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
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
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
Regulatory Activity Greenhouse Gas Pursuant to President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will soon propose to prohibit certain chemicals contributing to emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a class of greenhouse gases. According to EPA, the “proposed action would change the status of certain high-global warming potential (GWP) HFCs that were previously listed … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Flood Repairs in Colorado The short-term continuing resolution (CR) passed by Congress will allow “the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to use up to $450 million of funds previously appropriated to the Highway Emergency Relief program to pay for repairs after recent flooding in the State of Colorado.” The provision does not, however, provide … Continue Reading