairie Rural Water System, Culbertson, MT [H.R. 7250]
- Dr. Kevin McGuire, Director, Virginia Water Resources Research Center, Blacksburg, VA [H.R. 7889]
- Joshua Kurtz, Secretary, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis, MD [H.R. 6893] (Minority Witness)
H.R. 7889 would change “promote the interest of State and local governments as well as private industry in research and the development of technology that will reclaim waste water and to convert saline and other impaired waters to waters suitable for municipal, industrial, agricultural, recreational, and other beneficial uses;” to “promote the interest of State and local governments as well as private industry, including the growing artificial intelligence industry, in research and the development of technology that will reclaim waste water and to convert saline and other impaired waters to waters suitable for municipal, industrial, agricultural, recreational, and other beneficial uses;”