Congressional Updates

Wastewater Action Alliance applauds the Senate Armed Services Committee for including a wastewater surveillance provision in the Senate’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), marking the latest step in advancing wastewater for infectious disease biosurveillance within the Department of Defense’s (DoD) preparedness efforts. If approved by both chambers, the bill would create a two-year pilot program for wastewater surveillance at the DoD to test for infectious diseases at no fewer than four military installations.

The measure also mandates the Secretary of Defense submit a report following the program’s conclusion summarizing findings, recommendations for interventions or policy changes and the program’s effectiveness in bolstering military health protection and readiness. This provision comes after the DoD released a report, as mandated by the FY2024 NDAA, detailing DoD’s wastewater surveillance efforts and its strategy to include wastewater in the Department’s infectious disease preparedness work.

Wastewater Action Alliance is encouraged by the Senate Appropriations Committee’s support for wastewater surveillance as a tool to enhance early detection and biosecurity. The committee’s Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations affirms the importance of “a wastewater surveillance system that can serve as a national early-warning system for infectious disease with broad geographic representation that strategically incorporates sites across the country to strengthen early detection and biosecurity and shares results publicly to help inform communities and protect Americans.” The report directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide details regarding the status of wastewater surveillance and recommendations regarding the funding required annually to create a national wastewater surveillance system for infectious diseases.