Hill Heat

Joint subcommittee hearing.

Witnesses:

• Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, U.S. Department of State
• Änjali Kaur, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Asia, U.S. Agency for International Development

On Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at 10:30 a.m., in room 1334 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources will hold a legislative hearing on the following bills:

• Discussion Draft of H.R. &95;&95;&95; (Rep. Hunt), “Comprehensive Offshore Resource Evaluation Act” or the “CORE Act”;
• H.R. 7053 (Rep. Thompson of PA), “Orphan Well Grant Flexibility Act of 2024”;
• H.R. 8665 (Rep. Lucas), “Supercritical Geothermal Research and Development Act”; and
• H.R. 8954 (Rep. Gosar), “Public Lands Renewable Energy Development Act of 2024”.

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

• Steve Feldgus, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. [H.R. 7053]
• JC Sandberg, Chief Advocacy Officer, The American Clean Power Association, Washington, D.C. [H.R. 8954]
• Dustin Van Liew, Vice President, EnerGeo Alliance, Houston, TX [“CORE Act” Discussion Draft]
• Jim Wright, Commissioner, the Railroad Commission of Texas, Austin, Texas [H.R. 7053]
• Terra Rogers, Program Director, Superhot Rock Energy, Clean Air Task Force, Boston, Massachusetts [H.R. 7053 & H.R. 8665] [Minority Witness]

On Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at 10:15 a.m. ET, the Committee on House Administration will hold a hearing titled, “Congress in a Post-Chevron World.”

Witnesses:

• Satya Thallman, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, Americans for Responsible Innovation (AI lobbying)
• Wayne Crews, Fellow in Regulatory Studies, Competitive Enterprise Institute
• Kevin Kosar, Resident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
• Paul Ray, Director, The Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation
• Dr. Josh Chafetz, Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Law and Politics, Georgetown University Law Center

Loper Bright amicus brief from Competitive Enterprise Institute

On Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at 10:15 a.m. in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hold a legislative hearing on Indian water rights legislation proposing settlements totalling over $12 billion.

Hearing memo

Legislation:

• 1304 (Rep. Leger Fernandez), “Rio San José and Rio Jemez Water Settlements Act of 2023”;
• 3977 (Rep. Leger Fernandez), “Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Amendments Act of 2023”;
• 6599 (Rep. Leger Fernandez), “Technical Corrections to the Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act, Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, and Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act”;
• 7240 (Rep. Rosendale), “Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024”;
• 8685 (Rep. Leger Fernandez), “Ohkay Owingeh Rio Chama Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024”;
• 8791 (Rep. Zinke), “Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024”;
• 8920 (Rep. Fong), “Tule River Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024”;
• 8940 (Rep. Ciscomani), “Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024”;
• 8945 (Rep. Leger Fernandez), “Navajo Nation Rio San José Stream System Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024”;
• 8949 (Rep. Schweikert), “Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024”;
• 8951 (Rep. Vasquez), “Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024” and
• 8953 (Rep. Zinke), “Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Amendments Act of 2024”.

Witnesses:

Panel I

• Members of Congress TBD

Panel II – (H.R. 7240, H.R. 8685, H.R. 8791, H.R. 8920, H.R. 8951, and H.R. 8953)

• Bryan Newland, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, Washington, DC (all bills)
• Jeffery Stiffram, President, Fort Belknap Indian Community, Harlem, MT (H.R. 8791)
• Frank White Clay, Chairman, Crow Tribe of Indians, Crow Agency, MT (H.R. 8953)
• Lester Shine Nieto, Vice Chairman, Tule River Indian Tribe of California, Porterville, CA (H.R. 8920)
• Larry Phillips, Jr., Governor, Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, Ohkay Owingeh, NM (H.R. 8685) [Minority Witness]
• Arden Kucate, Governor, Pueblo of Zuni, Zuni, NM (H.R. 8951) [Minority Witness]
• Marko Manoukian, Co-Chair, St. Mary Rehabilitation Working Group, Malta, MT (H.R. 7240)

Panel III – (H.R. 1304, H.R. 3977, H.R. 6599, H.R. 8940, H.R. 8945, and H.R. 8949)

• David Palumbo, Deputy Commissioner of Operations, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the Interior, Washington, DC (all bills)
• Craig Andrews, Vice Chairman, Hopi Tribe, Kykotsmovi, AZ (H.R. 8940)
• Tanya Lewis, Chairwoman, Yavapai-Apache Nation, Upper Verde Valley, AZ (H.R. 8949)
• Buu Nygren, President, Navajo Nation, Window Rock, AZ (H.R. 3977, H.R. 6599, H.R. 8940, and H.R. 8945) [Minority Witness]
• Fred Romero, Governor, Pueblo of Taos, Taos, NM (H.R. 6599) [Minority Witness]
• Randall Vicente, Governor, Pueblo of Acoma, Acoma, NM (H.R. 1304) [Minority Witness]

The Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security has scheduled a hearing on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. (ET) in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building to examine the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Fiscal Year 2025 Budget and its licensing and regulation of commercial power plants, advanced nuclear technologies, and other uses of nuclear materials.

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

• Christopher T. Hanson, Chairman, NRC
• David A. Wright, Commissioner, NRC
• Annie Caputo, Commissioner, NRC
• Bradley R. Crowell, Commissioner, NRC

Full committee hearing.

Witnesses:

• Dana Allen-Tully, Ph.D. – President, Minnesota Corn Growers, Eyota, Minnesota
• David Dunlow – Chairman, American Cotton Producers, Henrico, North Carolina
• Tony Hotchkiss – Chairman, Agriculture and Rural Bankers Committee of the American Bankers Association, Evansville, Indiana
• Joey Caldwell – Senior Vice President for Retail, GreenPoint Ag Holdings, LLC, on behalf of the Agricultural Retailers Association, Decatur, Alabama
• Ronald Rainey, Ph.D. – Assistant Vice President, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, Fayetteville, Arkansas

The Committee on Rules will meet Monday, July 22, 2024 at 4:00 PM ET in H-313, The Capitol on the following measures:

• H.R. 8773 – Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2025
  • Report
  • Democratic summary
• H.R. 8998 – Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025
  • Report
  • Democratic summary
• H.R. 8997 – Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025
  • Report
  • Democratic summary
• H.R. 9027 – Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025
  • Report
  • Democratic summary

This briefing will highlight the immense scope and scale of the environmental devastation Russia has wrought in Ukraine during its war of aggression, estimate the still-unfolding impacts on the people of Ukraine and its natural environment, and consider the multifaceted challenges to ensuring Russian accountability.

Panelists:

• Eugene Z. Stakhiv – Retired Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University
• Maryna Baydyuk – President and Executive Director, United Help Ukraine
• Kristina Hook – Assistant Professor of Conflict Management, School of Conflict Management, Peacebuilding, and Development, Kennesaw State University

In the ten years since Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine, Ukraine estimates that Russia has inflicted some $60 billion in damages to Ukraine’s natural and man-made environments and pushed Ukraine to the brink of ecological collapse. Vast swaths of Ukraine are contaminated with landmines, toxic chemicals, and heavy metals. Hundreds of thousands of square miles of agricultural lands are decimated, groundwater contaminated, and nature reserves consumed by fire.

In June 2023, the catastrophic destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam alone killed or displaced hundreds of Ukrainians, limited the availability of water for irrigation and sanitation purposes, and increased the risk of a nuclear disaster at the nearby Zaporizhzhia power plant. While the full scale of Russia’s destruction of Ukraine’s environment is both ongoing and difficult to assess, it is sufficiently vast that Ukraine’s Prosecutor General has initiated investigations not only into possible war crimes but also willful acts of environmental destruction, or “ecocide,” punishable under Ukrainian law.

It is clear that the havoc wrought by Russia’s actions will endure for decades and that Ukraine will require both international and intergenerational support to adequately address it.

Full committee markup.

• Consideration of 302(b) Subcommittee allocations.
• Markup of the ‘Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2025.”
• Markup of the “Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025.”
• Markup of the “Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025.”

Subcommittee hearing.

Witnesses:

• Ted Brady, Executive Director, Vermont League of Cities and Towns, Williston, VT
• Julie S. Moore PE, Secretary, Agency of Natural Resources, State of Vermont, Middlesex, VT
• Kevin Paap, County Commissioner, Blue Earth County, Garden City, MN
• Mark D. Bohlin, General Manager, Perdido Bay Water, Sewer and Fire Protection District, Foley, AL
• Brad Kimbro, General Manager and CEO, Wiregrass Electric Cooperative, Ashford, AL