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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.
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