Environmental Health Workforce Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill aims to rebuild the environmental health workforce after losing more than 50,000 jobs since 2008. These workers are responsible for checking for hazards in the environment and enforcing safety rules to protect the public.
• The plan would make full-time environmental health workers eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. This means workers who stay in public service for 10 years could have their remaining federal student loans cancelled.
• The Department of Health and Human Services would create new national standards for training and certifying these workers. Currently, only 27 states require workers to have professional credentials to prove they have the right skills.
• Government officials would be required to study different states to see which training methods work best. They would look at what kind of education workers have and how often they need to take new classes to keep their skills current.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.