Congress·In Committee·H.R. 7940

SAFE Pathways Act

Protecting Rivers: New Rules for Fish Ladders

4 months ago·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

The SAFE Pathways Act is currently in the early stages of the legislative process. It was recently sent to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce for review. There are no upcoming votes scheduled at this time.

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

Unlikely to pass

While the bill has support from both Republicans and Democrats, most individual bills do not become law unless they are added to a larger legislative package.

Key Points

This bill changes how the government builds paths for fish to get around dams. These paths, called fishways, are often built to help native fish swim upstream to lay eggs or find food.
Under this plan, federal officials must study whether a new fish path will accidentally let invasive species into new areas. Invasive species are animals that do not belong in a specific river and can cause serious harm to the local environment.
The Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the Interior must talk to state leaders before making a decision. This ensures that local experts have a say in protecting their own waters from outside threats.
This is important because some fish paths meant to help nature can actually cause problems by letting dangerous species spread. This bill aims to balance the need for fish movement with the need to stop invasive pests.

Impact Analysis

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

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Mar 16, 2026House

Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Mar 16, 2026

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Votes

No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.

News

No related news coverage found for this legislation yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

SAFE Pathways Act

Bill NumberHR 7940

Congress119th Congress

ChamberHouse of Representatives

Latest ActionReferred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(2)

D: 1R: 1

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.