Hill Heat

Members of Congress and staff of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition Institute will host an online press conference at 9:00am ET on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, to announce a comprehensive menu of policy options included in the first-ever Thriving Economy Project report.

The Thriving Economy Project report is a first-of-its kind set of energy and environmental policy recommendations. Nine Members of Congress worked with subject matter experts to compile more than 800 policy recommendations across nine key areas of the economy. The ideas focus on the challenges affecting American families and businesses today, and cover themes like rising household costs, reliable and affordable energy, economic competitiveness, access to good jobs, ways to make our supply chains, environmental protection, and government efficiency.

Speakers:

• Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) – Project Chair; Thriving, Affordable, Resilient Communities
• Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-IL) – 21st Century Agricultural Opportunities
• Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) – Growing Rural Economies
• Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-OR) – Safe, Clean, and Prosperous Ecosystems
• Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) – Cheap, Abundant, and Clean American Energy for All
• Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC) – Next-Generation Energy Technology Researched, Developed, and    Built in America
• Rep. George Whitesides (D-CA) – A Nationally Secure, Globally Competitive Energy Sector
• Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) – Accessible, Low-Cost Finance for a Clean Energy Future
• Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI) – Government That Delivers
• Max Frankel, Executive Director, SEEC Institute
• Eric Fins, Project Team Leader, Vice President, Grove Climate Group

RSVP

This August recess, climate activists across the country mobilized to keep climate front and center for members of Congress returning to their home districts.

Over 5 weeks, “Climate Summer: Too Hot to Ignore,” August recess campaign we collectively kept climate on the radar through 94 visibility events in 40 districts across 19 states.

We are wrapping up the campaign by making sure that as members of Congress return to D.C. they keep hearing our core message: “WE CARE ABOUT CLIMATE and we need you to as well!”

We’ll start the day with a honk and wave to greet returning members of Congress with a loud, visible reminder that “Climate Can’t Wait!”

Wear your blue climate t-shirt and we’ll bring signs. You’re also welcome to bring homemade signs. If you don’t have a climate t-shirt yet, let us know your size and we’ll be sure to bring you one!

Bring your friends and fellow activists to help us send a loud, visible message to Congress that climate can’t wait!

In front of Longworth House Office Building
1 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20003

RSVP

America’s energy industry is entering a pivotal new chapter. As the federal government advances its agenda, policymakers and industry leaders face pressure to manage AI-driven electricity demand, grid modernization and infrastructure investments while maintaining affordability and reliability.

Join Axios Live in Washington, D.C., for an event about this moment in U.S. power. We’ll convene lawmakers, business leaders and advocates to discuss how technology is reshaping the energy landscape, what role the expansion of programs like the Energy Dominance Financing may play, and what strategies and investments are needed to power future growth.

Axios senior energy reporter Ben Geman and political reporter Hans Nichols will host one-on-one conversations with:

• Tristan Abbey, Administrator, U.S. Energy Information Administration
• Bob Latta, Representative, Ohio’s 5th Congressional District, Member, House Energy and Commerce Committee
• Sam Liccardo, Representative, California’s 16th Congressional District, Member, House Financial Services Committee
• Harry K. Sideris, President and Chief Executive Officer, Duke Energy

View From the Top segment moderated by Axios’ Nicholas Johnston

• Ted Trabue, Interim Chairman, Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia

7:30am | Doors open
8:00am | Mainstage conversations
9:00am | Event concludes

The Showroom
1099 14th St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20005

The Committee on Rules will meet Monday, September 14, 2026 at 4:00 PM ET in H-313, The Capitol on the following measures:

• H.J. Res. 210 – Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “California State Nonroad Engine Pollution Control Standards; Ocean-Going Vessels At-Berth; Notice of Decision”.
• H.J. Res. 213 – Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to the “California State Nonroad Engine Pollution Control Standards; Commercial Harbor Craft Regulations; Notice of Decision”.
• H.R. 9576 – National Fraud Enforcement Division Act
• H.R. 10326 – Preventing Rip-offs and Obtaining Oversight of Funds Act
• Senate amendments to H.R. 5334 – Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026

Postponed:

• H.R. ____ – Protecting Taxpayers from Health Care Fraudsters Act

Subcommittee hearing entitled “Reliable Water in the Digital Age: Examining Legislation to Strengthen Drinking Water Systems and Protect Ratepayers.”

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

• Neil Bradley, Executive Vice President, Chief Policy Officer, and Head of Strategic Advocacy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce *Julie Moore, Secretary, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, and Vice Chair, Water Committee, Environmental Council of States (ECOS)
• Mae Wu, Founder and Principal, Health and Environmental Advising, LLC

Items to be considered:

• H.R. ____, Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2026
• H.R. ____, Water Cost Accountability Act of 2026, to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to limit the pass-through of data center costs

The Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Improvement Act would extend or re-establish existing programs to 2027 and add cybersecurity to the Safe Drinking Water Act grant programs.

The Water Cost Accountability Act would require public water systems in states receiving grants from Safe Drinking Water Act State Revolving Loan Funds to charge data centers for costs for connecting to public water system or expanding the system’s infrastructure, and would require the Environmental Protection Agency to provide a report to Congress on data centers whose water usage exceeds 200,000 gallons per day on average.

The Subcommittee on Environment is considering two pieces of draft legislation to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), which is the main federal law regulating drinking water in the United States. Under SDWA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes drinking water regulations to protect public health and administers funding programs, including the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), to help states deliver safe, reliable and affordable drinking water to their communities. Congress originally enacted SDWA in 1974, and the law has been reauthorized and amended multiple times, including in 1986, 1996, 2015, 2018, and most recently with enactment of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

The DWSRF provides capitalization grants to states, enabling states to finance drinking water infrastructure through low-interest loans. Eligible projects include the construction and replacement of treatment facilities, upgrades to distribution and storage systems, improvements to existing infrastructure, and lead service line replacement. The IIJA provided about $50 billion in supplemental funding to multiple EPA programs, including $11.7 billion in general DWSRF capitalization grants for fiscal years 2022 through 2026, $15 billion for lead service line replacement set-asides, and $4 billion to address emerging contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

Annual discretionary appropriations for the core DWSRF program have remained largely consistent from Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 through FY2026, generally about $1.1 billion per year. Of the approximately $1.1 billion appropriated by Congress for FY2026, roughly $715 million was congressionally directed spending in the form of grants for specific projects, rather than used to capitalize state revolving loan funds, which provide loans that are repaid with interest to fund future infrastructure investments.

As part of this work, the Subcommittee on Environment staff has examined proposals to improve access to safe and affordable drinking water, strengthen the security and resilience of water systems against cyber and other threats, and to ensure that SDWA funding is reaching small, rural, and disadvantaged systems that need it most.

Subcommittee hearing entitled “No Flame, More Pain: How State and Local Bans on Natural Gas Increase Costs”.

Witnesses:

• Michael Fazio, Executive Director, New York State Builders Association
• Patrick McCormick, Senior Advisor, CGEN, and Former Chief Counsel, U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Sen. Murkowski (R-Alaska), Vice President, Regulatory for Bloom Energy Corporation, partner and the leader of the Regulated Markets and Energy Infrastructure Practice in the Washington Office of Hunton & Williams LLP, Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Electric Rates and Corporate Regulation with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and in positions of increasing responsibility with Potomac Electric Power Company
• James Conde, Partner, Boyden Gray PLLC, clerked for Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Judge David J. Porter in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. J.D. from George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, and a B.A. in Political Theory and Philosophy from the Catholic University of America

Subcommittee hearing entitled “Powering the Nuclear Renaissance: Accelerating U.S. Leadership in Advanced Nuclear Reactors.”

Witnesses:

• Dr. Joe Hoagland, Associate Lab Director for Fusion and Fission Energy Science, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Isaiah Taylor, CEO and Founder, Valar Atomics
• Matt Loszak, CEO, Aalo Atomics
• Dr. Steven Shannon, Head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering, North Carolina State University
• Jordan Bramble, CEO and Co-Founder, Antares Nuclear

Subcommittee hearing entitled “Fueling the Golden Age: Future Resource Needs and Small Business Opportunity.” The stated purpose of this hearing is “to examine future resource and workforce needs necessary to support America’s next generation of manufacturing, technology, and industrial growth.”

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

• Cody Harris, Representative, District 8, Texas House of Representatives
• Ted Ellis, Deputy Director, Energy & the Environment, America First Policy Institute
• Trevor Higgins, Senior Vice President, Energy and Environment, Center for American Progress

Utilities now project 166 gigawatts of peak-load growth nationally over the next five years, a more than six-fold increase from the 24 gigawatts forecast in 2022.

On Wednesday, September 2, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Federal Lands will hold a legislative hearing on the following bills:

• H.R. 642 (Rep. Steube), “Myakka Wild and Scenic River Act of 2025”
• H.R. 5470 (Rep. LaHood), “Route 66 National Historic Trail Designation Act”
• H.R. 6788 (Rep. Downing), “Montana Sportsmen Conservation Act”, to release from wilderness study area protections into multi-use status over 100,000 acres of wilderness in the State of Montana
• H.R. 9269 (Rep. Clyburn), “Renewing the African American Civil Rights Network Act”
• H.R. 9600 (Rep. Raskin), “Common Sense Act 250 Act of 2026”, to authorize a Thomas Paine statue in downtown D.C.
• H.R. 9779 (Rep. Gonzalez), “Hands Off Our Boca Chica Beach Act of 2026”, to prevent SpaceX renaming it to Cyber Beach
• H.R. 10128 (Rep. McClintock), To codify Secretary’s Order No. 3434 of the Department of the Interior, which mandates each National Park System unit designate a liaison to hold quarterly coordination meetings with “gateway” communities
• H.R. 10136 (Rep. Westerman), “Crossett Experimental Forest Act of 2026”
• S. 675 (Rep. Hoeven) “Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Act”

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

• Miri Hardy, Founder & Acting Executive Director, Myakka River Partnership, Venice, FL [H.R. 642]
• William Thomas, Chairman, Route 66 Ahead Partnership, Atlanta, IL [H.R. 5470]
• Jeff Darrah, Director, Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, Stevensville, MT [H.R. 6788]
• Robert Macaulay, Supervisor, Madera County – District 5, Madera, CA [H.R. 10128]
• Kyle Cunningham, State Forester and Director of Forestry Division, Arkansas Department of Agriculture, Alexander, AR [H.R. 10136]
• Robbie Lauf, Executive Director, Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, Bismarck, ND [S. 675]
• Annie Laurie Gaylor, Secretary, Thomas Paine Memorial Association, Madison, WI [H.R. 9600] (Minority Witness)

Subcommittee markup.

Items to be considered:

• H.R. 10170, Memory Chip Competitiveness Assessment Act, to require the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a study on the marketplace for advanced memory technology (Reps. Miller-Meeks and Soto)
• H.R. 10158, Automotive National and Economic Security Act of 2026, to require the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a study on the national and economic security risks posed by foreign adversaries to the automotive industry of the United States (Reps. Harshbarger and Dingell)
• H.R. 10152, Open-Source AI Leadership Act, to direct the Secretary of Commerce to support the adoption and use of American open artificial intelligence models (Rep. Evans)
• H.R. 6207, Chip EQUIP Act, To prohibit purchases of certain semiconductor manufacturing equipment from foreign entities of concern or subsidiaries of foreign entities of concern (Reps. Lofgren and Obernolte)
• H.R. 10163, American Quantum Competitiveness Act, To direct the Secretary of Commerce to promote trusted quantum supply chains and the commercial leadership of the United States with respect to quantum technology (Rep. Langworthy)
• H.R. 6832, Packaging and Claims Knowledge (PACK) Act of 2025, to amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to include requirements for recyclable, compostable, and reusable claims for packaging for a consumer product (Rep. Weber)
• H.R. 7502, Recycled Materials Attribution Act, to prohibit a person from making a misleading recycled content claim in advertising, marketing, selling, or offering for sale a product to a consumer (Reps. Langworthy and Gonzalez)
• H.R. 9385, PROTECT USA Act of 2026, to prohibit entities integral to the national interests of the United States from participating in any foreign sustainability due diligence regulation, including the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive of the European Union (Rep. Fitzgerald)
• H.R. 7945, Nitrous Oxide Safety Act of 2026, to ban the sale of nitrous oxide consumer products (Reps. Mullin and Bice)
• H.R. 2713, Mitigating Automated Internet Networks for (MAIN) Event Ticketing Act, to improve online ticket sales and protect consumers (Reps. Harshbarger and Carter (LA))
• H.R. 5967, Strategic Task Force on Scam Prevention Act, To direct the Federal Trade Commission, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, to convene an interagency task force for the purpose of addressing scams (Reps. Menendez and Houchin)
• H.R. 6488, Reducing Exploitative Social Media Exposure for Teens (RESET) Act, to prohibit certain platforms from allowing minors to create or maintain an account or profile on such platforms (Rep. Houchin)

The Democratic alternative to the PACK Act is the Truth in Labeling Act of 2026 (H.R. 10048), introduced by Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.).