Advancing Environmental Justice Through Climate Action

At 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 15, 2021, The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis will hold a hearing titled “Advancing Environmental Justice Through Climate Action.” This hearing will take place remotely via Zoom video conferencing.

The hearing will review opportunities to advance environmental justice through climate action, including targeting infrastructure investments to environmental justice communities, understanding the impact of extreme heat on low-income workers and students, and supporting tribal investments in clean energy and climate resilience.

Witnesses:

  • Catherine Flowers, Founder, Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice (CREEJ). An internationally-recognized advocate for the human right to water and sanitation, Flowers works to improve access to clean air, water, and soil in marginalized rural communities within the context of climate change and through the lens of environmental justice. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Climate Reality Project and the Natural Resources Defense Council, and serves as the Rural Development Manager for the Equal Justice Initiative. Flowers is a 2020 MacArthur Fellow and a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.
  • R. Jisung Park, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Luskin School of Public Affairs, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Park is an expert in environmental economics, labor economics, and public finance. His research focuses on how market failures such as climate change affect social and economic outcomes. In particular, Park studies the labor and human capital impacts of climate change, the prospects for long-run climate adaptation, and environmental determinants of economic mobility.
  • Nikki Cooley, Co-Manager of Tribes & Climate Change Program and Interim Assistant Director of the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP), Northern Arizona University. Cooley co-leads a program to help Tribal Nations as they address and prepare for climate impacts. She works with Tribal and Indigenous partners across the continental United States and Alaska on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and resilience planning. Cooley is of the Diné (Navajo) Nation and received a master’s degree in Forestry from Northern Arizona University.

Republican witness:

  • Derrick Hollie, Founder and President, Reaching America. Hollie is the founder of Global Advertising 1st and Reaching America, a non-profit organization with a focus on African American outreach. He has over 25 years of experience in advertising and marketing.
House Climate Crisis Committee

07/15/2021 at 02:30PM

Treatment of Environmental Justice in NRC Activities

The purpose of these meetings is to describe NRC staff efforts in assessing Environmental Justice in NRC’s programs, policies, and activities as directed by the Commission in Staff Requirements Memorandum (ADAMS Accession No. ML21113A070). The staff will provide an overview of current and planned activities and receive comments from members of the public.

There will be two meetings; one from 1:30 pm to 3 pm and one from 8 pm to 9:30 pm.

Comments will be accepted from members of the public and other stakeholders from 8:30 until meeting closing at 9:30 pm. NRC staff will also answer process-related questions after everyone has had a chance to provide comments during the meeting, time permitting. A transcript of the meeting will be available approximately 10 days after the meeting and a link to the transcript will be referenced in the meeting summary.

1:30 pm-3 pm: Webinar Link (Microsoft Teams)

Meeting Number: 8003692109

Password: 6976164#

NRC staff contacts are Allen Fetter, Office of the Executive Director for Operations, at [email protected] or (301) 415-8556, and Ed Miller at (301) 415-2481.

Additionally, NRC is requesting comments as part of its systematic review for how NRC programs, policies, and activities address environmental justice. Specifically, the NRC would like input on how the agency is addressing environmental justice, considering the agency’s mission and statutory authority. The information will be used to inform the agency’s assessment of how it addresses environmental justice.

Submit comments by August 23, 2021. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date.

You may submit comments by any of the following methods:

  • Telephone: 301–415–3875.
  • Email: NRC[email protected]
  • Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN–7–A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.

Please reference Docket ID NRC–2021–0137 in your comment submission.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission
07/15/2021 at 01:30PM

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CDBG Disaster Recovery: States, Cities, and Denials of Funding

The Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations will hold a hearing entitled “CDBG Disaster Recovery: States, Cities, and Denials of Funding” on Thursday, July 15 at 12:00 pm via Cisco Webex.

Hearing memo

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, enacted on February 9, 2018 appropriated $4.3 billion in funding for the state of Texas after Hurricane Harvey struck Texas and Louisiana, causing at least 68 deaths and unprecedented flooding.

Texas Governor Greg Abbot designated the General Land Office (GLO) to administer CDBG-MIT funds on behalf of the state. In May 2020, GLO announced an application process for Texas counties to compete for mitigation funds. Applications for the competition closed October 2020, and GLO announced awards for the first round of more than $2.3 billion in CDBGMIT funding May 2021.

GLO did not award any mitigation funds to Houston, the largest city in Texas, which suffered severe damage during Hurricane Harvey.

After two hurricanes in 2017 disabled Puerto Rico’s electricity grid causing an 11-month blackout, the longest in U.S. history, Congress appropriated approximately $20 billion in CDBG-DR and CDBGMIT funding, but those funds took years to be disbursed to the U.S. territory. Senior officials at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) repeatedly blocked HUD from issuing the Federal Register notices required to begin the allocation process.

Witnesses

  • Carol Haddock, Director, Houston Department of Public Works and Engineering
  • Judge Lina Hidalgo, County Judge, Harris County
  • Heather Lagrone, Deputy Director for Community Development and Revitalization, Texas General Land Office
  • Sarah Saadian, VP of Public Policy, National Low Income Housing Coalition
  • Stephen Begg, Deputy Inspector General, Office of the Inspector General, Department of Housing and Urban Development
House Financial Services Committee
   Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee

07/15/2021 at 12:00PM

Amendment Deadline for PFAS Action Act of 2021

The Committee on Rules is likely to meet the week of July 19 to grant a rule that may provide a structured amendment process for floor consideration of H.R. 2467, the PFAS Action Act of 2021.

Any Member wishing to offer an amendment must submit a searchable electronic copy of the amendment, which should be provided by the Office of Legislative Counsel, via the Rules Committee’s website by 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 15, 2021.

Members should draft their amendments to the text of Rules Committee Print 117-10, which contains the text of H.R. 2467, as ordered reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce and is available on the Rules Committee website.

House Rules
07/15/2021 at 10:00AM

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Full Committee Markup of FY2022 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bills

Markup page

Text of Legislation

House Appropriations Committee
1100 Longworth

07/15/2021 at 10:00AM

Policy + Pints: The Urgent Need for a Civilian Climate Corps with Sen. Ed Markey

Markey your calendars: Evergreen’s next Policy + Pints happy hour is coming up—and, as you might have guessed, Senator Ed Markey is joining us! We’re going to be talking about the urgent need to launch a Civilian Climate Corps. (Think of it as a justice-driven, climate-centered version of FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps.)

In this virtual BYOB special hosted by Evergreen Action campaigns director Lena Moffitt, we’ll chat with:

  • Senator Markey
  • Tonya Gayle, executive director, Green City Force
  • Lauren Maunus, advocacy director, Sunrise Movement

about:

  • Why the CCC is such a powerful opportunity for taking on our overlapping climate and economic crises
  • How overwhelmingly popular it is
  • What corpsmembers would actually do in communities across the country
  • And more!

Bring beer, tea, wine, kombucha—whatever!—and join us on Wednesday, July 14 at 4 pm ET / 1 pm PT.

Evergreen Action
07/14/2021 at 04:00PM

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Markup of Insular Area Climate Change Act, Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act, and Others

On Wednesday, July 14, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. EDT via the Cisco WebEx and livestreamed on the Committee’s YouTube page, the Committee on Natural Resources will meet to consider the following bills:

  • H.R. 820 (Rep. LaHood), To establish the New Philadelphia National Historical Park in the State of Illinois as a unit of the National Park System, and for other purposes. New Philadelphia National Historical Park Act.
  • H.R. 972 (Rep. Calvert), To provide for the establishment of the Western Riverside County Wildlife Refuge. Wildlife Refuge Conservation and Recreation for the Community Act.
  • H.R. 1154 (Rep. McEachin), To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to assess the suitability and feasibility of designating certain land as the Great Dismal Swamp National Heritage Area, and for other purposes. Great Dismal Swamp National Heritage Area Act.
  • H.R. 1664 (Rep. Veasey), To authorize the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation to establish a commemorative work in the District of Columbia and its environs, and for other purposes.
  • H.R. 1908 (Rep. Case), To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to assess the suitability and feasibility of designating certain land as the Ka’ena Point National Heritage Area, and for other purposes. Ka‘ena Point National Heritage Area Act.
  • H.R. 2278 (Rep. Connolly), To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to designate the September 11th National Memorial Trail, and for other purposes.
  • H.R. 2444 (Rep. González-Colón), To establish Fort San Gerónimo del Boquerón in Puerto Rico as an affiliated area of the National Park System, and for other purposes. Fort San Gerónimo Preservation Act.
  • H.R. 2497 (Rep. Neguse), To establish the Amache National Historic Site in the State of Colorado as a unit of the National Park System, and for other purposes. Amache National Historic Site Act.
  • H.R. 2780 (Rep. Grijalva), To provide for climate change planning, mitigation, adaptation, and resilience in the United States Territories and Freely Associated States, and for other purposes. Insular Area Climate Change Act.
  • H.R. 2899 (Rep. San Nicolas), To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to assess the suitability and feasibility of designating areas within the island of Guam as a National Heritage Area, and for other purposes.
  • H.R. 3113 (Rep. Blake Moore), To require the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works to digitize and make publicly available geographic information system mapping data relating to public access to Federal land and waters for outdoor recreation, and for other purposes. MAPLand Act.
  • H.R. 3616 (Rep. Blake Moore), To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to assess the suitability and feasibility of designating certain land as the Bear River National Heritage Area, and for other purposes. Bear River National Heritage Area Study Act.
  • H.R. 3764 (Rep. Grijalva), To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide for ocean-based climate solutions to reduce carbon emissions and global warming; to make coastal communities more resilient; and to provide for the conservation and restoration of ocean and coastal habitats, biodiversity, and marine mammal and fish populations; and for other purposes. Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act of 2021.
  • H.R. 4300 (Rep. Miller-Meeks), To direct the Secretary of the Interior to make free National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes available to members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. Veterans in Parks (VIP) Act.
House Natural Resources Committee

07/14/2021 at 11:00AM

Member Day

The Committee on Energy and Commerce held its “Member Day” hearing on Tuesday, July 13, 2021, at 11 a.m. via Cisco Webex. The hearing offered the opportunity for Members of the House of Representatives to testify before the Committee on legislation or issues of importance to them, their constituents, and districts within the Committee’s jurisdiction.

Opening statement from Chair Pallone

Most members discussed health-care issues.

Testimony:

House Energy and Commerce Committee

07/14/2021 at 11:00AM