The purpose of the
hearing
is to review federal natural hazard research and development (R&D)
programs, specifically, the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program
(NWIRP) and the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP),
to examine the strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of the interagency
effort, and to receive recommendations for future reauthorization of the
programs.
Jason Averill, Deputy Director of the Engineering Laboratory, National
Institute of Standards and Technology
Edward Laatsch, P.E., Director, Safety, Planning, and Building Science
Division, Risk Analysis, Planning and Information Directorate, Federal
Emergency Management Agency
Dr. Gavin Hayes, Earthquake Hazards Program Coordinator, United States
Geological Survey
Dr. Susan Margulies, Assistant Director for Engineering, National
Science Foundation
On Tuesday, January 30, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. (ET) in 2322 Rayburn House
Office Building, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will
hold a
hearing
entitled, “Fighting the Misuse of Biden’s Green Bank Giveaway.”
Zealan
Hoover,
Senior Advisor to the Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
Enacted on August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA)
provides more than $27 billion to the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to launch its new Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). This law
appropriated $7 billion to the EPA to make
grants to States, municipalities, Tribal governments, and eligible
nonprofits to provide loans, other financial assistance, and technical
assistance to deploy zero-emission technologies in low-income and
disadvantaged communities. The EPA also
received nearly $12 billion to make grants to eligible nonprofits to
provide financial and technical assistance to projects that: (1) reduce
or avoid greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution with private-sector
investment; or (2) assist communities in reducing or avoiding greenhouse
gas emissions and air pollution (collectively, qualified projects).
Finally, the IRA provided $8 billion for the
EPA to give to eligible nonprofits for
providing financial and technical assistance to qualified projects in
low-income and disadvantaged communities. The
IRA specified that the
EPA must award this funding by September 30,
2024.
The IRA’s GGRF
provisions contain elements associated with entities known as “green
banks,” or financial institutions designed to mitigate market barriers
and generate investment in low-carbon technologies. However, the
EPA acknowledged this is a “first-of-its-kind”
program and sought public comment on how it should design and implement
the program through an October 21, 2022, Request for Information. The
EPA’s Office of the Administrator also
requested advice from the Environmental Financial Advisory Board, which
provides advice to the EPA on strategies to
lower costs and increase investment in environmental protection. On
February 14, 2023, the EPA announced initial
guidance on the design of the program and subsequently released its
implementation framework on April 19, 2023.
As part of this April 19, 2023, update, the
EPA announced it would hold three separate
funding competitions to distribute the GGRF
program’s $27 billion. These included the following:
National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) ($14 billion): The
EPA stated it will provide grants to two
to three national nonprofit financing entities to establish
“national clean financing institutions” that can partner with the
private sector to provide financing for clean energy technology
projects nationwide.
Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA) ($6 billion): The
EPA plans to provide grants to two to
seven “hub” nonprofit organizations to provide funding and technical
assistance to networks of community lenders to deploy clean energy
projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
Solar for All (SFA) ($7 billion): The EPA
will award up to 60 grants to states, territories, Tribal
governments, municipalities, and eligible nonprofits to expand
existing programs for low-income and disadvantaged communities or
design and deploy new programs.
The EPA released Notice of Funding
Opportunities for all three programs in the summer of 2023. For all
three programs, the EPA plans to notify
organizations selected for awards by March 2024. By July 2024, the
EPA anticipates the performance period for the
NCIF and the CCIA
will begin, and SFA recipients will receive
their awards. Within the Office of the Administrator, the
EPA established an Office of Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund to develop, implement, and oversee the
GGRF funding competitions.
The hearing will provide the EPA with a chance
to update the Committee on its efforts to stand up this program.
Questions discussed at the hearing may include:
What factors influenced the EPA in designing
the programs, and how did the EPA choose the
current structure?
How will a new program spend $27 billion in such a short timeframe,
and how is EPA addressing the associated
risks for waste, fraud, and abuse?
As the EPA will use grantees as
intermediaries to distribute funding to subrecipients, how will the
EPA oversee the use of these funds?
What type of and how many staff does the new Office of the Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Fund include, and what expertise do they possess?
What type of projects will this program fund, and what type of
organizations is the EPA considering as
recipients?
On Tuesday, January 30, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. (ET) in 2123 Rayburn House
Office Building, the Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security
will hold a hearing entitled “Exposing President Biden’s Plan to
Dismantle the Snake River Dams and the Negative Impacts to the United
States.” The
hearing
will examine the management and operations of federal dams on the
Columbia River and its tributaries, and actions taken by the Biden
administration to plan for the removal of the Lower Snake River dams.
Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, of Connecticut, a Career Member of the Senior
Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to
the Republic of Indonesia
Courtney Diesel O’Donnell, of California, former Director of Global
Partnerships at Airbnb, to be United States Permanent Representative
to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization, with the rank of Ambassador
Andrew William Plitt, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Administrator of
the United States Agency for International Development (Middle Eastern
Affairs)
The Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will meet in open
session, hybrid format to conduct a
hearing
entitled, “Reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program:
Local Perspectives on Challenges and Solutions.”
Witnesses:
Dr. Daniel Kaniewski, Managing Director, Public Sector, Marsh McLennan
Michael Hecht, President & CEO, Greater New
Orleans, Inc.
Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee
Kurt Campbell, of the District of Columbia, the current Deputy
Assistant to the President and Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs on
the National Security Council, to be Deputy Secretary of State
Cardell Kenneth Richardson, Sr., of Virginia, the current inspector
general of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, to be
Inspector General, Department of State
Robert David Gioia, of New York, former President of Buffalo’s John R.
Oishei Foundation, to be a Commissioner on the part of the United
States on the International Joint Commission, United States and Canada
Nicole Shampaine, of California, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign
Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, for the rank of Ambassador
during her tenure of service as United States Representative to the
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
Sean Patrick Maloney, of New York, to be Representative of the United
States of America to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development, with the rank of Ambassador
Jeffrey Prescott, of the District of Columbia, current Deputy to the
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, to be U.S. Representative to
the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, with the rank of
Ambassador
Charlie Crist, of Florida, to be Representative of the United States
of America on the Council of the International Civil Aviation
Organization, with the rank of Ambassador
Joann M. Lockard, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign
Service, Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Burkina Faso
There will be a
hearing
of the Committee on the Budget on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, 10:00 AM
in Room SD-608 to consider: “Warming Seas, Cooling Economy: How the
Climate Crisis Threatens Ocean Industries”.
Witnesses:
Kyle Schaefer, Fishing Guide And Lodge Owner
Dr. Andrea Dutton, Helen Jupnik Endowed Research Professor, Department
Of Geoscience, University Of Wisconsin-Madison
Dr. Rashid Sumaila, University Killam Professor, Institute For The
Oceans And Fisheries, University Of British Columbia
Dr. Thomas Frazer, Professor And Dean Of The College Of Marine
Science, University of South Florida
Subcommittee
hearing
to examine U.S. nuclear power generation and identify the benefits and
challenges associated with further nuclear reactor buildout.
Chairman Pat Fallon (R-Texas.)
Witnesses:
Dr. Kathryn Huff, Assistant Secretary, Office of Nuclear Energy,
Department of Energy
Daniel Dorman, Executive Director for Operations, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission
Dr. David Ortiz, Director, Office of Electric Reliability, Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Subcommittee
S.
1863,
PROVE IT Act of 2023, to instruct the
Department of Energy (DOE) to undertake a thorough examination,
comparing the greenhouse pollution of specific goods (metals, cement,
plastics, oil, natural gas, batteries, paper, solar cells, uranium,
wind turbines) manufactured in the United States to the pollution
generated by the same goods manufactured in other countries.
Co-sponsored by Coons and Cramer
S.
2781,
Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2023, to
allow the EPA to issue permits to allow
third parties to remediate historic mine residue at abandoned hardrock
mine sites they are not responsible for without being subject to
enforcement or liability under specified environmental laws for past,
present, or future releases, threats of releases, or discharges of
hazardous substances or other contaminants at or from the abandoned
mine site.
S. 3412, Reuben E. Lawson Federal Building Act of 2023, a bill to
redesignate the Richard H. Poff Federal Building located at 210
Franklin Road Southwest in Roanoke, Virginia, as the “Reuben E. Lawson
Federal Building,” and for other purposes
S. 3570, A bill to designate the United States courthouse located at
500 West Pike Street in Clarksburg, West Virginia, as the “Irene M.
Keeley United States Courthouse,” and for other purposes
S. 3577, A bill to designate the Federal building located at 300 E.
3rd Street in North Platte, Nebraska, as the “Virginia Smith Federal
Building,” and for other purposes