Ohio Senator Jon Husted voted on June 3, 2026 against taking up a resolution to restore the 2024 limits on mercury and other toxic air pollution from coal- and oil-fired power plants (roll call 135), which EPA had repealed in February. Mercury is a powerful neurotoxin that ends up in the water and soil, concentrating in fish. In August 2026 he voted against taking up a resolution to restore the deadline for chemical makers to report information regarding PFAS uses, production volumes, disposal, exposures, and hazards to EPA (roll call 222), and in 2025 he voted to repeal the rule that kept the largest sources of hazardous air pollution under the strictest controls.
Husted voted to confirm EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, whose agency proposed to rescind federal drinking-water limits for four "forever chemicals," and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose NOAA lab that warns Toledo and Cleveland of toxic algae in Lake Erie has lost 35 percent of its workforce since February 2025.
Jon Husted's Votes and Confirmations on Clean Water and Pollution
- Husted Voted Against Restoring Mercury Limits on Power Plants in June 2026. On June 3, 2026, Jon Husted voted no on taking up S.J.Res. 188, which would have overturned EPA's repeal of the 2024 mercury and air toxics standards; it failed 46-53. On Feb. 20, 2026, EPA finalized its repeal of the Biden administration standards regulating HAPs from coal- and oil-fired plants, returning to the 2012 standards, and mercury builds up in fish and is particularly dangerous for pregnant women and young children.
- Husted Voted Against Restoring the Deadline for Chemical Makers to Report PFAS in August 2026. On August 5, 2026, Husted voted no on taking up S.J.Res. 187, which would have overturned EPA's delay of the rule requiring manufacturers to report PFAS uses, production and disposal. It failed 48-50. The original submission period was scheduled to begin on November 12, 2024; EPA's 2026 rule starts the data submission period for the PFAS Reporting Rule on January 31, 2027 at the latest, more than two years late, so communities and regulators wait longer for data on where the chemicals are made and released.
- Husted Voted to Let Major Toxic Air Polluters Escape the Strictest Controls in May 2025. On May 1, 2025, Husted voted yes on S.J.Res. 31, which passed 52-46 and repealed EPA's 2024 "Once In Always In" rule. On June 20, 2025, Congress repealed the 2024 rule using the Congressional Review Act, so a major source can reclassify as an area source if it reduces its emissions below the threshold and leave the strictest federal controls behind.
- Husted Cast a Deciding Vote for the Law That Took Back Money for Cleaner Air at Schools and in Polluted Neighborhoods. On July 1, 2025, Husted voted yes on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed 50-50 with the Vice President's vote. The law rescinded unspent funds for environmental and climate justice block grants, for programs to address air pollution at schools, and for diesel emissions reductions from trucks, buses and port equipment.
- Husted Confirmed the EPA Administrator Who Proposed Dropping Limits on Forever Chemicals in Drinking Water and Delayed Coal Ash Rules. On January 29, 2025, Husted voted to confirm Lee Zeldin as EPA administrator. On May 18, 2026 his EPA proposed a rule that would rescind Biden-era regulations for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, and Hazard Index mixtures in drinking water and another to extend the compliance deadlines for the PFOA and PFOS Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for two years, to 2031; the proposals are not yet final. On Feb. 6, 2026, EPA announced a final rule to delay deadlines for coal ash, ash that contains many contaminants, including mercury and arsenic, and it extended deadlines for limits on power-plant wastewater, which carries arsenic, lead, mercury, selenium, chromium, and cadmium. Policy Integrity estimates the wastewater delay puts $2.2 billion a year in net benefits and 112 premature deaths a year at risk.
- Husted Confirmed the Commerce Secretary Whose NOAA Lab That Warns Ohio Cities of Toxic Algae Lost a Third of Its Staff. On February 18, 2025, Husted voted to confirm Howard Lutnick as Secretary of Commerce, which runs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. By May 2025 NOAA's Great Lakes lab has lost 35 percent of its workforce since February because of a hiring freeze, forced retirements and the firing of probationary staff, ProPublica reported, and NOAA's staffing cuts forced that agency to suspend its deployment of Environmental Sample Processors, devices that automatically collect and process Lake Erie water samples, for the rest of 2025.
What the Pollution Rollbacks Jon Husted Backed Mean for Ohio's Water and Air
- Lake Erie drinking water. Water departments in Cleveland and Toledo credit NOAA with helping prevent another drinking-water crisis like the 2014 algal bloom in Toledo, which led to a three-day advisory for nearly half a million residents not to drink or touch the tap water.
Frequently Asked Questions About Jon Husted on Clean water and pollution
What is Jon Husted's record on clean water and pollution under Trump?
Jon Husted voted against restoring the 2024 mercury limits on power plants and against restoring the deadline for chemical makers to report PFAS, and voted to repeal the rule keeping major toxic air polluters under the strictest controls. He voted to confirm EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, whose agency proposed to rescind drinking-water limits for four PFAS chemicals and delayed coal ash rules, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose NOAA lab that protects Ohio's Lake Erie drinking water lost 35 percent of its staff.
Did Jon Husted vote to protect drinking water from PFAS forever chemicals?
No. On August 5, 2026, Jon Husted voted no on taking up a resolution to restore the PFAS reporting deadline for manufacturers, which failed 48-50. The proposal by his confirmed EPA administrator to drop four drinking-water limits is still a proposal, and the 2024 limits remain on the books for now.
What do the NOAA cuts mean for Lake Erie and Toledo's water?
Jon Husted voted to confirm Howard Lutnick, whose department runs NOAA, and the NOAA Great Lakes lab that warns Toledo and Cleveland water plants of toxic algae lost 35 percent of its workforce in early 2025. The cuts also forced that agency to suspend its deployment of Environmental Sample Processors in Lake Erie for the rest of 2025.
Last updated: 2026-10-25