Dennis
Shea,
Executive Director, J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy,
Bipartisan Policy Center; former Trump Deputy U.S. Trade
Representative and U.S. Ambassador to the World Trade Organization
Bobby
Hanks,
CEO, Supreme Rice; Chair, International
Trade Policy Committee, USA Rice Federation
Kelly Ann
Shaw,
Partner, Hogan Lovells; Lecturer in Law, Columbia Law School; former
Deputy Assistant to President Trump for International Economics
Join organizers, allies, friends, and elected officials on February 6th
at 6:30pm at the Ugly Mug at 723 8th St SE, Washington DC. There will be
brief remarks from some special guests, including Sen. Ed Markey
(D-Mass.) and GND Network director Kaniela
Ing, followed by a happy hour/party. There may even be a pinata, and
charaoke will be available at 9pm. RSVP
here.
The following bills are expected to move by unanimous consent:
H.R.
1829
(Rep. Crane), To require the Secretary of Agriculture to convey the
Pleasant Valley Ranger District Administrative Site to Gila County,
Arizona;
On Tuesday, February 6, 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 “Politics Over People: How Biden’s
LNG Export Ban Threatens America’s Energy and
Economic Security.” The hearing will examine the Biden administration’s
recently announced ban on issuing permits to export liquified natural
gas (LNG), and the implications of this decision on the U.S. economy and
energy security.
On Wednesday, January 31, 2024, at 2:00 p.m., in room 1324 Longworth
House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee
on Energy and Mineral Resources will hold a legislative
hearing
on the following bills:
H.R.
2925
(Rep. Amodei), “Mining Regulatory Clarity Act of 2023”, to overturn
the Ninth Circuit’s Rosemont
decision
protecting sacred sites from mine waste, allowing mine operations to
use, occupy, and conduct operations (including construction of roads
and other mining infrastructure activity) on public land regardless of
whether a mineral deposit has been discovered on the land so long as
the claimant makes timely payments of required claims maintenance
fees;
H.R.
6862
(Rep. Lamborn (R-Colo.)), To amend the FAST
Act to include all mineral mining activities as a covered project
granted fast-track approval, overturning the Biden administration’s
rule
which limits it to critical minerals;
H.R.
7003
(Rep. DelBene), “National Landslide Preparedness Act Reauthorization
Act of 2024”; and
H.R.
7004
(Rep. Curtis), To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to amend references of
gilsonite to asphaltite.
Witnesses:
Dr. Steven Feldgus, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and
Minerals Management, Department of the Interior [H.R. 2925, H.R.
6862, H.R. 7003, and H.R. 7004]
Craig Mueller, President & CEO, American
Gilsonite Company [H.R. 7004]
Rich Haddock, Senior Advisor, Barrick Gold, Bountiful, UT [H.R. 2925
and H.R. 6862]
Dr. John Metesh, President, Association of American State Geologists
[H.R. 7003]
Jeffrey Stiffarm, President, Fort Belknap Indian Community, Harlem, MT
[Minority Witness; H.R. 2925 and H.R. 6862] Hearing
memo.
On Wednesday, January 31, 2024, at 10:00 a.m., in room 1324 Longworth
House Office Building, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands will hold a
legislative
hearing
on the following bills:
H.R.
674
(Rep. Newhouse), “Root and Stem Project Authorization Act of 2023”, to
authorize industry-run environmental impact approvals for “healthy
forest” logging;
H.R.
5443
(Rep. Lee of NV), “Accelerating Appraisals and Conservation Efforts
Act” or “AACE Act”, to allow non-federal land appraisers who are
appropriately credentialed in one state or territory to perform
appraisal and valuation services on DOI’s
behalf in any state or territory;
H.R.
6994
(Rep. Kim of CA), “Restoring Our Unopened Trails for Enjoyment and
Safety (ROUTES) Act”, to require federal land managers to prioritize
reopening trails, campsites, recreation areas, and roads within two
years of a closure caused by a natural disaster, and give them
emergency authority to do so without environmental reviews;
H.R.
7072
(Rep. Tiffany), “Wabeno Economic Development Act of 2024”, to convey a
14-acre parcel of Wisconsin forest to the concrete company to Tony’s
Wabeno Redi-Mix, LLC.
Witnesses:
Greg Smith, Associate Deputy Chief – National Forest System, U.S.
Forest Service [All bills]
Tom Tallier, Supervisor, Forest County Board of Supervisors – District
8, Wabeno, Wisconsin [H.R. 7072]
Hannah Downey, Policy Director, Property and Environment Research
Center [H.R. 674]
Dan Munsey, Fire Chief, San Bernardino County Fire Department [H.R.
6994]
Siri Roman, General Manager, Eagle River Water and Sanitation
District, Vail, Colorado [H.R. 4297] (Democratic witness)
Sandy Adomatis, President, The Appraisal Institute, Chicago, Illinois
[H.R. 5443] (Democratic witness)
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?
