KWA Opposes SB 178

​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.