 Kentucky Waterways Alliance strongly opposes this legislation.
🚨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.
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.
1 Comment
 Proposed Senate Bill 178 Would Limit Kentucky’s Ability to Protect Public Health
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. KWA 2026 KY General Assembly KWA Legislative Bill Tracker. (Current as of 2/11/2026)
The 2026 Kentucky General Assembly began on January 4 and will end on April 15. This is a long legislative session and a budget year, meaning decisions made over the coming months will shape state priorities and investments for the next two years. KWA is closely monitoring a range of bills that could affect the health, protection, and resilience of our rivers, streams, and groundwater and the people who depend on them. A complete listing and explanations of General Assembly legislation KWA supports and opposes can be found below. House Bills House Bill 166
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
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
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
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
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) 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
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. protections and maintain strong state oversight of activities that threaten water quality. _______________ House Bill 552
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. _____________ Senate Bills Senate Bill 39
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
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
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. KWA deepened our commitment to protecting our waterways last year through the revitalization of our Policy Program. This allowed us to address both state and federal challenges to clean water which resulted in more frequent communications to our members about complicated issues, proposals, and processes. We also asked you more often to tell your elected representatives that clean water for drinking, recreation, farming, business, and wildlife is important to you. We encouraged you to speak up for or against specific legislation and proposed rules.
It is easy to feel like these efforts are in vain, but silence has a real cost: when lawmakers don’t hear from the people who care about clean water, they assume it isn’t a priority. Every message, call, and signature helps remind them that protecting our waterways matters to the people they represent. In the last part of 2025 and early 2026 KWA shared information and action alerts for the following Federal legislation and rulemaking:
We’ve asked a lot of you this year and therefore providing this update on the status of Federal legislation and rulemaking. Thank you for speaking up for clean water. This list was last updated on 1/13/26. Ohio River Basin Restoration Act
KWA's first action of the new year was to take a stand against the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed revisions to the definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS). The proposed definition would dramatically weaken the Clean Water Act by sharply reduce protections for drinking water, streams, wetlands, and groundwater. These loss of protections would result in increase flooding, pollution, and costs for local water treatment in Kentucky. KWA and our allies at Kentucky Resources Committee, Kentucky Sierra Club, Kentucky Conservation Committee, and Appalachian Citizens Law Center jointly submitted formal comments to the EPA opposing a proposed the revised rule.
When Kentucky passed SB89 earlier this year and made it law, Kentucky became the only state in the United States to abandon its jurisdictional authority over its own water, surrendering this power to the federal government. This proposed rule change will have negative impacts throughout the nation. But unlike any other state, if adopted, it will leave Kentucky singularly without recourse or the power to protect our drinking water, or waterways used for hunting, fishing, boating, agriculture, and business. KWA is proud to serve on the Steering Committee for the Healthy Waters Coalition, comprised of 120 local, state, and national conservation organizations who are working together to restore and protect the interconnected waters of the Ohio River Basin. This new coalition seeks to secure a regional restoration plan and the federal funding to implement it — goals that align with a broad collaboration underway in the region that is calling for more to be done to protect the waters that 30 million people depend on for their drinking water. Read the full Press Release below. Contact Michael Washburn, KWA Executive Director for questions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- National Wildlife Federation – American Farmland Trust – American Rivers – Appalachian Citizens Law Center – Backcountry Hunters and Anglers – Groundwork Ohio River Valley – Indiana Wildlife Federation – Kentucky Waterways Alliance – NAACP-Evansville – Pennsylvania Environmental Council – PennFuture – Rural Action – Tennessee Wildlife Federation – Upstream Pittsburgh – West Virginia Rivers Coalition FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 3, 2025 Contact: Michael McShane | (202) 731-3413 New Coalition Launches to Restore, Protect Waters of Ohio River Basin, Home to 30 Million 120-member Healthy Waters Coalition seeks to address threats, including toxic pollution, sewage contamination, nonpoint pollution, and flooding. LOUISVILLE, Ky. — More than 120 local, state, and national conservation organizations launched the Healthy Waters Coalition to restore and protect the interconnected waters of the Ohio River Basin. This new coalition seeks to secure a regional restoration plan and the federal funding to implement it — goals that align with a broad collaboration underway in the region that is calling for more to be done to protect the waters that 30 million people depend on for their drinking water. The Basin encompasses portions of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The region is the ancestral and historical homelands of over 40 federally recognized Tribal Nations, including those currently in the region, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the Seneca Nation of Indians. “The Healthy Waters Coalition will work to ensure all 30 million people in the region have access to clean, safe and affordable water,” said Jordan Lubetkin, director of the Healthy Waters Coalition. “Together, we will work to elevate the restoration and protection of our region’s waters as a national priority to address urgent threats like toxic pollution, sewage contamination, and flooding through new federal investments and strong clean water protections. We have solutions, and it is time to use them before the problems get worse and more costly to solve.” The Ohio River Basin Alliance (ORBA), National Wildlife Federation, and University of Louisville Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute released in June a draft plan to confront threats to restore and protect the Ohio River Basin. The plan calls for addressing urgent threats to people and wildlife, including toxic pollution, sewage contamination, inadequate water infrastructure, nonpoint source pollution, habitat loss, and flooding. Several Healthy Waters Coalition members participated in crafting the plan. The collaboration with stakeholders led by the Ohio River Basin Alliance and National Wildlife Federation to craft the plan over the last four years has captured the attention of Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress, who in December introduced bipartisan legislation to invest in the restoration of the Ohio River Basin. Additional bipartisan legislation is expected to be introduced in the fall to support shared clean water goals for the Ohio River Basin. The Healthy Waters Coalition steering committee, led by the National Wildlife Federation, is comprised of representatives from American Farmland Trust, American Rivers, Appalachian Citizens Law Center, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Groundwork Ohio River Valley, Indiana Wildlife Federation, Kentucky Waterways Alliance, NAACP-Evansville, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, PennFuture, Rural Action, Tennessee Wildlife Federation, Upstream Pittsburgh, and West Virginia Rivers Coalition. Despite progress over the last 50 years to restore the region’s waters by local, state, Tribal, and federal partners, serious threats continue to plague the interconnected streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands of the Ohio River region including:
According to data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), low-income communities suffer disproportionate harm from pollution. In the Ohio River Basin, approximately 50 percent of people in the region live in counties considered economically distressed or at risk. Residents who live in distressed or at-risk communities have shorter life expectancies, higher incidences of heart disease, diabetes, mental distress, and more drug-related deaths than people who reside in more economically advantaged communities. “Clean drinking water is a basic need, but right now too many communities in the U.S. are dealing with health-threatening pollution,” Lubetkin said. “We need to ensure everyone has access to clean, safe, and affordable drinking water, and we need to start where the problems are biggest. The Healthy Waters Coalition will strive to ensure that the communities that have been harmed the most by pollution are prioritized when it comes to cleanup, and that the people who live in those communities have a voice in the solutions.” Funding to support the formation of the Healthy Waters Coalition has been provided by the Owsley Brown II Family Foundation, Network for Landscape Conservation Catalyst Fund, Tides Foundation, and Water Solutions Fund in coordination with Mosaic. The Ohio River Basin restoration and protection plan can be found HERE. More information on the Healthy Waters Coalition, including how conservation organizations can join the coalition, can be found HERE. ### KWA and our partners, including the National Wildlife Federation, oppose changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that removes habitat protection from the ESA. KWA and our partners submitted comments to the Department of the Interior opposing a federal rule proposing to remove habitat destruction from the definition of “harm." This proposed rule also signals a move away from science-based policy and toward political expediency, which is incompatible with both the plain language of the ESA and the agencies’ duty to faithfully execute the laws passed by Congress. In Kentucky, 29 species of mussels are currently federally listed as threatened or endangered, most due to habitat degradation. Many of Kentucky’s other threatened and endangered species would be impacted by this proposal, including the the Blackside dace and Big Sandy crayfish pictured below.
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.
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:
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!  Here is the Veto Statement. Now we need you to make your voices heard! Exactly What to Do: Spend 10 Minutes to Save Our Water. Look up who your House Rep and Senator are here. OR, the LRC switchboard can look it up for you. 1️⃣ CALL YOUR HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE (2 minutes)
We’re in a critical fight to stop SB 89, a dangerous bill that would roll back protections for Kentucky’s groundwater, wetlands, and streams. An unprecedented coalition of partner organizations across the state is coordinating actions and activating Kentuckians to oppose this bill. Read our joint state in opposition to Senate Bill 89 here.
   2025 Senate Bill 89: Removing Protections for Waters of the Commonwealth
SB 89 – (S. Madon) – An act relating to environmental protection and declaring an emergency. Kentucky Waterways Alliance Strongly Opposes SB89 as it threatens: Drinking Water – Groundwater – Wetlands – Headwaters – Increases Water Pollution
If the right to pollute water is created, Kentucky’s water will be more polluted. We all live downstream. Kentucky is water. Water is commonwealth Contact – Nick Hart, Water Policy Director KWA – 502-472-7971 – [email protected] |
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