Hill Heat

Hearing page

On Wednesday, July 21, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. ET, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, will hold a hybrid hearing with environmental justice leaders and activists to examine the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative to direct 40 percent of the benefits of climate and clean infrastructure investments to the hardest hit communities. The Initiative is part of the American Jobs Plan and the Build Back Better Agenda.

The hearing will center the voices of environmental justice leaders while highlighting the Committee’s role in advancing the Justice40 Initiative, including by ensuring a whole-of-government response, strong federal data collection, and a voice for state and local partners.

Witnesses

• Richard Moore, Co-Coordinator, Los Jardines Institute, National Co-Coordinator, Environmental Justice Health Alliance, Co-Chair, White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council
• Nicole Lee Ndumele, Vice President, Racial Equity and Justice, Center for American Progress
• Harold Mitchell, Founder and Executive Director, ReGenesis Community Development Corporation, Member, White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council
• Raya Salter, Esq., Member, New York State Climate Action Council
• Michael Leon Guerrero, Executive Director, Labor Network for Sustainability

Republican witness

• Shay Hawkins, Chairman and CEO, Opportunity Funds Association

Hearing page

Witnesses

• Tonya Gayle, Executive Director, Green City Force
• Chas Robles, Corps Director, Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps
• Scott Segerstrom, Executive Director, Colorado Youth Corps Association
• LaJuan D. Tucker, Environmental Program Coordinator, Wildlife Austin and the Austin Nature Preservation System

Republican witness

• Tate Watkins, Research Fellow, Property and Environment Research Center

Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, House Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Peter DeFazio, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Debbie Dingell, Rep. Juan Vargas, Rep. Melanie Stansbury, Rep. Peter Welch, Rep. Seth Moulton, Rep. Yvette Clarke, Rep. Andy Levin and other members of Congress will join Green New Deal Network organizational principals, community leaders, and allies to push for Congress to “Go Bigger to Meet the Need” on climate, jobs, and justice.

“We are concerned that a $3.5 trillion infrastructure and jobs plan will not sufficiently tackle challenges, from extreme weather disasters to access to public transit and dignified care employment. After the Senate budget committee announced its proposal on July 13, eyes have turned to the House, which is developing its own approach, with an opportunity to go bigger to ensure the level of investment meets the need.”

RSVP

Where: Union Square, (area 15 of US Capitol), 3rd Street NW b/w Constitution and Independence Avenues, Washington, DC, 89801

Other speakers include

• Natalia Salgado, Working Families Party
• Keya Chatterjee, US Climate Action Network
• Ramon Cruz, Sierra Club
• Andy Kunz, US High Speed Rail Association
• Rahna Epting, MoveOn.org
• Ebony Martin, Greenpeace
• Lauren Manus, Sunrise Movement
• Basav Sen, Climate Justice Alliance
• Tashima Hawkins, American Federation of Teachers
• Ofelia Sanchez, Central Florida Jobs with Justice

Hearing page

Witnesses

• Dr. Abdollah Shafieezadeh, Lichtenstein Endowed Professor Of Civil, Environmental And Geodetic Engineering And Director Of The Risk Assessment And Management Of Structural And Infrastructure Systems Lab, The Ohio State University
• Dr. Rachel Cleetus, Policy Director, Union of Concerned Scientists
• Frank Nutter, President, Reinsurance Association of America

Republican witnesses

• Roger Pielke Jr., Professor Of Environmental Studies, University of Colorado
• Jerry Theodorou, Director Of Finance, Insurance, And Trade, R Street Institute

Hearing page

Witnesses

• Andrew Von Ah, Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues, Government Accountability Office
• David Lubar, Senior Project Leader, Civil Systems Group, the Aerospace Corporation
• Dr. Jordan Gerth, Honorary Fellow, Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Bill Mahoney, NCAR Associate Director and Director of the Research Applications Laboratory (RAL) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), in Boulder, Colorado
• Jennifer Manner, Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, EchoStar Corporation / Hughes Network Systems LLC

Markup page

• Subcommittee Markup of FY2022 Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies
• Subcommittee Markup of FY2022 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bills

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.

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.

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