On Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold an oversight hearing titled “The Profit Engine Driving Environmental Nonprofits.”
On Thursday, May 21, NOAA will issue its first prediction for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, highlighting how a forecasted strong El Niño could impact tropical development this year. However, this is just one force at play — with climate change’s role in fueling stronger storms likely not to be mentioned in their official forecast.
Ahead of your coverage of NOAA’s outlook announcement, join Covering Climate Now and Climate Central for a special webinar aimed to paint a more complete picture of the factors, both natural and human-caused, influencing this hurricane season.
In this press briefing, meteorologists and reporters from hurricane-prone areas will highlight how to examine climate change’s “fingerprint” on warm ocean waters, provide expert analysis of what 2025’s hurricanes can tell us about this season, and explore tips to effectively make the climate connection when reporting on this year’s forecast.
Panelists
Daniel Gilford, climate scientist, Climate Central
Subcommittee markup of the Energy and Water Development bill took place May 15; markup of the Legislative Branch bill was on April 30.
Subcommittee mark:
Slashes the Department of Energy’s Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation programs (formerly called Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy) by $1.3 billion or 40 percent.
Revokes $2.8 billion of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law resources from the Department of Energy’s Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program Account, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, and Fossil Energy and Carbon Management programs.
Cuts funding for Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) by $50 million or 14 percent
Cuts the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation account by $282 million or 12 percent
Nuclear Regulatory Commission – The bill provides a total net appropriation of $136 million, a decrease of $16 million below the fiscal year 2026 enacted level
Eliminates funding for the Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, which is responsible for cleaning up sites with contamination resulting from the nation’s early atomic energy program
Cuts the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management by $863 million or 10 percent, slowing down clean-up efforts that address the nation’s environmental legacy from the Manhattan Project through the end of the Cold War
The bill provides a total of $9.8 billion for Army Corps of Engineers, a decrease of $660 million below the fiscal year 2026 enacted level
Army Corps of Engineers: Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation – The bill provides $5 million, a decrease of $2 million below the fiscal year 2026 enacted level
Northwest Regional Commission – The bill provides zero funding, $1 million below the fiscal year 2026 enacted level
Riders allow firearms on Corps of Engineers’ public lands and prohibit implementation of “Clean Energy for New Federal Buildings
and Major Renovations of Federal Buildings.”
House Appropriations Committee
Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Subcommittee
Jessica Kramer, Assistant Administrator, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency;
Col. Francis B. Pera, Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District
Edward Wenschhof, Acting Superintendent, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Panel II
David Gadis, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager, DC Water
Tom Neltner, National Director, Unleaded Kids.
The Potomac Interceptor (PI) is a 54-mile sanitary sewer system. The pipe was built
between 1961 and 1963 after legislation enacted on June 12, 1960, “authorized the District of
Columbia [(DC)] to plan, construct, operate, and maintain a sanitary sewer to connect Dulles to
the Washington, DC sewer system.” Today, the PI runs through parts of Virginia, Maryland, and
DC, and serves Fairfax County, Loudoun County, the Town of Vienna, Herndon, Dulles Airport,
and Montgomery County, Maryland. The PI is located on different land jurisdictions and at
various points is located on National Park Service (NPS) property.
The PI is constructed mostly of reinforced concrete pipe (RCP) ranging from “30-inch to
96-inch diameter round, reinforced concrete pipe in the main trunk to 13-foot by 7.75-foot
rectangular, reinforced concrete pipe in the lower reaches of the sewer system.” It has eleven
tunnel sections and two river tunnel crossings underneath the Potomac River. The PI carries
flows of up to 60 million gallons of wastewater daily from Loudoun and Fairfax Counties in
Virginia and Montgomery County in Maryland to the Potomac Pumping Station in Washington,
DC. Wastewater from the pump station is “sent to the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater
Treatment Plant [in Southwest, DC] for treatment before discharge into the Potomac River.”
Before 1996, the District’s water and sewer functions were housed inside DC
government. From 1985 to 1996, what is now known as DC Water operated as the Water and
Sewer Utility Administration within the Department of Public Works. In 1996, DC and
Congress changed that structure by creating the District of Columbia Water and Sewer
Authority, now known as DC Water, as an independent authority of the DC government. This
change made DC Water a public utility authority with corporate powers and an operating structure that is separate from the DC government. It is neither a private entity nor a standard
DC agency. Rather, it is a public utility authority with its own board, staff, property, contracts,
revenues, and debt authority. As such, DC Water has authority to operate and fund
infrastructure, not just administer policy. DC Water’s statutory mandate is to plan, build,
operate, maintain, finance, repair, modernize, and improve water distribution and sewage
collection, treatment, and disposal systems. DC Water can sue and be sued, hire employees,
own property, accept grants and loans, contract with DC, the federal government, Maryland,
Virginia, and local governments, borrow money, issue revenue bonds, and set service charges.
DC law also gives DC Water dedicated revenues from water and sewer rates, fees, and charges
imposed by the Authority. It must set rates, fees, levies, and other charges high enough to cover
its costs and bond obligations.
DC Water exists pursuant to DC law, but the sewer system it runs is regional. The DC
Code lists Blue Plains and the PI Sewer as joint-use sewerage facilities. The same law
identifies Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, and Fairfax County as participating
jurisdictions. As a result, DC Water’s board has 11 members: six from the District and five
from those participating jurisdictions. The outside members participate only in decisions
directly affecting joint-use sewerage facilities. Their seats on the board do not make DC Water
a Maryland or Virginia agency. The pipe may run through Maryland, the land may be federal
park land, and the wastewater may come from several jurisdictions, but DC Water remains the
operating authority responsible for the PI.
At the federal level, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exercises
regulatory oversight under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The CWA “establishes the basic
structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and
regulating quality standards for surface waters” and allows EPA to develop pollution control
programs. EPA’s jurisdiction includes enforcement of discharge permits under the National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), water quality standards, and oversight of
consent decrees or administrative orders that may govern DC Water’s infrastructure investments and compliance obligations. If a collapse of the PI results in unauthorized discharges into the
Potomac River or surrounding waters, EPA may initiate enforcement or require corrective actions
under Sections 301 and 309 of the CWA.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) holds jurisdiction over certain aspects of
navigable waters and related infrastructure under multiple legal authorities, such as Section 10 of
the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and Section 404 of the CWA. If a collapse of the PI or
subsequent repair activities affect navigable waters or riverbanks, or require dredging, filling, or
construction within federal waters, USACE permits and coordination will be required. USACE
may also provide technical assistance or emergency engineering support under the Stafford Act
and its own emergency authorities. Additionally, USACE designed, built, and operates the
Washington Aqueduct, which produces drinking water for approximately one million people in
DC and parts of Virginia, including Arlington County and portions of Fairfax County. On
average the Washington Aqueduct produces 135 million gallons of water per day at two
treatment locations in DC.
The National Park Service (NPS) owns the land on which a significant portion of the PI
runs, and where the PI collapse occurred. If infrastructure is located within or impacts NPS
property, NPS approval in the form of permits is required for access, construction activities, and
environmental compliance. Special Use Permits for Construction are issued for “any
construction-related activity on Park land where the construction-related activity is not the direct
result of an official construction contract with the National Park Service” including the
“[i]nstallation and/or upgrade of utilities including water, sewer, electric, and/or
communications.” Alternatively, Right-of-Way Permits “are appropriate to authorize utility
uses such as power lines, water lines, fiber lines, and cellular communications equipment.”
NPS must also adhere to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), “which requires
federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making
decisions,” when issuing permits for projects. These permitting processes may be long and
burdensome which impacts when, and how fast, any repairs can be completed for the PI.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) also had a role in responding to
the PI collapse. On February 18, 2026, DC Mayor Muriel Bower declared a “local public
emergency” in response to the wastewater spill and “requested federal support through a
Presidential Emergency Disaster Declaration request.” A few days later, President Trump
approved a federal emergency declaration for DC, which made federal disaster assistance
available to supplement the PI collapse response efforts. In doing so, FEMA was authorized to
“coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate the hardship and suffering caused by the
emergency on the local population and to provide appropriate assistance to save lives, to protect
property, public health and safety and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.”
At the state level, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) “[r]egulates
unauthorized discharges into Maryland waterways and wetlands, monitors shellfish harvesting,
and oversees drinking water safety and enforcement.” The Virginia Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ) also “initiated a special water quality monitoring initiative to
measure bacteria levels along Virginia’s Potomac River shoreline.” This allows the Virginia
DEQ to “supplement the sampling efforts of DC Water, the DC Department of Energy &
Environment, the Maryland Department of Environment and others.”
Within DC, the District Department of Energy and Environment also exercises
complementary regulatory authority over water quality and environmental protection under D.C.
Code § 8–151.01 et seq., including local implementation of federal environmental programs and
coordination with EPA.
On January 19, 2026, an underground section of the PI, located by Lock 11 on the
Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) canal, collapsed. The cause of the collapse remains under
investigation.46 When the collapse happened, boulders that were sitting over the PI fell into the broken section of the pipe and created a blockage of the pipe. With the boulders blocking the
pipe, the wastewater had nowhere to go, which created pressure upstream of the break, and the
wastewater started to overflow through manholes located upstream from the collapse location.
As the wastewater flowed out of the collapse location and the manholes, it flowed down
an unnamed tributary that runs parallel to the Clara Barton Parkway, under the C&O canal via a
culvert, and down to the Potomac River by Swainson Island.
DC Water was alerted to the activity via “security cameras [that] detected unusual activity
near one of [the] odor control facilities along the Clara Barton Parkway.” DC Water then
activated emergency response protocols, including installing a bypass pumping system, and worked to stabilize the damaged pipe. According to DC Water, “[t]he bypass system began
operating early January 24, 2026, when six large pumps were turned on to convey wastewater
into a controlled section of the C&O Canal, routing it around the break and back into the sewer
system further downstream.” While this bypass allowed wastewater to be diverted around the
collapse site and back into the PI, initially there were isolated incidents of wastewater overflows
due to various factors, such as increased volumes of wastewater due to melting snow or other
issues. For example, in early February there was a significant overflow which was estimated to
have released “several hundred thousand gallons of wastewater” due to issues with the pumps.
Specifically, “[t]he overflow event occurred when multiple pumps were out of service for
required cleaning and maintenance after becoming clogged by non-disposable wipes that were
flushed into the system,” which also happened during a period of high flow in the sewer
system.
According to DC Water, there has not been any release to the Potomac River since
February 8, 2026. In March, however, it was determined through sampling, that contaminated
water was leaking out of the culvert that is located under the portion of the C&O Canal that was
being used as part of the bypass system to route the wastewater around the PI collapse. It is
through this culvert that the unnamed tributary flows downstream until it enters the Potomac
River. USACE subsequently installed a sandbag dam and pumping operation to divert the
water through the pumps and into the PI.
It is estimated that over 240 million gallons of raw sewage flowed into the Potomac River
before the overflow was completely contained. For comparison, the Exxon Valdez oil spill of
1989—which has been regarded as “one of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history”—
resulted in 11 million gallons of oil being released into the environment.
On April 20, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the EPA, filed a federal
CWA complaint against DC Water for the PI failure. On the same day the State of Maryland brought a parallel action seeking civil penalties, cleanup costs, and natural resource damages. These suits allege that DC Water failed to address known severe corrosion in the pipe for years,
contributing to the rupture that released more than 200 million gallons of untreated sewage into
the Potomac River.
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)