Hill Heat

On Wednesday, September 13, 2023, at 10:15 a.m., in Room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources will hold an oversight hearing titled “Examining the Methodology and Structure of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Critical Minerals List.”

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

• Dr. Nedal Nassar, Chief of Minerals Intelligence Research, U.S. Geological Survey
• Dr. Roderick Eggert, Research Professor of Economics & Business and Coulter Foundation Chair in Mineral Economics, Colorado Schools of Mines, Golden, CO
• Reed Blakemore, Director of Research and Programs, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council
• Brian Somers, President, Utah Mining Association
• Dustin Mulvaney, Professor, Environmental Studies Department, San José State University

A full committee hearing examining the effects of extreme heat and weather on transportation.

Witnesses:

• David Hondula, PhD, Director of the Office of Heat Response and Mitigation, City of Phoenix
• Travis Parsons, Director of Occupational Safety and Health, Laborers International Union of North America
• Aimee Flannery, PhD, PE, Global Principal, Transportation Risk and Resilience, Jacobs, Solutions & Technologies

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC) announced a legislative hearing titled “Keeping the Lights On: Enhancing Reliability and Efficiency to Power American Homes.”

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

Panel One:

• Gene Rodrigues, Assistant Secretary for Electricity, Office of Electricity, U.S. Department of Energy;
• David Ortiz, Director, Office of Electric Reliability, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Panel Two:

• Kevin Messner, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer, Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers
• B. Robert “Bob” Paulling, President and CEO, Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative, on behalf of the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association
• Ben Lieberman, Senior Fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute
• Andrew deLaski, Executive Director, Appliance Standards Awareness Project

Legislation to be discussed:

• H.R. 4167, Protecting America’s Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Act (Rep. Richard Hudson), to prohibit the Secretary of Energy from strengthening energy conservation standards for distribution transformers for 5 years
• H.R. ___, DOE Appliance and Equipment Standards Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Rep. Debbie Lesko), to place increased restrictions on new energy efficiency standards for appliances and other products
• H.R. ___, GRID Act (Rep. Jeff Duncan), to to require coordination between the FERC and any Federal agency that promulgates a regulation that could have a “significant negative impact” on the reliable operation of the bulk power system, as determined either by FERC or a state commission

The Committee on Rules will meet Tuesday, September 12, 2023 at 4:00 PM ET in H-313, The Capitol on the following measures:

• H.R. 4365 – Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2024
• H.R. 1435 – Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act, to protect fossil-fuel automobiles from state-level standards under the Clean Air Act

Coinciding with this year’s 50th anniversary of the ESA, the symposium is being organized by Defenders of Wildlife and cosponsored by thirteen other organizations. The symposium will bring together members of Congress, administration officials, Tribal leaders, academia, policy experts, and wildlife supporters from around the country, to examine the importance and successes of the Endangered Species Act and review critical issues facing imperiled species at an important moment in the history of this essential wildlife law.

Invited speakers include

• Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.)
• Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.)
• Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.)
• Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.)
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams
• NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit
• Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark

Please RSVP.

Full committee hearing on “Oversight of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.”

Witness:

• Gary Gensler, Chair, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

From Utility Dive:

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler said Tuesday that the agency has not yet released a final rule requiring disclosure on climate risk partly because of public concern that companies would need to report so-called Scope 3 carbon emissions across their supply chains.

The SEC has received more than 16,000 public comment letters about the climate risk disclosure rule that it proposed in March 2022, with many asserting that Scope 3 reporting will prove onerous for small businesses, Gensler said. “We got a lot of comments around what’s called Scope 3 disclosures, and that’s what we’re trying to move forward on,” he said in testimony to the Senate Banking Committee.

Gensler declined to estimate when the SEC will adopt a final regulation, while noting that rule revisions can take from 12 to 24 months. “We try not to do things against the clock,” he said, adding “it’s really when the staff is ready and the [five-member agency] commission is ready.”

Referring to the proposed requirement that companies report carbon emissions and climate risk, Gensler said, “many U.S. issuers are already disclosing climate risk information and investors are making investment decisions” based on the information. The SEC, for the sake of investors, aims to ensure the reports are consistent and comparable, he said.

“We have no climate agenda whatsoever,” he said. “We’re not climate regulators.”

Gensler came under fire from the other side of the aisle, as Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., criticized him for not pushing through the disclosure rule sooner.

“When you were nominated two and a half years ago, you said the giant corporation should not be able to hide their climate risks from investors,” Warren told Gensler. “Without a strong climate risk disclosure rule, that is exactly what companies will continue to do.

Subcommittee hearing.

Witnesses:

• Brian Nichols, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, United States Department of State
• Marcela Escobari, Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, United States Agency for International Development
• Todd Robinson, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, United States Department of State

Full committee hearing on implementing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, focusing on the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act.

Witnesses:

• Elizabeth Biser, Secretary, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
• Kishia L. Powell, General Manager & CEO, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC Water)
• Eric Volk, Executive Director, North Dakota Rural Water Systems Association

The Committee on Banking will meet in open session, hybrid format to conduct a hearing on “Perspectives on Challenges in the Property Insurance Market and the Impact on Consumers.”

Witnesses:

• Douglas Heller, Director of Insurance, Consumer Federation of America
• Michelle Norris, Executive Vice President of External Affairs and Strategic Partnerships, National Church Residences
• Jerry Theodorou, Policy Director, Finance, Insurance and Trade, the R Street Institute

The purpose of this hearing is to examine recent advances in artificial intelligence and the Department of Energy’s role in ensuring U.S. competitiveness and security in emerging technologies.