Alabama Enacts Act 2026-81, Limiting State Environmental Rulemaking Authority

On February 19, 2026, Governor Kay Ivey signed Senate Bill 71 (Act No. 2026-81) into law, significantly restricting the ability of Alabama state agencies to adopt environmental standards that exceed federal requirements. The Act became effective immediately.

The Act prohibits state agencies from adopting or amending rules that establish new or revised numeric limits for chemicals and other regulated substances in areas such as drinking water, water pollution control, air quality, solid and hazardous waste handling, and contaminated site remediation if those standards would be “more stringent or extensive in scope, coverage, or effect” than any comparable federal law or regulation.

How the Act Works

The statute operates in two primary ways. First, where federal law or regulation sets a standard on the “same or a substantially similar topic,” an Alabama agency may not adopt a more stringent numeric criterion or limitation.  While federal environmental law typically operates as a regulatory floor, this Act effectively converts it into a ceiling for state rulemaking in covered areas.

Second, where no federal standard exists, agencies may adopt numeric limits only if the rule is based on the “best available science” and the “weight of scientific evidence,” as defined in detail in the Act.

The statute requires that the supporting scientific information satisfy specified reliability and peer-review standards and, in rules designed to protect human health, establish a “direct causal link” between exposure at or above the numeric limit and “manifest bodily harm” in humans.  “Manifest bodily harm” is defined as a presently existing and diagnosable physical disease or injury—not merely the detection of a substance in the body or an increased risk of disease.

The Act also provides that no agency shall be required to use EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) values as a default in developing numeric water quality criteria and requires conforming revisions within nine months where such defaults exist.

Regulatory Impact

For regulated entities, the Act meaningfully narrows the pathway for Alabama agencies like ADEM to adopt stricter environmental standards. In areas where EPA establishes numeric criteria, Alabama agencies are now constrained from going beyond those baselines. In areas where federal standards are absent, the statutory requirement of peer-reviewed, high-quality scientific evidence establishing a direct causal link to manifest bodily harm sets a high evidentiary threshold for new numeric limits. In practical terms, this raises the bar for agencies seeking to adopt new environmental standards where a federal rule does not exist.

Three implications merit close attention:

• The Act ties Alabama’s regulatory authority in covered areas directly to federal benchmarks. If the current federal administration succeeds in advancing a deregulatory agenda, those changes would constrain Alabama agencies’ ability to establish more stringent environmental standards, effectively lowering the regulatory ceiling.
• The Act is particularly significant for emerging contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), where federal standards are evolving or subject to change. Absent a federal benchmark, Alabama agencies must now meet a demanding evidentiary standard—including proof of a direct causal link to manifest bodily harm—before adopting numeric limits.
• The Act creates a defined scientific threshold that agencies must satisfy before adopting new numeric criteria. Those statutory requirements may provide a new basis for challenging future rulemakings that fail to meet the Act’s definition of “best available science.”

We are continuing to monitor implementation of the Act and are available to advise on how it may affect permitting, remediation, and litigation strategy. We encourage clients to reach out to us if they have questions.