Following Trump's lead, some GOP states seek to limit environmental
regulations
[February 19, 2026]
By KIM CHANDLER
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Some Republican legislators are looking to
restrict their states' ability to set environmental regulations, a move
that comes as President Donald Trump ’s administration pushes to roll
back environmental rules on power plants, water and greenhouse gases.
The Alabama Legislature on Tuesday approved legislation backed by
business groups that would prevent state agencies from setting
restrictions on pollutants and hazardous substances exceeding those set
by the federal government. In areas where no federal standard exists,
the state could adopt new rules only if there is a “direct causal link”
between exposure to harmful emissions and “manifest bodily harm” to
humans.
Supporters said the Alabama measure would ground standards in “sound
science” and prevent regulatory overreach. Environmental groups said it
would cripple the state’s ability to respond to environmental or health
risks, including a group of chemicals known as PFAS, or forever
chemicals, that has contaminated swaths of the South.
Sarah Stokes, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law
Center, said the bill sets an "impossible hurdle" for state regulations
since the bill specifies that an “increased risk of disease” is not
enough to demonstrate harm to humans.
“It’s a blank check to businesses. We’re basically sacrificing human
health for businesses," Stokes said. “That doesn’t seem like the best
calculation for our citizens.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and business groups supported the
legislation, and the bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Donnie Chesteen,
told a legislative committee this month that his bill is a
“pro-business” piece of legislation.
“If we’re going to be able to compete with states in the Southeast to
attract and bring some of these businesses in, then we need to have
these standards adopted so that it’s clearly defined what our companies
are working with,” Chesteen said. Supporters also argued the bill
follows Trump’s deregulatory agenda.
“This does not remove the use of sound science and legitimate science,”
Republican Rep. Troy Stubbs said during debate. “What it does is protect
Alabama and the people of Alabama from runaway government that can
become overly burdensome and regulatory to a point that it drives the
cost of living way up.”
Stubbs disputed that it would weaken existing rules, saying current
state regulations would stay in place. However, the environmental lawyer
Stokes said she is concerned that businesses could use it as a basis to
challenge existing rules.
The measure is the latest effort to restrict state-level environmental
regulations. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signed an executive order last year
saying Indiana can’t have new environmental rules stricter than federal
ones unless deemed necessary by state law or the governor. Tennessee
lawmakers last year passed legislation requiring any regulations that
are more stringent than federal regulations to be based on links to
“manifest bodily harm in humans.”
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Industrial development is seen along the Mobile River near Mobile,
Ala., on Jan. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Julie Bennett, File)
Stokes said the Alabama proposal goes further than the Tennessee law. A
similar bill has been introduced in Utah.
Stokes said the Alabama legislation was introduced after advocacy groups
persuaded the Alabama Environmental Management Commission to consider
updating state standards for arsenic and cyanide and 11 other toxic
pollutants.
Cara Horowitz, an environmental law professor and executive director of
the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA
School of Law, said the legislation would prevent state agencies from
making “independent decisions about how much to protect public health
from things like water pollution, air pollution, and toxics.”
“Alabama could adopt its own pollution standard only where the state’s
rationale for doing so relies on a very particular kind of science,"
Horowitz wrote in an email. “Alabama could not rely, for example, on
studies showing a correlation between pollution exposure and an
increased risk of disease.”
The bill also bars agencies from using the EPA’s Integrated Risk
Information System, which characterizes the health hazards of chemicals
found in the environment, as the default basis for water quality
standards. A lobbying group for the chemical industry has criticized the
system as overly burdensome and scientifically flawed.
Democrats in the Alabama Legislature spoke against the bill for two
hours until GOP lawmakers voted to end debate and force a vote.
Democratic Rep. Chris England said the bill turns Alabama residents into
test subjects. “We are a petri dish for businesses to do as they will
until they kill people,” England said.
Rep. Neil Rafferty, also a Democrat, said the bill is “defining sound
science just to gut our ability to use it to drive science-based and
data-driven policy.”
The state House of Representatives voted 88-34 for the bill, which now
goes to Republican Gov. Kay Ivey. A spokeswoman for Ivey did not have an
immediate comment on the bill.
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