After the dramatic passage of health care reform in the House late Sunday night and the expected passage of the reconciliation package in the Senate, Congress’s flurry of activity will end with next week’s Spring Recess.  Senators Lieberman, Kerry and Graham are still on track to release a draft of their climate change and energy independence legislation when Congress returns, and they may outline some of the more high-profile pieces of the legislation this week. Between the health care reform endgame and the completion of most budget testimony, the committees are relatively quiet this week.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a nominations hearing for Sharon E. Burke as Director of Operations Energy Plans and Programs. The hearing will be held at 9:30 a.m. in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building.

The Subcommittee of Energy and Commerce will hold a hearing entitled “Oversight of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,” where FERC will update the committee on significant changes they have made since the 2005 Energy Policy Act. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing at 10:00 a.m. in Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building in regard to loan guarantees for nuclear power plants.

The Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing tomorrow to discuss the Obama Administration’s FY2011 budget for the Office of Nuclear Energy. The hearing will be held at 2:00 p.m. in Room 2362-B of the Rayburn House Office Building. The witness is Warren Miller Jr., assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the Department of Energy.

A hearing is scheduled by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to vote on the nomination of Jeffrey Lane to serve as assistant secretary for congressional and intergovernmental affairs at the Department of Energy. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Energy Secretary Steven Chu will meet before the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee to discuss the Obama Administration’s FY2011 budget where he will more than likely defend the closure of Yucca Mountain nuclear repository. The hearing will be held at 2:00 p.m. in Room 2359 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a hearing to vote on an oceans and health bill, which will revamp a research plan with a new focus on global climate change. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

The House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee will hold a hearing at 1:30 p.m. in Room 2118 of the House Rayburn Office Building to discuss the FY2011 National Defense Authorization Budget Request for the Department of Energy’s atomic energy defense activities. Witnesses include Thomas D’Agostino, undersecretary for nuclear security and administrator for the Department of Energy; John Mansfield, acting chairman of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board; and Inés Triay, assistant secretary for environmental management for the Department of Energy.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee will hold a hearing at 10:00 a.m. in Room 1324 of the Longworth House Office Building to discuss various organizations’ FY2011 budget requests. The budget requests currently under question, leave unclear reasoning whether they will promote or prevent energy production

For further information about this topic, please contact Akin Gump.

The end game on health care reform looms this week.  This past weekend, Sen. Lindsay Graham, the leading Republican engaged in climate change policy, reiterated his belief that bitterness resulting from the reconciliation process on health care made him hesitant about the chances of his “tri-partisan” energy bill.  Still, there continues to be hope that Sens. Graham, Kerry and Lieberman, will release an outline of their proposal before Congress adjourns for the Easter/Passover recess.

This week, the Senate will take up the nominations of various NOAA nominees and the Assistant Secretary of Energy for legislative affairs.  Meanwhile, the House, while waiting for the reconciliation vote, will continue to hold hearing on the President’s energy budget.  The Energy and Water Subcommittee of Appropriations will hear from Assistant Secretary of Energy for energy efficiency and renewable energy Cathy Zoi and Undersecretary of Energy Kristina Johnson on DOE’s energy efficiency budget.  The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing in the Energy and Environment Subcommittee on the HomeStar Program-otherwise known as “Cash for Caulkers.”  Later in the week the Energy and Water Subcommittee will again hear from DOE on its advanced energy programs.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The House Subcommittee on Investigations & Oversight will hold a hearing on investigating rare earth metals and minerals which are used in many energy technologies.  This hearing will likely cover the research and development opportunities to improve the extract techniques for certain minerals found in the earth’s core. The hearing will be held at 2:00 p.m. in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witnesses include Stephen Freiman, president, Freiman Consulting; Karl Gschneider Jr., materials science and engineering professor, Iowa State University; Steven Duclos, chief scientist and manager of material sustainability, General Electric Global Research; Mark Smith, CEO, Molycorp Minerals; and Terence Stewart, managing partner, Stewart and Stewart.

The Senate Water and Power Subcommittee will hold a hearing at 10:00 a.m. in Room 355 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in regards to the Bureau of Reclamation’s study on water usage in the West and how climate change may effect future water supplies. Witnesses include Commissioner Mike Connor, Bureau of Reclamation; Melinda Kassen, director of the Western Water Project for Trout Unlimited, Boulder, Colo.; Dan Keppen, executive director, Family Farm Alliance, Klamath Falls, Ore.; Pat Mulroy, general manager, Southern Nevada Water Authority (representing the Colorado River Basin states), Las Vegas; and Tony Pack, general manager, Eastern Municipal Water District, Perris, Calif.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco will appear before the House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee to review the FY2011 budget. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room H-309 of the Capitol.

The House Committee of Science and Technology will hold a hearing entitled “The Future of Manufacturing: What is the Role of the Federal Government in Supporting Innovation by U.S. Manufacturers?” This hearing’s discussions will include the need for greater research in emerging technologies, such as nanotechnology. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witnesses include Susan Smyth, director of GM’s Manufacturing Systems Research, GM R&D, and chief scientist for manufacturing; Len Sauers, vice president of global sustainability at Procter & Gamble; Debtosh Chakrabarti, president and chief operating officer, PMC Group Inc.; Mark Tuominen, director of National Nanomanufacturing Network; and Wayne Crews, vice president for policy and director of technology studies for Competitive Enterprise Institute.

The House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Department of Energy’s FY2011 Budget focusing on energy efficiency, renewable energy, fossil energy, electricity delivery and energy reliability. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 2362-B of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witnesses include Kristina Johnson, undersecretary of Energy; Cathy Zoi, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy; James Markowsky, assistant secretary for fossil energy; and Patricia Hoffman, director, electricity delivery and energy reliability.

The House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing at 3:00 p.m. in Room B308 of the Rayburn House Office Building to discuss the FY2011 budget for the Fish and Wildlife Service, which invests heavily into climate change research and decreases in traditional endangered species programs. Witnesses include Rowan Gould, acting director, Fish and Wildlife Service and Thomas Strickland, assistant Interior secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a nominations hearing to discuss President Obama’s nominee, Jeffrey Lane, as the Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for congressional and intergovernmental affairs. The hearing will be held at 9:30 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

The House Committee of Energy and Commerce will hold a hearing entitled, “HomeStar: Job Creation Through Home Energy Retrofits.” The hearing will be at 9:30 a.m. in Room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

The House Energy and Water Development Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the FY2011 budget for the Department of Energy’s research funding and ARPA-E requests. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 2362-B of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witnesses include Steven Koonin, under secretary for science, DOE; William Brinkman, director, DOE’s Office of Science; and Arun Majumdar, director, ARPA-E.

The House Committee of Science and Technology will hold a hearing entitled “Geoengineering III: Domestic and International Research Governance.” The hearing will be held at 12:00 p.m. in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witnesses include Phil Willis, chairman, Science and Technology Committee, U.K. House of Commons; Frank Rusco, director of natural resources and the environment, Government Accountability Office; Granger Morgan, engineering professor and department head, Carnegie Mellon University; Scott Barrett, natural resource economics professor, Columbia University; and Jane Long, principal associate director at large, Lawrence Livermore National Lab.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a nominations hearing at 10:00 a.m. in Room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. The nominees to oversee ocean policy at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are Robert Papp Jr., nominee for commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard; Larry Robinson, nominee for assistant secretary of Commerce for oceans and atmosphere; Earl Weener, nominee to be a member of the National Transportation Safety Board; Michael Tillman and Daryl Boness, nominees to be members of the Marine Mammal Commission; and Jeffrey Moreland, nominee to be a director of Amtrak.

For further information about this topic, please contact Akin Gump.

 Again this week, Congress will be focused on the attempt to pass a health care bill, but will also devote time to preparations for passing a budget and the yearly appropriations bills.  While the news media will be focused on the former, the action in Congress will be a parade of Administration officials testifying before Committees about their budgetary needs.  Climate change will likely be discussed in the Science and Technology committee where NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco will be testifying on NOAA’s plan for enhanced climate monitoring.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

The Senate Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health will hold a hearing at 10:00 a.m. in Room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, entitled “Business Perspectives on Reforming U.S. Chemical Safety Laws.”  Witnesses include various chemical industry leaders; Kathy Gerwig, vice president of workplace safety and environmental stewardship officer for Kaiser Permanente; Charlie Drevna, president of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association; Neil Hawkins, vice president of environment, health, safety and sustainability at Dow Chemical; Beth Bosley, managing director of Boron Specialties, on behalf of the Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates; Howard Williams, vice president of Construction Specialties Inc.; and Linda Fisher, vice president of safety health and the environment for DuPont.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing to review the U.S. Geological Survey FY2011 Budget which focuses additional spending on climate change. The hearing will be held at 10:30 a.m. in Room B308 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witness is Marcia McNutt, director of U.S. Geological Survey.

The House Committee on Science and Technology will  hold a hearing for the proposed FY2011 budget on Research and Development for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The discussion will be based around controversial satellite programs for ocean, climate, and environmental sciences. The hearing will be held in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building at 2:00 p.m. Witnesses include NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco and Assistant EPA Administrator Paul Anastas.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a hearing entitled “Advancing American Innovation and Competitiveness” which will discuss the reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act, a bill to boost science and technology development for the United States. The hearing will be held at 2:30 p.m. in Room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. 

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing at 9:30 a.m. in Room 308 of the Rayburn House Office Building to discuss the FY2011 budget for the Fish and Wildlife Service, which invests heavily into climate change research and decreases in traditional endangered species programs. Witnesses include Rowan Gould, acting director, Fish and Wildlife Service and Thomas Strickland, assistant Interior secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu will appear before the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee to defend the FY2011 Department of Energy Budget. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 2359 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

For further information about this topic, please contact Akin Gump.

With health care, jobs, and electoral politics dominating the legislative calendar, it is no surprise that environmental legislation is languishing in Congress.  The Administration’s response, however, is raising eyebrows.  While endorsing legislation authorizing greenhouse gas regulation and chemical control reform-both likely to shape the future cleantech industry-the Administration is not waiting for Congress to act. On climate policy, months before the House of Representatives passed its cap-and-trade bill, EPA had signaled its intent to revisit the Bush Administration’s denial of California’s waiver request to impose emission standards on new vehicles, issued a proposed endangerment finding for CO₂ under the Clean Air Act and proposed mandatory greenhouse gas regulations for large stationary sources.  Today, as the Senate remains gridlocked on climate change legislation, EPA has finalized its endangerment finding, granted California’s waiver, issued final GHG reporting requirements and proposed the mechanism by which it will impose permitting requirements on stationary sources releasing CO₂.

EPA has taken an equally aggressive approach to chemical control reform.  Early on, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson identified legislative reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) as a top priority, even offering principles to guide legislative efforts.  With a Democrat in the White House, Democratic majorities in both chambers, several round of hearings in the record, and the likelihood of a legislative proposal in the near future, TSCA reform is more likely this congressional session than ever before.  Yet, the prospect of legislation has not prevented EPA from announcing an ambitious range of proposals under its existing (and often maligned) TSCA regulatory authority.  Invoking TSCA’s seldom-used section 6 authority, EPA announced plans to ban or restrict a variety of existing chemical uses deemed to pose unreasonable risks.  EPA also announced plans to increase the testing and data reporting requirements for other industrial chemicals and materials; and adopted a narrower interpretation of TSCA’s confidentiality provisions to increase public access to business information previously claimed as confidential by manufacturers. 

Congress’ reaction to EPA’s initiatives has been mixed.  Some lawmakers in both parties expressed concern over EPA’s regulatory climate proposals, prompting Lisa Jackson to lengthen the implementation time frames for some of EPA’s climate regulatory actions.  Others see EPA’s action as an effective stick to force legislative compromise.  Lawmakers have said little, however, about EPA’s recent efforts to reassert its current TSCA authority-indeed, the most recent hearing on TSCA reform was notable not for its discussion of chemical control policy but for the heated rhetoric surrounding the so-called “ClimateGate” issue that dominated the question and answer period.

Congress will have another opportunity to explore EPA’s regulatory strategy during hearings scheduled this week.  On Wednesday morning, Lisa Jackson will testify before the Senate Interior and Environment Appropriations Committee regarding EPA’s 2011 climate change budget.  On Thursday, March 6, EPA officials will testify before a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on TSCA’s role in regulating persistent and toxic chemicals.  These hearings may shed light on whether EPA will be able to sidestep, or be halted by, the political battles engulfing environmental legislation in Congress.

For further information about this topic, please contact Akin Gump.

The Congress continues to be focused on health care, with energy and climate change continuing on the backburner.  Members in both chambers nevertheless continue substantive conversations.  Most of the action on energy will be in the various appropriations subcommittees.  EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson will appear before the Senate Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, where she will likely be asked about Administrative rulemaking on stationary sources of greenhouse gasses and what, if anything, the Administration plans to do.  Secretary Chu will appear before the House Energy and Water subcommittee and the Senate Appropriations committee. Likely topics will be carbon capture and storage, alternative and renewable energy funding, hydrogen, and nuclear loan guarantees.  Also appearing before the committees will be Interior Secretary Salazar and Commerce Secretary Locke.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Lisa Jackson, U.S. EPA  Administrator, will testify before the Senate Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee  to defend the White House’s $10 billion budget request for EPA. The hearing will be held at 9:30 a.m. in Room 124 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, will testify before the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee to defend the White House’s FY 2011 budget for the Department of Energy. The hearing will be held at 12:00 p.m. in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to discuss the President’s FY 2011 budget for the U.S. Department of Interior. Secretary, Ken Salazar, will testify before the Senate at 10:00 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will also hold a hearing to consider the nominations of Larry Persily as Alaska’s coordinator for natural gas transmission projects and Patricia Hoffman as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Electricity Delivery and Energy Liability. The hearing is scheduled before the budget hearing at 10:00 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, will testify before the Senate Committee on Appropriations to defend the White House’s FY 2011 budget for the Department of Energy. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 192 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The Senate Committee on Appropriations will hold a hearing on the Department of Commerce FY2011 budget which significantly increases climate satellite spending. Witnesses include Gary F. Locke, Secretary of  Commerce and Todd J. Zinser, Inspector General of Commerce. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 138 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Secretary of Commerce, Gary F. Locke, will also appear before the House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee regarding Commerce’s  FY2011 budget. The hearing will be held at 2:00 p.m. in Room 2359 in the Rayburn House Office Building.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to “examine the Department of Energy’s implementation of programs authorized and funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.” The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Witnesses include Matthew Rogers, senior adviser to the Secretary for recovery act implementation, DOE; Malcolm Woolf, director, Maryland Energy Administration, and vice chair for the National Association of State Energy Officials; Patricia Dalton, managing director, Natural Resources and Environment, GAO; and Michele Nellenbach of the National Governors Association.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the Clean Air Subcommittee will hold a joint hearing entitled, “”Legislative Hearing: S. 2995, The Clean Air Act Amendments of 2010.”  The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

For further information about this topic, please contact Akin Gump.