On Wednesday, February 28, 2024, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.),
Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee,
will hold a
hearing
to assist with the development of the Water Resources Development Act
(WRDA) of 2024, which authorizes projects, programs, and other
activities under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works program.
Witnesses:
Michael C. Connor, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works
Lieutenant General Scott A. Spellmon 55th Chief of Engineers and
Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chair of Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science and Transportation, will convene a full committee
hearing
on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, at 10:00 AM
EST to consider the following presidential nominations:
Nominees:
Daniel B. Maffei to be Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission
(re-appointment)
Rebecca F. Dye to be Commissioner of the Federal Maritime Commission
(re-appointment)
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
Susanne M. Brander, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Oregon State
University, College of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Fisheries,
Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences
Sherri A. “Sam” Mason, Ph.D., Director of Sustainability, Penn State
Behrend
Brent Alspach, P.E., Vice President & Director of Applied Research,
Arcadis
As an ecotoxicologist, Susanne M.
Brander’s research
integrates the responses of aquatic organisms to endocrine disrupting
compounds (EDCs) and other environmental stressors, such as
microplastics, across the biological hierarchy. He group focuses on
discerning mechanisms of toxicity and linking the results of laboratory
experiments to ecosystem responses. Current work examines the impact of
EDCs on gene expression, development, reproductive behavior, sex ratio
and population dynamics across multiple generations, with an emphasis on
exposure during early life. Specific compounds of concern include
endocrine active pesticides and pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Sherri A.
Mason holds a
doctorate in chemistry from the University of Montana and is a leading
researcher in freshwater plastic pollution. Her award-winning work has
drawn international attention to the threats posed by microplastics and
led to the passage of national measures banning microbeads. She
currently serves as Associate Research Professor and Director of
Sustainability at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.
Brent
Alspach
is an Associate Vice President with Arcadis and serves as the company’s
Director of Applied Research. He is an internationally recognized
authority on membrane filtration and desalination processes. He has
conducted seawater desalination planning studies and concept design for
facilities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and
Mexico.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight Subcommittee
On Thursday, February 15, 2024, at 2:00 p.m., in room 1324 Longworth
House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee
on Oversight and Investigations will hold an oversight
hearing
titled “Bidenomics & Land Management: The Misguided National Strategy to
Develop Environmental Economic Decisions.”
Henry
Wykowski,
Advisor, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior
President Biden has pushed the federal government to develop its
framework for environmental-economic accounting, laying the groundwork
through executive order (E.O.), guidance from his administration, and
requests for information.
On April 22, 2022, President Biden issued E.O. 14072—Strengthening the
Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies—which ordered the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue guidance
on the valuation of ecosystem and environmental services and natural
assets in Federal regulatory decision-making. On July 22, 2022,
OMB issued the guidance in a memorandum for
the heads of executive Departments and Agencies regarding research and
development priorities for the Fiscal Year 2024 budget (OMB Natural
Capital Memo). The OMB Natural Capital Memo
instructed agencies to promote efforts to account for ecosystem and
natural capital services. The OMB Natural
Capital Memo also instructed agencies to “identify and prioritize R&D
investments that advance… the ability to evaluate and track the
effects of policies, projects, and programs on climate mitigation,
resilience, and ecosystem services.”
A month later, on August 22, 2022, OMB
continued to execute its marching orders by issuing a request for
information to help inform the development of “Government-wide natural
capital accounts and standardized environmental-economic statistics”
(OMB RFI). The OMBRFI stated that international interest in
“developing natural capital accounting methodologies” has led to “demand
for U.S. Federal leadership to develop natural capital accounts and
standardized environmental-economic statistics to provide a centralized
domestic framework and to promote international norms.”
A month later, on October 31, 2022, the Office of Science and Technology
Policy (OSTP) issued its own request for information—on behalf of the
United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)—to help “inform
the framing, development, and eventual use of the first National Nature
Assessment” (USGCRP RFI). The
USGCRP RFI stated that the National Nature
Assessment “will assess the status, observed trends, and future
projections of America’s lands, waters, wildlife, biodiversity and
ecosystems and the benefits they provide, including connections to the
economy, public health, equity, climate mitigation and adaptation, and
national security.” In doing so, the USGCRP
RFI declared the U.S. currently “lacks comprehensive knowledge on
these major aspects of global change.
On January 19, 2023, the Biden administration released a national
strategy for Natural Capital Accounting and
ESV, the National Strategy to Develop
Statistics for Environmental-Economic Decisions: A
U.S. System of Natural Capital Accounting and Environmental
Economic Statistics (National Strategy for Natural Capital Accounting).
This month’s commission meeting will be at 1 p.m. at Howard University
School of Law, Damon J. Keith Moot Court Room, Houston Hall, Level
B 2900 Van Ness Street, NW, Washington, D.C.
20008.
Among agenda items is the Saguaro Connector
Pipeline
for the export of natural gas between the United States, in Hudspeth
County, Texas, to Chihuahua, Mexico.
Subcommittee
hearing
on EPA’s NAAQS
standards, including the new PM2.5 standard,
entitled “Safeguarding Jobs and the Economy: Legislation to End
EPA’s Attack on American Manufacturing,”
originally titled “Safeguarding American Prosperity and People’s
Livelihoods: Legislation to Modernize Air Quality Standards.”
Legislation to be considered:
H.R.
___,
the Air Quality Standards Implementation Act of 2024
Witnesses:
Christopher
Netram,
Managing Vice President, Policy, National Association of Manufacturers
John
Eunice,
Deputy Director, Georgia Environmental Protection Division
Paul Noe, Vice President of Public Policy, American Forestry and Paper
Association