American Water Stewardship Act

The American Water Stewardship Act extends funding and reauthorizes five EPA water quality programs through fiscal year 2031: 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 modifies these programs in several ways, including designating the Mississippi Sound as an estuary eligible for national significance status, allowing states and local governments to use beach program grants to identify pollution sources, and making federal agencies eligible for grants under the San Francisco Estuary Partnership. The legislation affects EPA operations and entities that receive grants from these programs, including state and local governments and nonprofit organizations.

The bill operates by continuing appropriations for the five specified programs and implementing program changes that alter how grants can be used and who qualifies to receive them. A key restriction prohibits funding for fiscal years 2026 through 2031 from going 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. The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to evaluate and report on specified EPA geographic programs, creating an oversight mechanism to assess how these water protection initiatives are functioning.