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.

 This Week on the Hill

After two weeks away, one for the President’s Day Recess and the other for the snow, Congress returns this week to a full plate though it will mostly be focused on job creation and health care reform.  Progress towards a bi-partisan energy bill got a boost over the recess with President Obama’s announcement on nuclear energy, a favorite issue for southern Republicans. All indications continue to point to steady progress being made by Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman to a consensus legislation, though whether cap and trade is part of it is still very much in doubt. 

This week most committees with jurisdictional oversight on the environment and energy continue their examinations of the budget needs of various agencies under their purview.  The Senate Commerce Committee will have a hearing on Tuesday to take a look at smart grid and electricity management technologies.  At the same time the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing on the infrastructural needs for making the shift to large scale adoption of plug in hybrid technologies.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation will hold a hearing entitled “Improving Energy Efficiency Through Technology and Communications Innovation” at 10:00 a.m. in room 253 of the Russell House Office Building. Witnesses include Aneesh Chopra, chief technology officer, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President; Dan Hesse, CEO, Sprint Nextel; Adrian Tuck, CEO, Tendril Networks Inc.; Kathrin Winkler, chief sustainability officer, EMC2 Corp.; and Lorie Wigle, general manager, Eco-Technology Program Office, Intel Corp.

The Energy and Water Development Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the infrastructural needs for making the shift to large scale adoption of plug in hybrid technologies at 10:15 a.m. in Room 192 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Witnesses include Henry Kelly, EERE principal deputy assistant secretary; Fredrick Smith, president and chairman of FedEx and member of the Electrification Coalition; Richard Lowenthal, founder and CEO of Coulomb Technologies; Alan Taub, vice president of research and development for General Motors; and David West, vice president of Raser Technologies.

Lisa Jackson, U.S. EPA  Administrator, will testify before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to defend the White House’s $10 billion budget request for EPA. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Lisa Jackson, U.S. EPA  Administrator, will testify before the The House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee  to defend the White House’s $10 billion budget request for EPA. The hearing will be held at 2:00 p.m. in Room 308 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

The Full Committee and Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife will hold a joint hearing at 9:30 a.m. in Room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building entitled “Joint Hearing on the Legislative Approaches to Protecting, Preserving, and Restoring Great Water Bodies.” Witnesses include Peter Silva, assistant water administrator, U.S. EPA; Harris Sherman, undersecretary for natural resources and environment, Agriculture Department; Patrick Wright, executive director, California Tahoe Conservancy; David Dicks, executive director, Puget Sound Partnership; Alexander “Pete” Grannis, commissioner, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; Debrah Marriott, executive director, Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership; David Naftzger, executive director, Council of Great Lakes Governors; John Tauzel, senior associate director of public policy, New York Farm Bureau; and David Ullrich, executive director, Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiatives.

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

 It is a largely quiet week on the Hill, as far as climate legislation or hearings go.  The big news this week will be roll out of the President’s budget and the expected votes to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.  All of which will overshadow the one truly interesting hearing on climate science that will be held in the House Science and Technology Committee on Thursday.  The hearing will be the first real Congressional examination of geoengineering and whether it would work to reverse climate trends.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The Senate Budget Committee will hold a hearing for the FY 2011 budget at 10:00 a.m. in Room 608 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The House Budget Committee will also hold a hearing for FY 2011 budget at 2:00 p.m. in Room 210 of the Cannon House Office Building. The Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag will testify for the budget committee hearings.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold nomination hearings for Larry Persily and Patricia Hoffman at 2:30 p.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Persily has been nominated to serve as federal coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects and Hoffman has been nominated to be assistant secretary of Energy for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

The House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment will hold a hearing in Room 2325 of the Rayburn House Office Building to continue to explore the science and engineering specifics of the geoengineering concept, which many scientists say is a potential “Plan B” to cool the planet.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to receive testimony by the Secretary of Energy Steven Chu on the U.S. Department of Energy’s budget for fiscal year 2011. The hearing will be at 10:00 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Another hearing on the Fiscal 2011 Budgets, as previously mentioned, will be held by the Senate Finance Committee at 10:00 a.m. in Room 215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

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

 The U.S. government recently announced that it would award up to $2.3 billion in tax credits under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in accordance with Section 48C of the Internal Revenue Code to 183 clean energy manufacturing projects across the United States.  Following a competitive application process that opened in August of 2009, and the submission and review of over 500 applications for clean energy manufacturing projects, these tax credits were awarded to manufacturing projects in order to promote economic growth and encourage a robust domestic manufacturing capacity for renewable and clean energy projects.  The application process considered specific criteria for these projects, including, among others, domestic job creation; the net impact in avoiding or reducing air pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions; the greatest potential for technological innovation and commercial deployment; and the shortest project time from certification to completion.  The Internal Revenue Service has already notified the projects that have been awarded the tax credit, as well as the amount of the tax credit, which will be allocated to these projects until the program funding is exhausted.  Importantly, this investment in the manufacturing tax credit will be matched by up to $5.4 billion in private sector funding. 

Because the clean energy manufacturing tax credit program was substantially oversubscribed by “technically acceptable applications” during the application period, the White House “has called on Congress to provide an additional $5 billion to expand the program” in order to provide further tax incentives to “worthy applicants who are willing to invest private resources to build and equip factories that manufacture clean energy products in America.” The Administration’s statement that recommends expansion of the program includes the observation that “there is already an existing pipeline of worthy projects and substantial interest in this area, [and] these funds will be deployed quickly to create jobs and support economic activity.” 

The pie chart below reflects the individual sectors that received the energy manufacturing tax credit, according to an Excel spreadsheet linked in the Department of Energy press release announcing the tax credits.  The Solar Photovoltaic, Solar Components and Materials, Industrial, and Buildings sectors are the largest recipients, by dollar amount, of the clean energy manufacturing tax credits, and more than a dozen additional clean energy manufacturing sectors also received tax credits under the program. 

(1)  Approximately 137 of the 183 projects were identified by technology sector.  The remaining projects were not identified by a technology sector.  Given the lack of data relating to these projects and their respective sectors, these projects were not included in the chart.

(2) The “Other” category on the pie chart includes the following sectors that represent 2% or less of the total dollar amount awarded: Batteries ($29,360,400, 5 projects); Biomass ($29,304,480, 2 projects); Carbon Capture & Storage ($4,842,438, 2 projects); Fuel Cells ($5,510,100, 2 projects); Geo/Buildings ($8,941,626, 1 project); Smart Grid ($35,652,663, 9 projects); and Solar-Hot Water ($806,501, 3 projects).

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

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu will be testifying before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Secretary Chu was invited to address the Committee on the research, development and technology priorities necessary to meet medium and long-term efforts to reduce carbon and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Wednesday, January 20

The House Science and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on “America COMPETES: Big Picture Perspectives on the Need for Innovation, Investments in R&D and a Commitment to STEM Education,” at 10:00 am in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing will discuss the America COMPETES Act of 2007, which encourages people to study and teach mathematics and science, along with supporting research into emerging technologies and increasing funds for federal science-based organizations.

Thursday, January 21

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will conduct a hearing on the Department of Energy climate priorities at 10:00 am in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

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

On December 7, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced a pilot program that would accelerate the examination of “green” technology patent applications.  Eligible patent applications must pertain to inventions that “materially contribute[] to environmental quality, the discovery or development of renewable energy resources, more efficient utilization and conservation of energy resources, or greenhouse gas emission reduction.”  The patent applications must be limited to three or fewer independent claims and 20 or fewer total claims.  Under the pilot program, the first 3,000 such applications submitted with a no-cost petition will be granted special status and given accelerated examination.  The USPTO expects the expedited examination to reduce the patent pendency period by about a year, meaning applications under this program patents will issue in an average of 28-36 months from the date of filing.

Similar programs have been implemented in the United Kingdom and South Korea.  In the UK, patent application examinations will be automatically expedited where an applicant makes a “reasonable assertion” that the invention’s impact will have an environmental benefit.  In South Korea, applications directed towards the minimization of the discharge of pollutants or for inventions that have received funding or authentication for green growth will be examined at “Superspeed.”

The goal of the USPTO’s program is to “accelerate the development and deployment of green technology, create green jobs, and promote U.S. competitiveness” in the green technology sector.

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

As negotiations at Copenhagen near conclusion, it is increasingly unlikely that a global deal can be made.  On Tuesday, the United Nations released the latest official draft agreements that will be presented to world leaders (including President Obama) in the final two days of the climate conference.  The recent drafts acknowledge that industrialized nations have historically been responsible for global greenhouse gas emissions and, thus, must lead efforts to combat climate change by providing funding and technology to poorer nations.  Both the text from the Long Term Cooperative Action working group and the document from the Kyoto Protocol working group, however, leave many critical issues unresolved.  Most notably, the international community has not agreed upon targets for emission cuts and adaptation funding.

Emission reduction targets

Developed countries and developing countries disagree on which countries should be obligated to reduce their emissions and what the level of these commitments should be. Leading developing countries insist on an extension of the Kyoto Protocol, which imposes obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions only on industrialized nations.  A rift within developing countries emerged when small island states and several African states insisted on a new protocol that would not only impose more stringent emission cuts for developed nations, but also expose developing countries to the risk of mandatory cuts. The European Union and the U.S., on the other hand, are calling for a more comprehensive document that would impose mandatory emission cuts on large emerging economies like China.  Developed countries also seek to delay the implementation of legally binding emission reductions.

The size of emission cuts and the benchmark for measuring these reductions is also a point of contention between developed countries. The EU has committed to cutting its emissions by 20% by 2020, and by 30% if a strong global agreement is reached. The EU’s proposed emission reductions are measured against 1990, as called for in earlier international agreements.  By contrast, the U. S. wants to use 2005 as the baseline year for cutting emissions because (i) the U.S. never joined Kyoto and (ii) this benchmark is more relevant to the Obama administration.  The U.S. has committed to cutting emissions by 17% of 2005 levels by 2020.  This corresponds to a cut of 3-4% beneath 1990 levels by 2020.  Senator John Kerry reinforced the legitimacy of the U.S. commitment to an international agreement by guaranteeing that this commitment would be enforced domestically, provided that China and other developing countries meet the U.S. demand for transparency and accountability on their emission reductions. 

Other issues, such as the “peaking year” concept, are also creating roadblocks.  India has taken the lead in opposing the imposition of a “peaking year” on the emissions of countries like India, China, Brazil and South Africa, which would demand that developing countries “peak” their emissions by 2025.  Instead, India proposes limiting the increase in global temperatures to within 2 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial times.  A smaller group of 43 of the smallest and most vulnerable developing countries has stated they will not accept any rise of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius since, they contend, anything higher would lead to disastrous consequences (e.g., a rise in sea levels as a result of climate change).

Another issue is the “hot air” concern.  With the collapse of the heavy industrial base of the Soviet Bloc countries in the 1990s, a large number of the carbon rights, or Assigned Amount Units (AAU), held by Russia, Ukraine and other Eastern European countries were never used.  If, under the new deal, the former Soviet Bloc countries are allowed to sell these surplus AAUs, or “hot air”, to nations that fail to meet post-2012 emission targets, this could impair all emission reduction commitments under the new deal by up to one-third.

Funding commitments and transparency

The G77 group of countries, backed by the least developed countries and small island states, are seeking $400 billion per year (1% of the GDP of industrialized nations) to help developing countries grow without increasing their greenhouse gas emissions.  Developed nations have not made offers anywhere near that level, nor do the latest draft agreements provide for funding beyond 2012.  As a compromise, the African Union chief negotiator Meles Zenawi has called for a significantly scaled-back finance deal, calling for $50 billion per year for developing countries by 2015 and $100 billion per year by 2020, with half of these funds allocated to vulnerable and poor countries, regions such as Africa and small island states.

China has acknowledged the needs of poorer developing nations in conceding that these nations should take priority in receiving aid to combat climate change.  China maintains its position, however, that industrialized nations should provide 0.5-1% of their annual GDP as funding to subsidize the efforts of developing nations to curb greenhouse gas emissions.  Further, China strongly opposes carbon tariffs proposed by other countries to protect their domestic industries. China has also refused to submit to international verification of whether it is actually implementing its reduction commitments.

The U.S. has rejected the proposal that industrialized nations contribute up to 1% of their GDP. The U.S. and other developed countries also seek to monitor developing countries on their compliance with whatever commitments are ultimately made, or at a minimum, to subject countries’ emission reports to international consultation and review.  The concern is that, without such compliance checks, some developing countries may have an incentive to “pad” the amount of their greenhouse reductions or otherwise game the system and that other countries may not sign on to the international agreement due to its lack of transparency.

With less than two days remaining for the climate change negotiations at Copenhagen, it is critical that the international community reach some sort of workable consensus on the key issues of emission reduction targets, funding commitments and transparency of the global system.

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

It will be a fairly quiet week on the climate front in the House and the Senate, with most key staff members in Copenhagen and Senators and Congresspeople busily trying to finish health care reform, meet the federal government’s funding requirements and increase the debt ceiling of the United States.  Late last week the tri-partisan climate leadership (Sens. Graham, Kerry and Lieberman) released the broad outlines of what they will likely propose to the full Senate next year.  Already it looks like Majority Leader Reid will reserve much of March or April for floor discussion for the proposal.  

That being said, the Senate Energy Committee will be taking a look at a bevy of nuclear related legislation on Tuesday, that would create more standardization in the creation of nuclear reactors- particularly small reactors.  Many policymakers point to small reactors as a way to increase nuclear power for carbon reductions.

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