Climate science, policy, politics, and action
Witnesses
The FY 2023 President’s Budget request for the EPA totals $11.881 billion with 16,204.1 FTE to advance Agency efforts to protect the environment and human health. This budget request, a $2.644 billion increase above the FY 2022 Annualized Continuing Resolution (ACR), will support EPA efforts to tackle the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, clean up air, land, and water pollution, fund scientific research, and position the Agency with the workforce and capacity required to address emerging and ongoing challenges. Additionally, the Budget includes more than $900 million in new resources to fully fund all of the water programs authorized in the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (DWWIA).
Witness
The full Committee, led by Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), will hold a markup on the following bills:
In its budget request for fiscal year 2023, CBO requested appropriations of $64.6 million, up from $61 million requested for 2022.
Witness:
Witnesses
Republican Witness
At the hearing, members will hear testimony from Deanne Criswell, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), about how FEMA can meet the challenges of the next five years.
Witness:
PANEL 1
PANEL 2
Rising gasoline and diesel pump prices, and wide disparity in pricing across the nation, have exposed the lack of transparency about how prices are set in the petroleum markets despite their profound impact on the U.S. economy and household budgets. This hearing will examine steps Congress can take to protect consumers from excessive gas prices, including increasing transparency and ensuring the Federal Trade Commission has the tools and authority necessary to monitor wholesale markets and investigate suspicious trading practices.
Witnesses
Republican witness:
Witnesses
On Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, will hold a hearing to examine the benefits, opportunities, and challenges of electrifying the Postal Service fleet through the acquisition of the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV).
Opening Statement
Witnesses
Republican witness
“It is critical for our environment and our future that the Postal Service rapidly transition to an electric fleet,” said Chairwoman Maloney. “The federal government should be leading the way, not falling behind private companies that are already moving ahead to save money and curb climate change by electrifying their fleets. I look forward to this critical hearing to examine how the Postal Service can acquire and deploy electric vehicles and the additional steps Congress can take to support the Postal Service’s transition to the fleet of the future.”
In February 2021, the Postal Service awarded Oshkosh Corporation a contract to build its NGDV, which requires Oshkosh to build up to 165,000 internal combustion engine or battery electric vehicles for the Postal Service over ten years. The Postal Service later announced it would purchase only 5,000 electric vehicles in its initial order.
On March 14, 2022, the Oversight Committee requested that the Postal Service Inspector General examine whether the Postal Service had met its environmental obligations in connection with this acquisition.
Ten days later, on March 24, 2022, the Postal Service announced its initial purchase order with Oshkosh for 50,000 NGDVs, of which at least 10,000 will be electric—twice the number of electric vehicles the Postal Service previously planned to purchase in its initial order.
The hearing will examine the significant domestic environmental and public health benefits, as well as valuable cost savings, of transitioning the Postal Service fleet to electric vehicles. Major private sector fleets are increasingly becoming electric because electric vehicles are more cost-effective in the long run due to lower maintenance and fuel costs.