Climate science, policy, politics, and action
Witnesses:
The purpose of the hearing is to examine the President’s budget request for the Department of the Interior for Fiscal Year 2023.
Witness:
The Department’s 2023 budget totals $18.1 billion in current authority ($17.5 billion in net discretionary authority)—an increase of $2.9 billion, or 19 percent, from the 2022 continuing resolution. An additional $340.0 million is accessible through a budget cap adjustment for wildfire suppression to ensure that funds are available in the event the regular annual appropriation is inadequate to meet suppression needs. The budget also provides an estimated $10.9 billion in permanent funding in 2023.
The Bureau of Land Management budget proposes $249.9 million for Energy and Minerals Management. Effectively combating and mitigating climate change for the long term depends on moving our Nation away from its heavy reliance on fossil fuels. BLM plays a vital role in promoting and facilitating the development of renewable energy by providing sites for the environmentally sound development of renewable energy on public lands. The 2023 budget includes $49.7 million for BLM’s Renewable Energy program, which—along with funding in the Resource Management Planning, Assessment, and Monitoring program—will enable BLM to increase and accelerate renewable energy development on public lands. The funds will support the siting, leasing, and processing of renewable energy rights-of-way applications and the oversight of projects and transmission lines connecting to renewable energy projects. BLM’s Renewable Energy Coordination Offices (RECOs) will guide and execute this important work, including coordinating with other Federal agencies to streamline the review process for clean energy projects. The 2023 request for the Renewable Energy program includes staffing support for a national RECO at the BLM headquarters level as well as State and regional RECOs. BLM expects renewable energy demand and workload to increase significantly as more utilities and States seek to diversify or require increased renewable energy in their electric power portfolios. The 2023 request will better ensure that BLM has the manpower and resources to support this workload.
The budget proposes $115.8 million for Oil and Gas Management. The request will support continued progress in addressing legacy wells on the Alaska North Slope. The request for Energy and Minerals also includes $16.6 million for Coal Management and $16.7 million for Other Mineral Resources Management.
The 2023 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management budget requests $51.7 million for renewable energy activities, including permitting for the siting and construction of offshore wind farms and other renewable energy sources, such as wave and current energy, on the Outer Continental Shelf. The 2023 budget proposes $63.6 million for conventional energy development. The 2023 budget proposes $15.4 million to support BOEM’s marine minerals activities, which foster climate change resilience and restoration while supporting conservation partnerships. Foundational to BOEM’s offshore energy and mineral resource activities are the Environmental Programs, for which the 2023 budget requests $86.4 million.
The 2023 USGS budget is $1.7 billion; USGS estimates that staffing is 8,344 full-time equivalents (FTEs) . The budget prioritizes science addressing climate change and invests in research and development to support economic growth, inform balanced decisions regarding resources, and ensure the well-being of the Nation.
The 2023 President’s Budget for the Fish and Wildlife Service totals $3.7 billion, including current appropriations of $2.0 billion and $1.8 billion available under permanent appropriations, most of which is provided directly to States for fish and wildlife restoration and conservation. The budget for the principal FWS operating account, Resource Management, is $1.7 billion. The National Wildlife Refuge System is an FWS focal point for the Civilian Climate Corps, a program to put people to work improving America’s lands, waters, and infrastructure . The 2023 budget for FWS includes $10.0 million—including $8.0 million in the request for Refuges and $2.0 million in the request for the National Conservation Training Center in General Operations—to develop the next generation of conservation workers and create a new pathway to good-paying jobs. The 2023 request for Science Support is $38.5 million. The program supports adaptive science work with collaborative groups to design and implement conservation and habitat management strategies that improve climate adaptation and resilience on the ground.
Commission meeting held in Room 2C, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426. Open to the public via video Webcast only.
Link to meeting webcast when live
| Meeting agenda | ||
|---|---|---|
| ADMINISTRATIVE | ||
| A-1 | AD22-1-000 | Agency Administrative Matters |
| A-2 | AD22-2-000 | Customer Matters, Reliability, Security and Market Operations |
| A-3 | AD06-3-000 | Market Update |
| ELECTRIC | ||
| E-1 | RM20-16-001 | Managing Transmission Line Ratings |
| E-2 | OMITTED | |
| E-3 | ER21-62-000 | Uniper Global Commodities North America LLC |
| E-4 | ER21-65-000 | Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc. |
| E-5 | ER21-59-000 | Brookfield Renewable Trading and Marketing LP |
| ER21-59-001 | ||
| E-6 | ER21-64-000 | Macquarie Energy LLC |
| E-7 | ER22-1246-000 | California Independent System Operator Corporation |
| E-8 | QF21-222-002 | Board of Trustees of Michigan State University |
| E-9 | ER22-476-001 | Alabama Power Company |
| E-10 | EL22-44-000 | Grand River Dam Authority |
| E-11 | EL22-45-000 | Lincoln Electric System |
| E-12 | EL22-46-000 | Nebraska Public Power District |
| E-13 | EL22-47-000 | Omaha Public Power District |
| E-14 | OMITTED | |
| E-15 | EC22-24-000 | GridLiance High Plains LLC |
| E-16 | RR21-10-000 | North American Electric Reliability Corporation |
| MISCELLANEOUS | ||
| M-1 | RM22-15-000 | Certification of Uncontested Settlements by Settlement Judges |
| GAS | ||
| G-1 | RM21-18-000 | Revised Filing and Reporting Requirements for Interstate Natural Gas Company Rate Schedules and Tariffs |
| G-2 | OR19-14-000MPLX | Ozark Pipe Line LLC |
| G-3 | RP21-1001-006 | Texas Eastern Transmission, LP |
| HYDRO | ||
| H-1 | P-15246-000 | PacifiCorp |
| H-2 | P-15239-000 | PacifiCorp |
| H-3 | P-2188-259 | NorthWestern Corporation |
| Certificates | ||
| C-1 | CP21-197-000 | Kern River Gas Transmission Company |
| C-2 | CP21-78-000 | ANR Pipeline Company |
| C-3 | IN19-4-001 | Rover Pipeline, LLC and Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. |
| C-4 | CP21-6-000 | Spire Storage West LLC |
Member statements
Witnesses
The Fiscal Year 2023 budget request for the defense functions of the Department of Energy is $29.7 billion. This figure accounts for about 61 percent of the Department of Energy’s overall $48 billion request. Given the share of the defense function of the Department’s budget, it is important for this committee to continue its oversight of the Department’s defense activities, which span from maintaining our nuclear stockpile to cleaning up former Cold War defense production sites. Within this defense proposal, the National Nuclear Security Administration, or NNSA, is requesting $21.4 billion – a 3.2 percent increase over last year’s level of $20.6 billion. I would also note that the amount for the defense portion of environmental cleanup increased by three percent to $6.9 billion.
At the hearing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) challenged Granholm on the energy waste of crypto mining. “Does the federal government know how many crypto miners are operating in the United States and how much electricity they are using?”
Granholm: “No.”
Witnesses:
Witnesses:
The discretionary budget request for the NPS is $3.6 billion, an increase of $345.6 million compared to FY 2022 enacted funding levels. This level supports an estimated 16,412 direct full-time equivalents (FTE). Recreation fee revenue and other mandatory funding sources provide additional funding of $1.1 billion. The total FY 2023 request for NPS is $4.8 billion and 20,495 FTE from all funding sources. The NPS FY 2023 request prioritizes advancing racial equity and support for underserved stories and communities, tackling the climate crisis in the national park system, conserving our natural resources, and using science to inform decisions.
The FY 2023 operations budget includes a $178.8 million increase to support science, build NPS resiliency to climate change, and increase conservation efforts.
The FY 2023 budget request includes amounts to support several partnership programs. In FY 2023, the NPS plans to complement existing youth partnership programs by directing an additional $31.0 million to implement the Civilian Climate Corps (CCC).
The NPS also requests an additional $22.5 million to increase support of conservation partnership efforts through Research Learning Centers and Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units. The work of the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program, for which the budget requests an increase of $16.0 million, provides vital resource data to park managers and research partners. Finally, the budget includes a $2.0 million increase to establish a permanent NPS Incident Management Team that will plan for and respond to emergencies including natural disasters, which have increased in severity and frequency due to the effects of climate change. To improve NPS climate adaptation and resilience efforts, the budget includes increases totaling $45.8 million for the Construction account. This includes a $10.0 million increase for abandoned mineral lands projects—supporting the President’s commitment to create jobs in some of the hardest hit communities in the Nation—while mitigating hazards, improving water quality, and restoring natural resources to their original condition. It also includes a $7.0 million increase for unscheduled projects that address damage from emergencies, critical system failures, and extreme environmental conditions as a result of increased threats from climate change. The proposal includes an additional $12.1 million for management planning related to climate change, including climate vulnerability assessments and compliance pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. Also, as part of the conservation initiative, and in support of the President’s goal of transitioning to a fully Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Federal fleet, the NPS budget includes an increase of $16.7 million to acquire ZEVs and to deploy vehicle charging and refueling infrastructure. The Department of the Interior is coordinating all of these efforts to meet or exceed the ZEV-related goals set forth in the comprehensive plan developed pursuant to E.O. 14008, Section 205(a). This investment will be complemented by Department of Energy funding to provide technical assistance to agencies through the Federal Energy Management Program as the NPS builds and grows its ZEV infrastructure.
Witnesses:
The Department of the Navy budget is $230.8 billion: a Navy budget at $180.5 billion and Marine Corps budget at $50.3 billion. In regards to climate change, the ‘23 budget increases climate investments by a total of $137 million across the shore providing funding for electric vehicle leasing, charging stations, installation resiliency, and natural resource carbon sequestration projects.
On Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET, in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building and via Cisco Webex, the Committee on Natural Resources Office of Insular Affairs will hold a hybrid oversight hearing on the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request of the Department of Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs.
Witnesses: