What happened: Last week the Senate passed a landmark piece of legislation – the Great American Outdoors Act. Under the legislation, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) would be permanently and fully funded at $900 million annually rather than funding levels being determined by the congressional appropriations process each year. What is next: The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Revival of the Comprehensive Energy Bill Last week, by unanimous consent, the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced 11 bills governing energy infrastructure and efficiency. The bills address a range of issues including: skill preparation for energy-related jobs; improvement to hydroelectric licensing; retrofits for schools; increasing energy and water efficiency for federal facilities … Continue Reading
Regulatory Activity Department of Energy Cutting Energy Development Regulations This follows our earlier report highlighting the Trump Administration’s recent memo with specifics as to how the President expects agencies to carry out his previously issued energy Executive Order (EO) 13783 – “Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth”. EO 13783 directs agencies to identify regulations that would … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity This week on Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, will hold a hearing titled “Making Implementation of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Ground-Level Ozone Attainable: Legislative Hearing on S.263 and S.452.” The NAAQs have been highly controversial since their … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity New Guidance Clarifying Energy Executive Order Last week, just four days before federal agencies’ initial plans were due to OMB, the White House issued a memo updating with more specifics as to how President Trump expects agencies to carry out his previously issued energy executive order (Executive Order 13783, “Promoting Energy Independence and … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity Next OCS Developments Last Friday, President Trump signed an executive order (EO) directing the Department of the Interior to review and potentially rewrite the Obama Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Final Program for the years 2017 to 2022 to include provisions for oil and gas development in the Arctic and … Continue Reading
Regulatory Activity WOTUS Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicated its plans to solicit comments by June 19 as to how the agency should rewrite the “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) rule following President Trump’s February 28 executive order (EO) directing the agency to revise the contentious Obama Administration rule. Following the EO, EPA … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Energy Infrastructure Moving forward with her previously announced effort to write draft legislation to address energy infrastructure for the larger anticipated infrastructure bill, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) will hold a hearing on Tuesday, April 4 to consider methods to protect the electricity grid and associated energy … Continue Reading
Executive Action USDA Secretary-Nominee Perdue Confirms Support for RFS During last week’s Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry’s confirmation hearing for former Governor Sonny Perdue to become Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), lawmakers questioned Perdue on his support for various programs affecting the agricultural sector, rural communities, and conservation efforts. Of … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity EPA, DOE, Interior, and Water 2018 Budgets Cut in President Trump’s Request to Congress EPA: President Donald Trump’s FY 2018 budget request, which was released last week, included a significant 31.4 percent decrease for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), from the current funding level of $8.2 billion to $5.7 billion. This represents the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Resolution Repealing BLM’s Planning 2.0 Rule Sent to the President Last week, the Senate passed H. J. Res 44, using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), to rescind the Bureau of Land Management’s Resource Management Planning rule, known as the BLM Planning 2.0 Rule, by a vote of 51-48. The House passed the resolution … Continue Reading
Executive Action Waters of the US On Tuesday, February 28, President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to revise or rescind the Obama Administration’s controversial “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) rule which defines the scope of the federal government’s regulatory … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cabinet Update The Senate is expected to continue voting on President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees. A floor vote for the confirmation of Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) to serve as the Secretary of the Department of the Interior is expected to take place this week. The Senate is scheduled to proceed to a cloture … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate May Move on Nominees In addition to taking up the methane flaring measure under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), the Senate could potentially vote on the nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General, Scott Pruitt, to serve as EPA Administrator. With the Senate calendar being quite full, the Senate might note vote this week on the nominations … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Nomination Proceedings The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has advanced the nominations of Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) to be Secretary of Interior and Governor Rick Perry to be Secretary of Energy. Notwithstanding the boycott by the Democratic members of the committee, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee advanced the nomination of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Nomination Proceedings The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has scheduled votes for Tuesday, January 31 beginning at 9:30am on the nominations of Rep.Ryan Zinke (R-MT) for Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Governor Rick Perry for Secretary of the Department of Energy. Also at that meeting, subcommittee assignments and jurisdictional … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity On Monday, President Trump is expected to begin signing executive orders intended to roll back some of President Obama’s actions to protect the environment. Early anticipated orders could include ones that would: (1) remove the public lands coal leasing moratorium; and (2) revoke CEQ’s guidance to agencies that recommends climate change and greenhouse … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cabinet Secretary Selections and Confirmation Hearings (Energy, Interior and EPA) President-Elect Trump has selected former Republican Texas Governor Rick Perry as his nominee to lead the Department of Energy; current Representative Ryan Zinke (R-MT) for Secretary of the Department of Interior; and Oklahoma Attorney General, Scott Pruitt, to be Administrator of the Environmental Protection … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Potential Energy Legislation After the House proposed a narrow version of the energy bill to the Senate, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) proposed a broader bill once again. After a meeting last week with House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT), Chairman Murkowski appeared confident she will get a … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity New Congress As a result of the November 8 elections, we will have a new Administration and Congress taking office on January 20, 2017. For a comprehensive view of what to expect for the energy, environment and natural resources community, click here for our 2016 Post-Election Analysis. WOTUS Also on Tuesday, November 8, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity WRDA The House is expected this week to take up H.R. 5303, the “Water Resources Development Act of 2016” (WRDA). The Senate recently passed its version of the bill, S. 2848, on September 15. Unlike the Senate, the House legislation does not include funding for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure or for emergency … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Passes WRDA Bill with Funding for Flint Last week, the Senate passed its version of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) (S. 2848) by a vote of 95-3. The $10.6 billion bill would authorize projects to be carried out by the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to address navigation, flood protection and … Continue Reading
Legislative Action Comprehensive Energy Bill Conferees met on last week on Thursday for the opening session to consider energy legislation, S. 2012, the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act of 2016. If passed, the bill would be the first piece of comprehensive energy legislation to emerge from Congress in almost a decade. The mood … Continue Reading
Legislative Action Comprehensive Energy Bill While leadership continues its discussion, it is possible that the Senate may consider a vote to proceed to conference on the comprehensive House and Senate Energy bills before July 15. Should a vote for conference succeed, Senate conferees would need to be selected and conference would not begin until after … Continue Reading