Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts 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limits on mercury and other toxic air pollution from coal- and oil-fired power plants (roll call 135), which EPA had repealed in February.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.
Ricketts 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 Great Lakes water plants of toxic algae has lost 35 percent of its workforce since February 2025.
Pete Ricketts's Votes and Confirmations on Clean Water and Pollution
- Ricketts Voted Against Restoring Mercury Limits on Power Plants in June 2026. On June 3, 2026, Pete Ricketts 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.
- Ricketts Voted Against Restoring the Deadline for Chemical Makers to Report PFAS in August 2026. On August 5, 2026, Ricketts 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, or 60 days after the rule takes effect, more than two years after the original start, so communities and regulators wait longer for data on where the chemicals are made and released.
- Ricketts Voted to Let Major Toxic Air Polluters Escape the Strictest Controls in May 2025. On May 1, 2025, Ricketts voted yes on S.J.Res. 31, which passed 52-46 and repealed EPA's 2024 "Once In Always In" rule. On June 20, 2025, Congress repealed the 2024 rule using the Congressional Review Act, so a major source can reclassify as an area source if it reduces its emissions below the threshold and leave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.
- Ricketts Cast a Deciding Vote for the Law That Took Back Money for Cleaner Air at Schools and in Polluted Neighborhoods. On July 1, 2025, Ricketts 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.
- Ricketts Confirmed the EPA Administrator Who Proposed Dropping Limits on Forever Chemicals in Drinking Water and Delayed Coal Ash Rules. On January 29, 2025, Ricketts 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.
- Ricketts Confirmed the Commerce Secretary Whose NOAA Lab That Warns Lake Erie Cities of Toxic Algae Lost a Third of Its Staff. On February 18, 2025, Ricketts 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 Pete Ricketts Backed Mean for Nebraska's Water and Air
- Coal plants and health costs. Energy Innovation projects that ending clean-power credits and rescinding EPA power plant rules will keep coal generation in Nebraska online longer, and that the added pollution from federal energy policy changes will raise Nebraska’s healthcare costs by $380 million from 2026 to 2040.
Frequently Asked Questions About Pete Ricketts on Clean water and pollution
What is Pete Ricketts's record on clean water and pollution under Trump?
Pete Ricketts 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 Lake Erie drinking water lost 35 percent of its staff.
Did Pete Ricketts vote to protect drinking water from PFAS forever chemicals?
No. On August 5, 2026, Pete Ricketts 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.
Did Pete Ricketts vote to restore mercury limits on power plants?
No. On June 3, 2026, Pete Ricketts voted no on taking up a resolution to overturn EPA's repeal of the 2024 mercury and air toxics standards for coal- and oil-fired power plants, and it failed 46-53. Energy Innovation expects coal generation in Nebraska to stay online longer under current federal policy, and mercury is a powerful neurotoxin that ends up in the water and soil, Harvard's Environmental and Energy Law Program notes.
Last updated: 2026-10-25