House Bills:
House Bill 166

• Title: AN ACT relating to disaster resiliency
• Bill Number: HB 166
• Sponsors: Rep. Lindsey Burke (D), Rep. Al Gentry (D)
• Committee Assignment: Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection (H)

Explanation: This bill would establish the position of Chief Resiliency Officer within the Division of Emergency Management. The role would coordinate statewide disaster preparedness and resiliency planning, working with existing emergency management structures. It seeks to integrate long-term resilience goals into state planning to better address natural hazards and climate-related risks.
Why KWA Supports: Climate change and extreme weather events (e.g., floods) directly affect Kentucky waterways. A dedicated resiliency officer could improve coordinated planning for floodplain management and watershed protection, potentially reducing storm-related erosion and pollution risks.

House Bill 196

• Title: AN ACT relating to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances
• Bill Number: HB 196
• Sponsors: Rep. Nima Kulkarni (D), Rep. Al Gentry (D)
• Committee Assignment: Natural Resources & Energy (H)

Explanation: HB 196 would establish a PFAS Working Group and create reporting requirements for manufacturers regarding PFAS chemicals intentionally added to products sold or distributed in Kentucky. This includes reporting releases of PFAS within the Commonwealth and setting penalties for noncompliance. PFAS are a class of persistent, toxic chemicals often referred to as “forever chemicals.”
Why KWA Supports: PFAS contamination is a widespread water quality concern. Establishing reporting and accountability measures could help identify sources and improve monitoring of PFAS in rivers, streams, and drinking water supplies.
 
House Bill 197

• Title: AN ACT relating to soil conservation
• Bill Number: HB 197
• Sponsors: Rep. Nima Kulkarni (D)
• Committee Assignment: Natural Resources & Energy (H)

Explanation: HB 197 proposes creation of a Healthy Soils Program within the Department for Natural Resources. The program would provide technical assistance for soil health assessments and plans, establish funding mechanisms, and require soil health practices to be integrated into conservation district priorities. It also adds definitions related to “healthy soil practices” and “watershed health.”
Why KWA Supports: Healthy soils play a key role in reducing runoff, sedimentation, and nutrient loading into waterways. By supporting soil restoration and conservation, this bill could indirectly improve watershed resilience and water quality across agricultural landscapes that drain into Kentucky rivers and lakes.

House Bill 221

• Title: AN ACT relating to severe weather emergency alerts
• Bill Number: HB 221
• Sponsors: Rep. Ashley Tackett Laferty (D)
• Committee Assignment: Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection (H)

Explanation: This bill would create the Kentucky Severe Weather Alert System to formalize a statewide alert framework for severe weather. It defines the system’s purpose and allowable uses under KRS Chapter 39A, likely involving emergency notifications for events like floods, tornadoes, or extreme storms.
Why KWA Supports: Early and reliable severe weather alerts can help communities prepare for flood events and heavy rainstorms that threaten water quality and riverine ecosystems. A structured alert system supports public safety and could complement floodplain outreach and hazard mitigation efforts tied to KWA’s water protection goals.
-     KWA does have a concern about abandoning existing systems and ensuring alert systems can and will communicate with other operating systems.

House Bill 371

• Title: AN ACT relating to outdoor recreation
• Sponsor: Rep. Mitch Whitaker (R)
• Committee Assignment: House Economic Development & Workforce Investment (H)

Explanation: House Bill 371 would create an Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry within the Kentucky Cabinet for
Economic Development to coordinate and promote the state’s outdoor recreation economy. The office would serve as a central point for policy development, interagency coordination, and engagement with communities and businesses tied to outdoor recreation, formally embedding this role in state statute.
Why KWA Supports :Many of Kentucky’s outdoor recreation opportunities depend directly on healthy rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands, making water quality and habitat protection foundational to recreation-based economic development. KWA has an interest in ensuring that growth in outdoor recreation is paired with strong environmental safeguards and collaboration with natural resource agencies so that increased use and investment do not come at the expense of Kentucky’s waterways.

House Bill 397

• Title: AN ACT relating to trophy catfish
• Bill Number: HB 397
• Sponsors: Rep. DJ Johnson (R), Rep. K. Banta, Rep. M. Lehman
• Committee Assignment: Natural Resources & Energy (H)
• Status: Second Reading & floor amendment filed to Committee Substitute

Explanation: HB 397 would modify current regulations governing trophy catfish on the Lower Ohio River. It sets an expiration date for existing permits to take these fish, prohibits issuance of new permits after May 31, 2027, and restricts live transportation of trophy catfish except by boat while legally fishing. Violations could lead to misdemeanor or felony penalties.
Why KWA Supports: While this bill focuses on fish management, it affects river ecosystems and recreational fishing on a major waterway. Regulating trophy catfish harvesting and transport could have implications for river health, species balance, and sediment disturbance, issues relevant to water quality stewardship and sustainable use of aquatic resources.

House Bill 530

• Title: AN ACT relating to permits
• Bill Number: HB 530
• Sponsor: Rep. Richard White (R)
• Committee Assignment: Local Government (H)

Explanation: House Bill 530 would significantly overhaul Kentucky’s permitting and land-use approval process by imposing strict timelines and legal standards on permitting authorities, requiring decisions on most permit applications within 60 days or automatically issue the permits. It would also expand Circuit Court jurisdiction over permit decisions and planning denials, mandate clear and convincing evidence for denials or conditions, restrict third-party challenges to those with adjacent property and demonstrable harm, create by-right approval for housing projects that meet code, streamline plan review and inspections through set deadlines and third-party inspectors, and preempt local ordinances that conflict with the bill’s provisions.
Why KWA Opposes: HB 530’s sweeping changes to permitting deadlines, reviews, and judicial standards would weaken environmental and water quality safeguards by curtailing meaningful review of permits, especially if environmental regulators are forced to approve projects or have decisions deemed automatically approved after tight deadlines. In the context of collapsing federal water protections and recent state actions narrowing water jurisdiction, this bill could further limit opportunities to scrutinize permits for impacts on groundwater, stream health, and connected aquatic ecosystems, undermining KWA’s efforts to protect comprehensive water protections and maintain strong state oversight of activities that threaten water quality.

House Bill 552

• Title: AN ACT relating to environmental protection
• Bill Number: HB 552
• Sponsor: Rep. Sarah Stalker (D)
• Committee Assignment: Natural Resources & Energy (H)

Explanation: House Bill 552 would revise the definition of “waters of the Commonwealth” to its previous definition prior to 2025 Senate Bill 89, effectively repealing SB89. The new definition would include all rivers, streams, creeks, lakes, ponds, impounded reservoirs, springs, wells, marshes and all other bodies of surface or underground water within “waters of the commonwealth.”
Why KWA Supports: This Bill will reverse the impacts of 2025’s Senate Bill 89, which stripped Kentucky of its longstanding authority to define and protect its own waters by tying state jurisdiction to a narrowed federal standard. That change left many streams, wetlands, and especially groundwater resources vulnerable at a time when federal water protections are being rolled back. Restoring Kentucky’s ability to define “waters of the Commonwealth” is essential to protecting drinking water sources, headwaters, and interconnected surface and underground waters. Reasserting state authority ensures Kentucky can respond to local water quality threats rather than relying on shifting and increasingly limited federal protections.

House Bill 723

• Title: AN ACT relating to sales and use tax
• Bill Number: HB 723
• Sponsors: Rep. Matt Lockett Whitaker
• Committee Assignment: House Appropriations & Revenue Committee (H)

Explanation: HB 723 would create a new section of KRS Chapter 139 to direct funding to the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund by annually transferring 80% of the sales and use taxes collected from sporting goods retailers (including interest and penalties) from the state’s general fund to the conservation fund. The intent is to create a dedicated revenue stream tied to outdoor recreation spending that can support land conservation, habitat protection, and outdoor recreation opportunities across the Commonwealth.
Why KWA Supports: The Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund helps protect important natural areas, wildlife habitat, and watersheds throughout the state. Stable funding for land conservation can support watershed protection, preserve riparian areas, and improve access to outdoor recreation tied to Kentucky’s rivers and streams. By linking conservation funding to outdoor recreation sales, the bill could strengthen long-term investment in the natural landscapes and waterways that support Kentucky’s outdoor economy and environmental health.

House Bill 856

• Title: AN ACT relating to data centers
• Bill Number: HB 856
• Sponsors: Rep. Sarah Stalker
• Committee Assignment: House Committee on Committees (H)

Explanation: HB 856 would create new requirements for data centers operating in Kentucky related to water use and planning. The bill would require a water feasibility study to be submitted to the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet before a data center begins operations and would also require annual reporting of water usage to the cabinet. These provisions are intended to ensure that large data centers evaluate water availability and publicly report how much water they consume each year.
Why KWA Supports: Data centers can require large volumes of water for cooling and other operational needs, which can place pressure on local water supplies and watersheds. Requiring feasibility studies and annual water-use reporting can improve transparency and help state agencies and communities better understand potential impacts on local water resources before facilities are built or expanded. For the Kentucky Waterways Alliance, these requirements are important tools for ensuring that new industrial development considers water availability and protects the long-term health of Kentucky’s rivers, streams, and drinking water sources.

Senate Bills
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Senate Bill 8

• Title: AN ACT relating to public utilities and declaring an emergency
• Bill Number: SB 8
• Sponsors: Sen. Brandon Smith, Sen. Robin Webb, Sen. Stephen West
• Committee Assignment: Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee (S) –

• Status: Reported favorably with committee substitute and received first reading to Calendar (as of March 4, 2026)

Explanation: SB 8 would significantly restructure Kentucky’s Public Service Commission (PSC), which regulates utilities
such as electric, gas, and water providers. The bill establishes new rules for the commission’s membership, qualifications, and appointment process, including having five commissioners with some appointments made by the Auditor of Public Accounts. It also sets term limits, establishes a process for electing the commission chair, and gives the commission more authority over staffing and compensation. In addition, the bill restricts who may intervene in PSC cases, designates the Attorney General as the sole advocate for residential consumers in those cases, raises the threshold for when transmission line projects require a certificate of public convenience and
necessity, and shifts the PSC’s administrative attachment away from the Energy and Environment Cabinet.
Why KWA Opposes: The Public Service Commission oversees decisions that shape Kentucky’s energy infrastructure, utility investments, and major projects that can affect land, water, and communities. SB 8 would significantly restrict who can intervene in PSC proceedings and require that residential consumer interests be represented solely by the Attorney General, preventing intervening groups from selecting their own legal representation. These changes could limit the ability of community groups, environmental organizations, and other stakeholders to directly participate in decisions that affect their communities and watersheds. For KWA, this raises concerns about reduced public participation and fewer independent voices in regulatory decisions that can have lasting impacts on Kentucky’s waterways and landscapes.

Senate Bill 39

• Title: Bona fide private landowners and guests, fishing and stocking restrictions, exemption
• Bill Number: SB 39
• Sponsors: Sen. Gary Boswell (R)
• Committee Assignment: Committee on Committees (H)
• Status: Assigned to House Committee

Explanation: SB 39 would exempt private landowners (and their guests) from many statewide fishing regulations when fishing on their own property. It also includes provisions on fish stocking in private lakes and ponds. The proposed exemption seeks to align Kentucky with other states’ policies on private property fishing rights.
Why KWA Is Monitoring: While this bill affects private land rights, changing fishing regulations could influence fish populations, habitat conditions, and fishing pressure on waterways connected to private waters. Protecting broader ecological integrity of streams and tributaries remains crucial for water quality, especially where private ponds drain into public waters.

Senate Bill 60

• Title: AN ACT relating to waste tires
• Bill Number: SB 60
• Sponsors: Sen. Casey Chambers Armstrong (D)
• Committee Assignment: Committee on Committees (S)

Explanation: SB 60 would revise the “waste tire program” by removing exemptions that currently allow certain tire accumulators to avoid registration requirements. It would require sellers used motor vehicle tires to register and comply with waste tire management regulations.
Why KWA Supports: Improperly managed waste tires can trap water and become sources of mosquito habitat, toxins, and sediment runoff. Strengthening waste tire regulation reduces environmental hazards and improves watershed health,
aligning with KWA’s interests in comprehensive pollution prevention.

Senate Bill 88

• Title: AN ACT relating to protection from extreme weather conditions
• Bill Number: SB 88
• Sponsors: Sen. Casey Chambers Armstrong (D)
• Committee Assignment: Committee on Committees (S)

Explanation: SB 88 would require utilities to submit disconnection plans to the Public Service Commission that prohibit residential disconnections during extreme weather. The plans must be publicly available, helping ensure that vulnerable households remain connected during extreme cold/heat that can accompany heavy storms or flooding.
Why KWA Supports: While framed as a utility policy, preventing water and utility disconnections during declared disasters is fundamentally an issue of access, equity, and community resilience. Continuous access to water and essential utilities during extreme heat, cold, or other emergencies ensure vulnerable residents, especially low-income, seniors, and medically vulnerable people, can safely shelter in place. Protecting water access during disasters reduces preventable injuries and deaths, supports public health and emergency response efforts, and strengthens a community’s ability to withstand and recover from increasingly frequent climate-driven events.

Senate Bill 178

• Title: AN ACT relating to environmental administrative regulations
• Bill Number: SB 178
• Sponsors: Sen. Greg Elkins (R), Sen. Brandon Smith (R), Robby Mills (R), Steve Rawlings (R)
• Committee Assignment: Senate Natural Resources & Energy (S)
• Status: Recommitted to Senate Committee Natural Resources and Energy. SB 178 has been moved back or "recommitted" to the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee. This doesn't mean the fight is over, it just means that some legislators are have concerns or they want to change some aspect of the Bill. They could very quickly move it through the committee, send it back to the Senate for a vote, or sneak parts of it into other legislation.

Explanation: SB 178 would establish new statutory standards governing how Kentucky agencies adopt environmental and public health administrative regulations. The bill requires that new regulations be supported by the “best available science” and the “weight of scientific evidence,” and it sets additional criteria for rulemaking such as requiring that regulations be technologically achievable at an applicable scale, and in cases required direct links to manifest human harm. These provisions would apply broadly across environmental and public health regulatory programs and create new evidentiary and technical thresholds that agencies must meet before adopting or strengthening protections.
Why KWA Opposes: Because SB 178 would apply across environmental and public health regulatory programs, the bill could significantly complicate how Kentucky agencies develop and update safeguards that protect waterways and public health. By placing new evidentiary and technological thresholds on rulemaking, the legislation could make it more difficult for state agencies to adopt stronger protections when emerging science, local conditions, or environmental risks indicate they may be needed. By requiring direct links to manifest human harm, the bill removes the risk model used by all regulatory entities to prevent harm before it occurs. For organizations like the Kentucky Waterways Alliance, the bill raises concerns about whether Kentucky will retain the flexibility to respond to water quality threats and protect communities that rely on clean rivers, streams, and lakes.

Senate Bill 330

• Title: AN ACT relating to data centers
• Bill Number: SB 330
• Sponsors: Sen. Keturah Herron
• Committee Assignment: Senate Committee on Committees (S)

Explanation: SB 330 would establish new transparency and public disclosure requirements for data center projects in Kentucky. The bill prohibits public agencies from entering into nondisclosure or confidentiality agreements related to data centers that exceed existing confidentiality protections under Kentucky law. It also voids contract provisions that attempt to bypass the Kentucky Open Records Act or Open Meetings Act and requires certain information about data center projects to be publicly disclosed. Additionally, the bill clarifies that aggregated data about impacts on utilities and public infrastructure cannot be treated as confidential solely because it relates to a data center project.
Why KWA Supports: Large data centers can have significant impacts on energy demand, water withdrawals, wastewater systems, and local infrastructure. SB 330 would improve transparency by ensuring that key information about these impacts, including water use, utility demand, and public subsidies, is available to the public and decision-makers. For Kentucky Waterways Alliance, this transparency is important for understanding how large industrial developments may affect water resources, watersheds, and local infrastructure, and for ensuring communities have access to the information needed to participate meaningfully in decisions that affect their environment.

​Kentucky Waterways Alliance strongly opposes this legislation.

• Read KWA's Press Release on SB 178.
• Read KWA's annotated version of the SB 178 legislation for a plain-language translation of what SB 178 will mean for Kentuckians.​
• Read KWA's Fact Sheet
• ​Read KWA's Prevention Saving Factsheet

SB178 is not a science bill. It is a deregulation bill disguised as science. It replaces modern public and environmental health protection with administrative handcuffs and requires residents to be harmed before the state can act. Here are some of the many reasons we are fighting this bill:

🚨Makes federal minimum standards the maximum Kentucky can adopt. Turns federal "floor" standards into a "ceiling," banning KY from passing stronger protections for our own air and water. If federal standards do not exist, the bill imposes new proof requirements that make it harder to establish new protections.
🚨Waits for People to Get Sick: Requires proof of present, diagnosable human illness before human health protections can be adopted. KY would need to demonstrate a direct causal link between exposure to a pollutant and existing human disease before acting.
🚨Redefines How Scientific Evidence Can Used to Block Action: The bill invokes “best available science” but narrowly defines acceptable evidence and imposes new thresholds that could make preventive regulation more difficult. Kentucky agencies already rely on peer-reviewed science, federal research, and risk assessment when adopting safeguards.
🚨Leaves Us Vulnerable to New Toxins: Creates massive red tape that prevents KY from responding quickly to emerging chemical threats.
🚨Abandons Prevention for Reaction: Longstanding public health practice focuses on reducing risk before harm occurs. Stops KY from reducing risks early, forcing us to wait for confirmed harm before we can protect the public.
🚨Increases delays and lawsuits: New subjective scientific and technical thresholds make it easier to challenge and stall public health and environmental protections. This uncertainty affects not only regulators and communities but also permit holders who rely on predictable standards.
What is the status of this legislation? Updated on 3/2/26: The bill passed KY Senate Standing Committee Natural Resources & Energy.  The full Senate may vote on it as early as March 2.

• If it passes the full Senate, it will go to a House Committee for a vote.
• If it passes the House committee, it will go to the full House for a vote.
• If it passes it will go to the Governor to sign or veto.
• If he vetoes it, it can be overruled by the legislature.

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KWA Executive Director Michael Washburn offered the following assessment:
This bill repeatedly invokes the phrase ‘best available science,’ but in practice it does the opposite. SB 178 uses the rhetoric of science to limit the ability of scientists, regulators, and public health professionals to act on scientific evidence before people are harmed. This is not how science or public health works. Modern environmental and public health protections rely on risk assessment, toxicology, and accumulating evidence to prevent harm before it occurs. SB 178 would require proof that people are already sick before Kentucky can act to reduce exposure.  This is not a technical adjustment to regulatory process. It is a fundamental shift away from prevention and toward a system that requires damage to occur before it can be addressed. Kentuckians expect their state to protect their water and their health. SB 178 would make that far more difficult.

Proposed Senate Bill 178 Would Limit Kentucky’s Ability to Protect Public Health
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In 2025, SB89 limited Kentucky’s authority to define and protect the “waters of the Commonwealth.” SB178 now proposes similar limits on the Commonwealth’s ability to adopt environmental and public-health protections that exceed federal minimum standards. Kentucky Waterways Alliance opposes Senate Bill 178 because it would significantly restrict Kentucky’s Energy and Environment Cabinet and Cabinet for Health and Family Services capacity to respond to emerging health and environmental risks.

SB178 would prohibit Kentucky from adopting environmental or public-health regulations that are more stringent or more protective than federal law on the same or a similar topic. Following 2025’s Senate Bill 89, which limited Kentucky’s ability to define and protect state waters, SB178 would further constrain the state’s ability to adopt protections tailored to Kentucky’s specific conditions, even when science, local data, or emerging threats indicate a need for stronger safeguards than federal minimum standards. This would affect Kentucky’s authority across a wide range of programs, including drinking water and groundwater protection, air quality, hazardous and solid waste management, mining and reclamation, septic systems, lead poisoning prevention, radioactive materials handling, and the protection of rivers, wetlands, and nature preserves.

KWA Executive Director Michael Washburn offered the following assessment:

“It would dismantle the idea that environmental protection exists to prevent harm and replace it with a system that can only respond after harm is already visible as illness. By locking Kentucky to the weakest federal standard and requiring proof of present, diagnosable human injury before new safeguards can be adopted, the bill deliberately removes risk from the equation. Elevated cancer risk would not count. The presence of toxic chemicals in drinking water or in people’s blood would not count. Increased likelihood of developmental harm to children would not count. Heightened exposure would not count. Unless Kentuckians are already demonstrably sick — and that illness can be directly tied to a specific pollutant — the state would be barred from acting. This is not a technical adjustment to regulatory process. It represents a fundamental shift away from the Commonwealth’s traditional responsibility to prevent harm and protect public health, moving Kentucky from a system designed to prevent damage to one that requires damage to occur before it can even be acknowledged.”

Kentucky has long maintained the authority to respond to local conditions and emerging risks in order to protect public health and natural resources. Decisions about how to safeguard the Commonwealth should remain grounded in the needs and realities of the people who live here.​

Kentucky Waterways Alliance is preparing a detailed, plain-language analysis of SB178 that will walk through the bill section by section and explain what it would mean in practice for Kentucky. We will share that analysis with our members and partners soon and will provide updates and opportunities for engagement as the legislation moves forward. This fact sheet published by Kentucky Resources Council is an excellent resource to learn more about SB178.

These are not easy days to protect Kentucky’s waterways. Federal protections for clean water are being dismantled—wetlands stripped of safeguards, pollution limits weakened, enforcement scaled back. Here at home, we’ve seen how deep pockets speak louder than public interest. And all across Kentucky, the floods keep coming—devastating, displacing, and now arriving with yearly regularity. The work is getting harder by the day. 
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But that’s not the whole story. Across Kentucky, communities are rising—farmers, paddlers, faith leaders, and small business owners—standing up for clean water and a healthy future. That spirit is the heart of Kentucky Waterways Alliance.

We’re a member-powered organization rooted in science, but guided by something deeper. Science is not our goal—it’s our tool. We use it to serve a single agenda: to create the conditions for individuals and communities to flourish in Kentucky. In that way, our mission is a civic one. We are working to make good on the promise of what it means to live in a Commonwealth.

And what does that promise include? Safe drinking water. Clean rivers to fish and paddle. Landscapes that feed both body and soul. Too often, we think of water and land separately—but water is the landscape. It’s the lifeblood that shapes our hills, nourishes our farms, runs through our towns, and flows from our taps. When we protect water, we protect everything built upon it.

Since I joined KWA, we’ve rarely made mid-year asks. But these aren’t typical times. Last fall, we launched a full policy program to meet the mounting threats head-on. We didn’t expect it to be tested so quickly—but here we are. The passage of SB89 was a blow. It weakened core protections. But it also lit a fire. We saw people across the Commonwealth step up and say: Not here. Not now. Not without a fight.

That’s what this moment asks of us. Self-defense. Self-preservation. Self-determination.

And it’s why I’m asking you to make a mid-year gift today. Your support helps us:

• Hold the line against bad policy and hold polluters accountable.
• Monitor Kentucky’s waters so pollution never goes unseen.
• Mobilize people to speak out and protect what we love.

​This is what it means to live in a Commonwealth—to choose each other, again and again. Please, stand with us in this shared work. Let’s defend what we can’t afford to lose.

With gratitude and resolve,
Michael Washburn, Executive Director​

P.S. Members of KWA receive our NewsStreams magazine twice a year. Give now to receive the summer edition featuring a Q&A with Silas House!