American Water Stewardship Act
Key claim: The American Water Stewardship Act reauthorizes major EPA water-quality restoration programs through FY2031, designates the Mississippi Sound as an estuary of national significance, expands BEACH Act grant uses for contamination source identification, and bars FY2026–FY2031 Clean Water Act program funds from entities tied to foreign countries of concern.
Abstract
(HR6422 · 119th Congress) American Water Stewardship Act This bill reauthorizes several water quality protection and restoration programs of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and makes related requirements. Specifically, the bill reauthorizes through FY2031 the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the Long Island Sound Partnership program, the Columbia River Basin Restoration Program, the National Estuary Program, and the BEACH Act program. The bill also modifies some of those programs. For example, the bill modifies the National Estuary Program, including by establishing the Mississippi Sound as an estuary of national significance that may receive support under the program. It also modifies the BEACH Act program, including by allowing states or local governments to use grants provided under the program to identify specific sources of contamination for coastal recreation waters adjacent to beaches or similar points of access that are used by the public. Additionally, the bill modifies the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, including by making federal agencies eligible for grants provided under the program. The bill also prohibits funding made available for FY2026-FY2031 to carry out specified Clean Water Act programs from being provided to nonfederal entities that are domiciled in, located in, organized under, have a principal place of business in, or have agreements with foreign countries of concern. Finally, the bill directs the Government Accountability Office to evaluate and report on specified geographic programs of the EPA. Latest action (2026-03-25): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Why this matters
The bill embeds a foreign-adversary funding restriction inside an otherwise routine EPA water-program reauthorization, extending the now-common ‘foreign countries of concern’ eligibility screen into environmental grant streams through FY2031. For trade watchers, this signals continued diffusion of adversary-nexus procurement/funding bars beyond core national-security and technology statutes into general federal spending, which can affect grantees, subrecipients, and their supply-chain partners with foreign ownership or ties.