Tag: congress

NWF Legislative Update: December 13 – 17, 2021

Check here for the 2021 Senate Calendar
Check here for the 2021 House Calendar

Upcoming Congressional Hearings  

  • Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
    • Wednesday, December 15, 2021 at 10am EST: Executive Session to consider a series of measures and nominations, including S. 46, the Restoring Resilient Reefs Act, and S. 3309, to Secure Semiconductor Supply Full list of items for consideration here.
    • Thursday, December 16, 2021 at 10am EST: Hearing to consider the following nominations: Ann Claire Phillips to be Administrator of the Maritime Administration; Steven Scott Cliff to be Administration of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and John Edward Putnam to be General Counsel of the Department of Transportation.
  • Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
  • Committee on House Administration

Congressional News 

  • Last week, the House passed two NWF-supported bills: R. 5608, the Indian Buffalo Management Act and H.R. 2074, the Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act. Both bills will require further action in the Senate, where the Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act has not yet been introduced. Click here for NWF’s press release on the Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act, and here for the press release on the Indian Buffalo Management Act.
  • Last week, Congress passed and the President signed legislation creating a single-use, fast-track procedure for raising the Debt Ceiling, a major item on Congress’ end-of-year to-do list. The measure allows the Senate to pass a debt ceiling bill on a simple majority, without the two-thirds vote threshold typically required to end debate on legislation and move to a final vote. Legislation to actually raise the debt ceiling is expected in the House this
  • Last week, NWF CEO Collin O’Mara testified in support of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on the bill. Collin and the other witnesses fielded questions on the bill from the Senators in attendance, who demonstrated broad support for this NWF Click here for the NWF press release on the hearing, and here for the Committee’s website, where you can access a recording of the hearing, and copies of the written testimony from each witness.

Administrative News  

  • Last week, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) released its Fall 2021 Unified Action Plan for upcoming regulatory In the plan, the administration outlines its intent to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, improve safety and emissions standards for pipelines, restrict the use of Hydrofluorocarbons, encourage automakers to reduce emissions from vehicles and transition fleets to zero-emissions technologies, and more. You can read the White House statement on the plan here and view OIRA’s materials related to the plan here.
  • See here for additional White House resources, including a comprehensive list of Executive orders to address COVID, the climate crisis, and environmental justice, among other topics.

What’s Happening This Week 

  • The House and Senate are both in session this week.
  • The House has a short agenda, and is expected to introduce and quickly pass legislation to raise the Debt Ceiling. The debt ceiling legislation is expected to put off additional action on the federal government’s debt obligation until after the 2022 elections in
  • The Senate will work on confirming judiciary nominees, and will also take up consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act compromise, which passed the House last week.
    • Senate committees will continue meetings with the Senate Parliamentarian to review provisions of the Build Back Better Act and ensure that the legislation abides by the rules of the Budget Reconciliation process. This week’s meetings will likely include challenges from the minority to certain provisions in the bill. The majority may defend provisions’ inclusion, and the parliamentarian will begin issuing rulings for items that cannot proceed under the reconciliation
  • NWF continues to work to advance our priorities on Capitol Hill, so please feel free to share NWF’s 117th Congress National Policy Agenda.

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D.C. Legislative Update: Sept 20-24, 2021

Check here for the 2021 Senate Calendar
Check here for the 2021 House Calendar

Upcoming Congressional Hearings 

  • House Foreign Affairs Committee
  • Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
    • Tuesday, September 21 at 10am EST: “Full Committee Hearing to Consider Pending Nominations” including Laura Daniel-Davis to be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior (Land and Minerals Management), Camille C. Touton to be Commissioner of Reclamation, and Sara Bronin to be Chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
  • Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
    • Tuesday, September 21 at 3pm EST: Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade, and Export Promotion hearing on “Legislative Solutions to Revive Travel and Tourism and Create Jobs.”
  • Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
    • Wednesday, September 22 at 9:30am EST: “Business meeting to consider several of President Biden’s nominees, legislation to rename federal buildings, and several General Services Administration resolutions. Immediately following, the committee will hold a hearing on the importance of promoting a circular economy.”
  • Senate Finance Committee
    • Wednesday, September 22 at 10am EST: “Hearing to Consider the Nominations of Christi A. Grimm, of Colorado, to be Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services and Neil Harvey MacBride, of Virginia, to be General Counsel for the Department of the Treasury”
  • Senate Judiciary Committee
  • House energy and Commerce Committee
  • House Agriculture Committee
  • House Science, Space, and Technology Committee
    • Thursday, September 23 at 10am EST: Subcommittee on Environment hearing on “Advancing Earth System Science and Stewardship at ” This hearing will feature witness testimony from the Honorable Richard W. Spinrad, Ph.D., Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
  • Senate Homeland Security Committee

Congressional News  

  • Last week, components of the Build Back Better Act (budget reconciliation) bill passed out of the Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees. See here for NWF’s press release on passage through Ways and Means outlining support of the committee’s work to strengthen clean energy and technology. Additionally, see here for NWF’s tweet in support of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s work on the Build Back Better Act to advance climate action.
  • NWF sent this letter to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in support of Laura Daniel Davis’ nomination to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Lands and Minerals Management. Davis, NWF’s former s Chief of Policy and Advocacy, brings the leadership, skills, and experience needed for the role, and NWF supports her swift confirmation.

Administrative News  

  • Last week, NWF sent out a statement urging Congress to pursue needed and overdue reforms to the National Flood Insurance See here for NWF’s press release.
  • See here for White House resources, including a comprehensive list of Executive orders to address COVID, the climate crisis, and environmental justice, among other topics.

What’s Happening This Week  

  • Both chambers are in session this week. The House is expected to focused on a C.R. for FY2022 – to keep the government funded past the September 30 deadline and into, likely, December, 2021 – as well as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
  • The Senate is expected to work on judicial nominations this In addition, we are expecting this week a cloture and full Senate vote on the nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning for Director of the Bureau of Land Management.
  • As Congress continues to work to advance budget reconciliation, infrastructure, and appropriations, please feel free to share NWF’s 117th Congress National Policy Agenda.

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DC Legislative Update: July 26-30, 2021

DC Legislative Update: JULY 26 – 30, 2021

Check here for the 2021 Senate Calendar
Check here for the 2021 House Calendar

Upcoming Congressional Hearings 

  • Senate Agriculture Committee
    • Monday, July 26 at 5:30pm EST: Business Meeting “To vote on the nomination of Jennifer Moffitt, of California, to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs.”
    • Thursday, July 29 at 10am EST: “To consider the following nominations: Xochitl Torres Small to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development and Robert Bonnie to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation.”
  • House Financial Services Committee
    • Tuesday, July 27 at 2pm EST: Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance hearing on “NAHASDA Reauthorization: Addressing Historic Disinvestment and the Ongoing Plight of the Freedmen in Native American ”
  • Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
    • Tuesday, July 27 at 10am EST: “Hearing to Examine the President’s FY 2022 Budget Request for the Department of the ” This hearing will feature Secretary Haaland. Secretary of the US Department of the Interior.
    • Wednesday, July 28 at 10am EST: “National Parks Subcommittee Hearing to review the impacts of overcrowding in our national parks on park resources and visitor experiences, and to consider strategic approaches to visitor use management.”
  • Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
    • Tuesday, July 27 at 10am EST: “Pipeline Cybersecurity: Protecting Critical ”
    • Wednesday, July 28 at 10am EST: Nominations hearing “to consider the presidential nominations of Alexander Hoehn-Saric to be a Commissioner and Chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC); Mary Boyle to be a Commissioner of the CPSC; Richard Trumka, Jr. to be a Commissioner of the CPSC; and Grant Harris to be Assistant Secretary for Industry and Analysis at the Department of Commerce.”
  • House Agriculture Committee
  • House Natural Resources Committee
    • Tuesday, July 27 at 10am EST: Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources hearing on “The Toxic Legacy of the Mining Law of 1872”
    • Thursday, July 29 at 10am EST: Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife “Hybrid Legislative Hearing” on over a dozen wildlife and fisheries bills, including the Recovering America’s Wildlife ” This hearing will feature testimony on the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act from NWF’s own Collin O’Mara. This is going to be a fantastic opportunity to educate new committee members about the bill, discuss the ever-growing coalition of supporters, and emphasize the urgency of advancing the bill this year. The committee will also be looking at other important bills we support, including the MONARCH Act, the Extinction Prevention Act, and the Safeguarding America’s Future Act.
  • House Oversight and Reform Committee
  • House Judiciary Committee
    • Tuesday, July 27 at 2:30pm EST: Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties hearing on “The Need to Enhance the Voting Rights Act: Practice-Based ”
  • Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
    • Wednesday, July 28 at 10am EST: “Examining the Benefits of Investing in USACE Water Infrastructure Projects.” This hearing will include testimony from NWF’s own Collin O’Mara. This is the committee’s kickoff for developing the next Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) bill, which has enormous implications for natural infrastructure, environmental justice, freshwater species, ecosystem restoration, and potential risks associated with dredging and navigation You can watch the hearing here.
    • Thursday, July 29 at 10am EST: “Hearing on the Nominations of Stephen Owens, Jennifer Beth Sass, and Sylvia E. Johnson to be members of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigations Board.”
  • Senate Judiciary Committee
  • House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
  • House Science, Space, and Transportation Committee
    • Thursday, July 29 at 10am EST: Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics hearing on “Enabling Mission Success from the Group Up: Addressing NASA’s Urgent Infrastructure ”
  • House Transportation Committee
  • House Foreign Affairs Committee
    • Thursday, July 29 at 1pm EST: Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment and Cyber hearing on “Renewable Energy Transition: A Case Study of How International Collaboration on Offshore Wind Technology Benefits American Workers.”

Congressional News 

  • Senators Heinrich [D-NM] and Blunt [R-MO] introduced the bipartisan “Recovering America’s Wildlife Act” to “dedicate $1.4 billion annually to proactive, voluntary, locally-led efforts to recover thousands of at-risk wildlife species, while creating jobs and ensuring US outdoor heritage endures for future ” See NWF’s press release here and more on the bill here.
  • Last week, the House passed the bipartisan “PFAS Action Act,” introduced by Reps. Dingell [D-MI] and Upton [R-MI], that would address the contamination and cleanup of dangerous chemicals that endanger the health of humans and See NWF’s press release here.
  • Last week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted on the nomination of NWF’s own Tracy Stone-Manning for Director of the Bureau of Land Management. She received a 10-10 vote, meaning the Senate will next take up a vote to discharge her nomination from committee.
  • Senator Casey [D-PA] introduced legislation to create a “21st-century Civilian Conservation Corps to address the environmental and economic crises facing American communities. The bill establishes a Civilian Conservation Corps that partners with state and federal agencies, NGOs, and local partners to create on-the-ground conservation projects that conserve and restore public lands as well as private working lands, including conservation projects on farms as well as restoration of abandoned mines and contaminated lands. The bill would also ensure the programs create good paying jobs and job training for future employment, particularly in frontline ” See NWF’s press release here.
  • In previous weeks, Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee agreed to a $3.5 trillion top-line spending level to address President Biden’s priorities, laid out in the American Families Plan and American Jobs We expect movement on the budget resolution in the coming weeks.v

Administrative News 

  • See here for White House resources, including a comprehensive list of Executive orders to address COVID, the climate crisis, and environmental justice, among other topics.

What’s Happening This Week 

  • The Senate is beginning the week with a focus on nominations, including the nomination of Todd Sunhwae Kim to head the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, as members continue to try to work out a bipartisan infrastructure agreement.
  • The House is considering an appropriations minibus package, H.R. 4502, which includes seven of the twelve appropriations bills including Agriculture, Energy-Water, Interior-Environment, and We expect floor consideration later this week.
  • The July convening of the Clean Economy Coalition of Color will occur on Wednesday, July 28 from 6- 7:30pm EST. This convening will revolve around “ways that federal investment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs and businesses can ensure every community doesn’t just survive, but thrive in a clean energy future.” Register here to attend.
  • As Congress continues to work on appropriations and budget reconciliation, NWF will continue to advocate for organizational See NWF’s 117th Congress National Policy Agenda for more.

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DC Legislative Update April 19-23, 2021

 

NWF Legislative Update April 19-23, 2021

Check here for the 2021 Senate Calendar
Check here for the 2021 House Calendar

Congressional Hearings 

  • House Appropriations Committee
    • Tuesday, April 20 at 10am EST: Subcommittee on Interior, Environment hearing on the “Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Request for the Department of the Interior.”
  • Tuesday, April 20 at 10am EST: Subcommittee on Labor, Human Health, Education hearing on “Building Capacity, Building Community: Increasing Investments in Community Colleges.”
  • Wednesday, April 21 at 10am EST: Subcommittee on Interior, Environment hearing on the “Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Request for the Environmental Protection Agency.”
  • Wednesday, April 21 at 2pm EST: Subcommittee on Transportation, House and Urban Development hearing on “Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Request for the Department of Housing and Urban ”
  • House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
    • Tuesday, April 20 at 12pm EST: Hearing on “Making the Case for Climate Action: Creating New Jobs and Catalyzing Economic Growth.”
  • House Natural Resources Committee
    • Tuesday, April 20 at 2:30pm EST: Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources hearing, “Building Back Better: Reducing Pollution and Creating Jobs Through Offshore Wind.”
  • Senate Appropriations Committee
    • Tuesday, April 20 at 10:30am EST: “Hearings to examine the American Jobs Plan, focusing on infrastructure, climate change, and investing in our nation’s ”
  • House Appropriations Committee
    • Tuesday, April 20 at 10:30am EST: Hearing on “The American Jobs Plan: Infrastructure, Climate Change, and Investing in Our Nation’s ”
      • Witnesses include Buttigieg, Secretary of Transportation, Regan, Administrator of the EPA, Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, and Fudge, Secretary of HUD
    • Wednesday, April 21 at 2pm EST: Subcommittee hearing on “Fiscal Year 2022 Budget ”
  • House Foreign Affairs Committee
    • Tuesday, April 20 at 2pm EST: Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment and Cyber hearing on “Restoration of the Transatlantic Dialogue: The Global Fight Against Climate Change.”
  • Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
    • Wednesday, April 21 at 10am EST: Hearing to “consider the presidential nominations of Bill Nelson to be National Aeronautics and Space Administration Administrator and Lina Khan to be a Commissioner of the Federal Trade ”
  • House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
    • Wednesday, April 21 at 11am EST: Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment hearing on “Sustainable Wastewater Infrastructure: Measures to Promote Resiliency and Climate Adaptation and ”
  • Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
    • Wednesday, April 21: Meeting to consider the nominations of Julie Su for Deputy Secretary of Labor, Cynthia Marten for Deputy Secretary of Education and James Kvaal for Undersecretary of
  • Senate Agriculture Committee

Congressional News 

  • On April 14, the Senate, in a bipartisan vote of 53-45, confirmed Brenda Mallory to serve as Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. Mallory’s confirmation will ensure CEQ prioritizes environmental justice, climate, and policies that support people and wildlife. See NWF’s press release here.
  • Last week, Senators Luján (D-N.M.) and Cramer (R-N.D.) introduced the Revive Economic Growth and Reclaim Orphaned Wells (REGROW) Act of 2021. The bill focuses on clean-up of orphaned oil and gas wells and is a focus of NWF’s Public Land’s fly-in. See NWF’s press release here.

Administrative News  

  • On April 15, NWF and 15,000 members submitted public comments to the Department of Interior in response to their request for information on needs to reform the US oil and gas leasing system. See NWF’s press release here for more on the submission.
  • On April 16, Secretary Haaland issued secretarial orders to ensure widespread, improved management of public lands with a focus on climate Read NWF’s press release here.
  • The Administration released initial information about the President’s fiscal year 2022 discretionary budget request with specific provisions to highlight the all-of-government approach to climate change and related issues. The full budget request is expected later this spring. See the White House’s notice here.
  • See here for President Biden’s comprehensive list of Executive orders to address COVID, the climate crisis, and environmental justice, among other topics.

What’s happening this week? 

  • On Monday, President Biden is expected to meet with a bipartisan and bicameral group of Senators and Representatives, all former Governors and Mayors, to discuss the American Jobs Plan. NWF is working with Members and their staff to conduct virtual meetings, emphasizing recommendations from our Restoration and Resilience report – located here and in our press release here,
  • This week, the Senate is expected to consider and vote on the nomination of Lisa Monaco for Deputy Attorney General and the nomination of Gary Gensler to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
  • The Senate is expected to vote this week on The Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted unanimously last week to report the bill out of committee, see here for their press release.
  • Last Monday, the National Wildlife Federation, Atlantic Council Global Energy Center, and Reimagine Appalachia hosted a successful congressional briefing to discuss the role of climate infrastructure investments in Appalachia. Watch the briefing here.
  • NWF’s Public Lands team is continuing their virtual fly-in, hosting staff and affiliates in meetings with Members and their staff to discuss legislative and restoration and resilience priorities as part of upcoming legislation and larger infrastructure packages.

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