H.R. 8748, Surface Transportation Research and Development Act of 2026
H.R. 8790, Next-Generation Geothermal Research and Development Act
H.R. 7129, Water Power Research and Development Reauthorization Act
H.R. 8748, Surface Transportation Research and Development Act of 2026
The Surface Transportation Research and Development Act of 2026 reauthorizes and strengthens key Department of Transportation research, technology, and data programs through fiscal year 2031. The bill supports transportation research and innovation by improving coordination of transportation data activities, advancing research into emerging technologies and infrastructure resilience, and helping develop science- and technology-driven solutions to improve the safety and efficiency of America’s transportation systems.
H.R. 8790, Next-Generation Geothermal Research and Development Act
The Next-Generation Geothermal Research and Development Act directs the Department of Energy to support research, development, demonstration, and commercial application activities related to next-generation geothermal and closed-loop geothermal systems.
H.R. 7129, Water Power Research and Development Reauthorization Act
The Water Power Research and Development Reauthorization Act reauthorizes and expands the Department of Energy’s research, development, demonstration, and commercial application activities for hydropower and marine energy technologies to support innovation, grid resilience, workforce development, and America’s domestic energy capabilities.
On Wednesday, May 20, at 10:00 a.m., U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate and Nuclear Innovation and Safety, will hold a hearing to examine S. ____ Build Nuclear with Local Materials Act, a discussion draft of S. ___ The RECHARGE Act, and a discussion draft of S. ____ Enrichment Licensing Modernization Act.
Adam Stein, PhD, Director, Nuclear Energy Innovation, The Breakthrough Institute
Patrick White, PhD, Group Leader for Fusion, Safety, and Regulation, Clean Air Task Force
Legislation:
S. ____ Build Nuclear with Local Materials Act, To require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to allow the use of commercial-grade steel and concrete in non-safety-related structures at nuclear power plants
RECHARGE Act Discussion Draft, To exempt the conversion of brownfields and retired fossil fuel electric generation facilities into “advanced” nuclear reactor plants from the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
[Enrichment Licensing Modernization Act Discussion Draft], To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to align the licensing of uranium enrichment facilities with other fuel cycle facilities under that Act
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
Clean Air, Climate and Nuclear Innovation and Safety Subcommittee
On Wednesday, May 20, 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 hearing titled “The Federal Reclamation Program’s Next Century.”
Scott Cameron, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior, on behalf of Bureau of Reclamation
Panel Two
Samantha Barncastle, Executive Director, Family Farm Alliance, Las Cruces, New Mexico
Shivaji Deshmukh, General Manager, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
Jennifer Patrick, Project Manager, Milk River Joint Board of Control, Havre, Montana
J. Scott Petersen, Director of Water Policy, San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, Los Banos, California
Since its establishment in 1902, Reclamation has built major infrastructure across the western
U.S., making up more than three-quarters of the Department of the Interior’s (DOI’s) total
constructed assets. Its inventory features 348 reservoirs, 480 dams, 58 hydroelectric power
plants, and approximately 10,000 miles of canals, providing irrigation to 10 million acres of
farmland and producing over 44 billion kilowatt-hours of energy annually.
The following sections, from the Homeland Security Committee, were reported out at the meeting.
Sec. 101. $9.55 billion for CBP personnel through September 2029
Sec. 102 $7.45 billion for ICE-HSI personnel, of which $108.5 million are for child exploitation investigators through September 2029
Sec 103 $3.45 billion for CBP equipment and mission support and operations and maintenance
Sec 104 $2.5 billion for fiscal year 2026 for the above purposes
The Judiciary Committee title was not marked up in committee. The publicly released version of the Judiciary title adds:
$3.47 billion for CBP personnel
$30.725 billion for ICE personnel and equipment
$2.5 billion for fiscal year 2026 for the above purposes
$1.457 billion for DOJ-National Security Division on terrorism, DEA, U.S. Marshals, U.S. attorneys, FBI, National Fraud Enforcement Division, Criminal Division and Executive Office for Immigration Review for immigration, and for local reimbursements
$1 billion for the East Wing ballroom
The ballroom provision is not expected to be included in the manager’s amendment on the Senate floor.
Violations of the Byrd rule are expected to be handled with a manager’s amendment on the Senate floor.
The FY 2027 President’s Budget requests $114.1 billion in budgetary
resources for the Department of Transportation (DOT), including $26.8 billion
in discretionary budget authority and $87.3 billion in mandatory budget
authority.
The budget requests $16.3 billion (-23 percent) for public transit and $2.8 billion (-82 percent) for passenger rail in FY 2027.
The budget does not request to continue any advance appropriations under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which results in substantial cuts to key public transit and passenger rail investments, including:
Capital Investment Grants (-$1.6 billion)
Low or No Emission Competitive Grants (-$1.05 billion)
State of Good Repair grants (-$950 million)
All Station Accessibility Program (-$350 million)
Ferry Competitive Grants (-$250 million)
Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grants (-$7.2 billion)
The hearing will examine Department of Defense policies, programs, and activities in the Greater Middle East and Africa in preparation for the FY27 NDAA.
Witnesses:
Daniel Zimmerman, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Office of the Secretary of Defense
Admiral Brad Cooper, USN, Commander, U.S. Central Command
General Dagvin Anderson, USAF, Commander, U.S. Africa Command
Department of Energy (including the National Nuclear Security Administration, Bonneville Power Administration, Southeastern Power Administration, Southwestern Power Administration, Western Area Power Administration, and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) (budget request)
Department of the Interior
Bureau of Reclamation ([budget request)
Central Utah Project
You’ve probably heard how bad the so-called “Fix Our Forests Act” (FOFA) is — the 10,000-acre logging projects that can proceed with zero environmental review, for starters. But buried in the bill is another provision that would functionally eliminate Endangered Species Act, Wilderness, Roadless Area, NFMA, and NEPA protections for any logging project on Forest Service or BLM lands.
Join us — Wilderness Watch and John Muir Project — on Thursday, May 14th at 11 am PT / 2 pm ET to learn what’s in this provision, how it works, and what you can do to stop it.
FOFA has already passed the House and cleared the Senate Agriculture Committee. Large chunks have also been stuffed into the recently House-passed Farm Bill.
H.R. 5694 (Rep. Begich), “Alaska’s Right To Ivory Sales and Tradition Act” or the “ARTIST Act”
H.R. 7250 (Rep. Downing), To reauthorize the Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System Act of 2000.
H.R. 7487 (Rep. Boebert), “Rural Jobs and Hydropower Expansion Act”, amends the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 to authorize hydropower development across all Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) facilities and gives oversight to USBR instead of FERC, cosponsored by Adam Gray (D-Calif.)
H.R. 7831 (Rep. Kennedy of UT), “License to Drill Act”
Any proposed amendments should be emailed to Sophia Varnasidis ([email protected]) no later
than 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13, 2026.
If you need further information, please call Madeline Kelley, Director of Member Services, or Sophia
Varnasidis, Director of Legislative Operations, Committee on Natural Resources at (202) 225-2761.