The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a virtual
hearing
entitled, “Ensuring Equitable Delivery of Disaster Benefits to
Vulnerable Communities and Peoples: An Examination of
GAO’s Findings of the
CDBG-DR Program.” on Wednesday, January 19,
2022, at 10:00 a.m. via Cisco WebEx.
Increasingly, large-scale natural disasters have resulted in
catastrophic damage around the United States, often with
disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations and contributing to
wealth inequality. This hearing will assess a study2 of aspects of the
Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program
undertaken by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) at the request
of Chairwoman Maxine Waters and Representative Al Green in January 2020.
Join the U.S. EPA and U.S. Department of the
Army for an opportunity to comment on the proposed “Waters of the United
States” definition. This is the third of three public
hearings.
A public hearing to provide interested parties the opportunity to
present data, views, or arguments concerning the proposed rule typically
consists of morning, afternoon and evening sessions. In a virtual
environment, these hearing sessions will be held on different days. To
allow more time for speakers, the agencies prerecorded a video
introduction and overview of the rule.
During this
hearing,
members will receive testimony from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on
the administration’s priorities for a new water resources development
act for 2022. This hearing is also intended to provide members with an
opportunity to review the 2021 Report to Congress on Future Water
Resources Development and several reports of the Chief of
Engineers
on individual water resources projects that have been submitted to
Congress for authorization. These reports and administration priorities
will inform the committee in its development of a new
WRDA, which the committee expects to develop
and approve in 2022.
Witnesses
Michael L. Connor, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works
Lieutenant General Scott A. Spellmon, Chief of Engineers and
Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
David
Strickland,
Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs, General Motors, Washington,
D.C.
Lincoln
Wood,
Electrification Policy Manager, Southern Company, Atlanta, GA
Matthew
Laughridge,
President and Managing Partner, Terry Reid Automotive Group,
Cartersville, GA on behalf of the National Automobile Dealers
Association (NADA)
Trevor
Walter,
Vice President of Petroleum Supply Management, Sheetz, Inc., on behalf
of National Association of Convenience Stores, Altoona, PA
Geoff
Cooper,
President & Chief Executive Officer, Renewable Fuels Association,
Ellisville, MO
Josh
Nassar,
Legislative Director, International Union, United Automobile,
Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW),
Washington, D.C. Republican witness:
Mark
Mills,
Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute, Chevy Chase, MD
The purpose of the
hearing
is to examine the opportunities and challenges for maintaining existing
hydropower capacity, expanding hydropower at non-powered dams, and
increasing pumped storage hydropower.
Witnesses:
Jennifer Garson, Acting Director of the Water Power Technologies
Office, U.S. Department of Energy
Camille Touton, Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation
Scott Corwin, Executive Director, Northwest Public Power Association
Malcolm Woolf, President and CEO, National
Hydropower Association