Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed new legislation into law last week that would greatly reduce the state’s ability to set new environmental regulations.

SB71, sponsored by Sen. Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva, restricts the state from setting environmental regulations on pollutants and other hazardous substances that are stricter than those set by the federal government. The law also stipulates, if no federal standard exists for a particular pollutant, then the state can only adopt new regulations if a “direct causal link” can be established between exposure to the pollutant and bodily harm.

The law, which greatly restricts the power of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, is meant to attract more big businesses to the state, according to Chesteen.

“If we’re going to be able to compete with states in the Southeast to attract and bring some of these businesses in, then we need to have these standards adopted so that it’s clearly defined what our companies are working with,” Chesteen told fellow legislators during discussion of the bill.

SB71 earned much Republican support in the legislature, passing the House 67-34 — despite a two-hour filibuster from House Democrats — and the Senate 27-7.

However, environmentalists around the state have raised concerns that the law will endanger Alabamians by preventing state agencies like ADEM from implementing regulations until harm has already been done. The bill requires that environmental regulations must be linked to demonstrated harms, rather than allowing the state to implement regulations based on the risk of endangerment.

“The bottom line is that our right to protect our and our family’s waters, health, and way of life through state law has been taken away. Big government and big business have conspired against the will of the people once again,” said Will Strickland, the director of Mobile Baykeeper, in a statement following SB71’s passage.

Alabama’s new law comes into effect as the federal government is decreasing environmental regulations under President Donald Trump’s administration. Earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency repealed its own 2009 findings that greenhouse gases endanger public health, greatly reducing the federal government’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, such as emissions from cars. 

Findings from the watchdog group the Environmental Integrity Project also show, under the Trump administration, the EPA initiated a record low number of enforcement actions against polluters in 2025. The agency only took 16 legal actions against polluters who were alleged to have broken federal regulations — a rate 81% lower than even during the first year of Trump’s first term in 2017.

Alabama top stories in brief

Two shootings damper Mardi Gras celebrations in Mobile

• Two shootings took place in downtown Mobile on Feb. 15, as Mardi Gras revelers gathered in the city to participate in the city’s Joe Cain Day celebrations.
• The first shooting did not result in any fatalities, but three victims with gunshot wounds were transported to the hospital from the crime scene, with several others arriving at hospitals via their own transportation with injuries. 
• The shooting took place despite the increased number of police officers, both on foot and horseback, that were in the area in conjunction with Mardi Gras events. 
• As of yet, a suspect or motive is yet to be established in the shooting.
• Additionally, minutes after the first shooting, another shooting occurred in a parking lot blocks away. In that shooting, a man attempted to rob another person leading to gunfire between two. The man attempting the robbery died from his gunshot wounds.

Alabama House Majority leader steps down; Paul Lee steps into role

• Alabama House Republicans elected Rep. Paul Lee, R-Dothan, to step into the role of House Majority leader after Rep. Scott Stadthagen, R-Hartselle, announced he was stepping down from the role last week. 
• Stadthagen announced his resignation from the role in a statement, saying that he would be focusing on running to become chair of the Alabama Republican Party.
• Lee, who has served in the House since 2010, also currently chairs the Alabama House Health Committee.

State health officials brace for measles in Alabama

• State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said at a meeting of the Alabama Department of Public Health last week that the agency is bracing for a measles outbreak in the state. 
• So far this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported nearly 1,000 confirmed cases of measles. Two-thirds of these cases stem from an outbreak in South Carolina, with infections radiating out from this cluster into other Southern states like Tennnesee, North Carolina and Georgia. Another outbreak has emerged in Florida, as well.
• “We fully expect that we’re going to see it,” Harris said. Harris also said the ADPH is preparing for measles cases in the state by sending out information to health providers across the state so that they can better recognize and spot the disease. 
• Harris also said the state has the ability to test for measles, rather than having to send tests to out-of-state labs for confirmation, decreasing turn-around time for diagnoses.

Tensions rise at state education board over new social studies textbooks

• At an Alabama State Board of Education meeting last week, board members discussed a long-delayed decision on adopting new state social studies textbooks. 
• Alabama has not updated its social studies textbooks since 2013. The state board of education was given recommendations from the Alabama State Textbook Committee on how to update textbooks last October, and the board was supposed to vote on their recommendations in November. However, the vote was delayed because of concerns from Republican board members over the textbooks’ content.
• During last week’s meeting Alabama State Schools Superintendent Eric Mackey gave the board four options on how to move forward: vote on the October recommendations, amend the report, vote on individual sections of the report or delay a decision until 2027.
• Some board members expressed frustration with the vote being delayed in the first place, such as Democratic board member Tonya Chestnut, who said, “There is no reason (for delaying the vote), and I truly, honestly feel like it’s political.”
• Other members still expressed concerns over the content of the proposed textbooks, such as Republican board member and BOE President Pro Tempore Kelly Mooney, who said the textbooks didn’t reflect “the values of Alabama.”
• The board is slated to vote on the issue in March.

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