The House Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee held a hearing, entitled Reliable Water in the Digital Age: Examining Legislation to Strengthen Drinking Water Systems and Protect Ratepayers. Lawmakers examined two water infrastructure-related bills, the Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2026 and the Water Cost Accountability Act of 2026. Both draft pieces of legislation would amend the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the primary federal law regulating drinking water in the United States, and are expected to be included in this year’s final Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) reauthorization package.  

The Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2026 would reauthorize many of the key programs within SDWA for FY 2027 through 2031, including the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), as well as technical assistance and grant programs that help small, rural, and disadvantaged communities maintain their systems. It would also enhance the cybersecurity of public water systems by expanding the Drinking Water Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainability Program to support projects that reduce cybersecurity vulnerabilities and by strengthening cybersecurity training through the Innovative Water Infrastructure Workforce Development Program.  

Lawmakers on a bipartisan basis expressed support for the Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2026’s provisions that reauthorize water infrastructure programs and enhance cybersecurity support. However, Democratic lawmakers argued that the bill falls short because it would reduce annual DWSRF authorization levels by more than $2 billion compared to current funding levels and does not reauthorize the Public Water System Supervision Grant Program, which helps states administer SDWA

requirements. Subcommittee Ranking Member Paul Tonko (D-NY) described the proposed DWSRF reduction as "completely unacceptable," citing Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that drinking water systems require approximately $625 billion in infrastructure investment over the next two decades. Witnesses Mei Wu, founder and principal at Health and Environmental Advising, and Julie Moore, Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, echoed those concerns, arguing that reducing federal support would place additional financial burdens on ratepayers and delay critical infrastructure upgrades. 

he Water Cost Accountability Act of 2026 received broader bipartisan support, though still faced some criticisms from Democratic lawmakers. The bill would require each state receiving a capitalization grant through the DWSRF to prohibit public water systems in their state from recovering incremental costs associated with connecting a data center or expanding system capacity to serve a data center from any customer other than the data center’s owner or operator. The bill would also require the EPA, in consultation with appropriate state agencies, to submit a report to Congress assessing the sources of water used by qualified data centers, identifying gaps in the information available to EPA and providing any recommendations resulting from the assessment. 

Full Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) characterized the measure as a proposal designed to ensure that data centers, rather than households and small businesses, bear the costs of infrastructure investments needed to serve them. Chair Guthrie emphasized that decisions regarding whether to host data centers should remain local but argued that ratepayers deserve protection from data center-related water costs. Subcommittee Ranking Member Tonko stated that he supports requiring data centers to pay the full costs associated with infrastructure improvements attributable to their operations but questioned whether the legislation's approach would be effective given differences between the regulation of electric utilities and publicly owned water systems. Full Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) similarly supported the bill's intent but argued that it does not adequately address broader concerns surrounding data center development, including environmental and PFAS-related impacts on local communities. He suggested Congress should consider additional federal guardrails governing data center projects. 

While Democratic lawmakers expressed concerns regarding reductions to DWSRF funding levels and data center expansions, Republican lawmakers, including Reps. Gary Palmer (R-AL), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Buddy Carter (R-GA), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), August Pfluger (R-TX), Gabe Evans (R-CO), and Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), argued that data centers could strengthen local water systems by expanding the ratepayer base, contributing new revenues, and helping distribute fixed infrastructure costs more broadly, as well as bolster U.S. economic competitiveness. Several lawmakers also highlighted emerging technologies, including closed-loop cooling systems and water recycling practices, that could reduce future water demands.