Ohio lawmakers are throwing their weight behind a sweeping push to clean up the Ohio River and its tributaries, hoping to tap a major new stream of federal money for everything from drinking-water upgrades to toxic cleanups. The effort centers on companion bills in Congress that would create an Ohio River Basin Restoration Program inside the Environmental Protection Agency and authorize hundreds of millions of dollars a year for long-delayed projects. Resolutions adopted at the Statehouse this spring urge Congress to move, and backers are pitching the idea as a rare chance to boost water quality and local river economies in one shot.
The federal proposal, H.R. 5966 in the House and companion S.3796 in the Senate, would set up the Ohio River Basin Restoration Program and authorize up to $350 million per year from fiscal 2026 through 2030, according to the bill text on Congress.gov. Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.) introduced the House bill and has lined up a bipartisan group of cosponsors to push it, as E&E News reports. Supporters say the measure is designed to lock in a long-term federal framework so states, tribes and local governments are not scrambling year to year for piecemeal funding.
How the program would work
The bill would establish an Ohio River National Program Office within the Agency, tasking it with setting concrete goals and an action plan for the basin, the legislation states. That office would oversee and select projects aimed at improving water quality and drinking-water systems, restoring fish and wildlife habitat, controlling invasive species, and cleaning up toxic contamination. It would also be able to move money to federal partners or award grants to qualified non-federal entities, according to Congress.gov.
Why supporters say it matters
Backers are not just talking about cleaner water, they are talking about big money. A 2024 valuation of the basin by Earth Economics estimated at least $50 billion a year in public benefits and roughly $1.17 trillion over 30 years tied to the river’s ecosystem services. Earth Economics and environmental groups have been sounding alarms too. American Rivers listed the Ohio as one of its Most Endangered Rivers in 2023, warning that pollution and climate pressures are putting drinking water for millions at risk. American Rivers Local leaders, including Craig Butler, have told lawmakers that a coordinated federal push could help modernize aging drinking-water infrastructure, expand recreation and bolster economic resilience up and down the basin, as per Outdoor News.
State action and next steps
At the Ohio Statehouse, legislators have already planted their flag. The Ohio House adopted HCR 40, and the Ohio Senate passed SCR 19, both formally pressing Congress to enact the federal plan. The Senate’s legislative records and bill-tracking sites lay out HCR 40’s sponsors, status, and the path SCR 19 took through committee and floor votes. Ohio Senate LegiScan, local coverage, and witness testimony have framed the restoration program as a once-in-a-generation shot to clean up the river and juice the economies that depend on it, as per Cleveland.com.
For now, the federal bills are sitting in committee in Washington. They will need floor action, appropriations, and detailed EPA implementation before any grant dollars reach on-the-ground projects, and legislative trackers currently list them as referred to relevant subcommittees. LegiList Supporters point out that the bill also tells EPA to carve out a separate budget line for the Ohio River program in its annual requests, which they say could give local restoration work a more predictable financial lifeline than the one-off funding bursts communities are used to chasing.
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