Hill Heat

On Tuesday, May 16, 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 President’s FY 2024 Budget for the Bureau of Land Management and the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement.”

Witnesses:

• Tracy Stone-Manning, Director, Bureau of Land Management
• Glenda Owens, Deputy Director, Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement, Washington, DC

GOP hearing memo

The fiscal year (FY) 2024 President’s Budget requested $1.7 billion for the BLM to promote its multiple use and sustained yield mandate. The proposed budget is an increase of $140.5 million above FY 2023 enacted funding. The budget requests $304 million for the Land Resources account, which provides for integrated management of public land resources, including forestry, range, and cultural resources, as well as wild horses and burro management. The budget requests $230 million for Energy and Minerals Management ($4 million less than FY 2023 enacted funding) which provides for oil and gas management and inspection activities, coal management, other mineral resource management and renewable energy.

The BLM’s budget request includes $72.5 million for the Renewable Energy Management program and an increase of almost $32 million from FY 2023 enacted. According to the BLM’s budget justification, the increase will support siting, leasing, processing rights-ofway applications, and oversight of renewable energy projects and transmission lines connecting to renewable energy projects. The money would also be used to hire 81 full time employees in BLM headquarters, state and field offices, and the Renewable Energy Coordination Offices.

The DOI budget requests $1.93 billion for the Wildland Fire Management Program, a 9.5 percent increase compared to FY 2023 enacted levels of $1.86 billion. The majority of this funding is for Preparedness and Suppression Operations (including the Wildfire Suppression Operations Reserve Fund), which totals $1.33 billion. Of this, $72 million is identified for a legislative proposal to provide a permanent increase in pay for wildland firefighters.

05/16/2023 at 10:15AM

Full committee hearing on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposed Fiscal Year 2024 budget.

Witness:

• Martha Williams, Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

$4.1 billion budget request for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

05/16/2023 at 10:15AM

This is a hearing of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, chaired by climate denier David Rouzer (R-N.C.).

Witness list:

• Dr. Andrea Travnicek, Director, Department of Water Resources, State of North Dakota
• Serena Coleman McIlwain, Secretary of the Environment, State of Maryland
• Mickey Conway, CEO, Metro Water Recovery, Denver, Colorado, on behalf of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies
• Brandon Farris, Vice President, Energy and Resources Policy, National Association of Manufacturers

05/16/2023 at 10:00AM

Hearing of the Subcommittee on Forestry re: “To Review the National Forest System: Supporting Forest Health and Confronting the Wildfire Crisis”

Witness:

• Randy Moore, Chief, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

05/16/2023 at 10:00AM

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Energy, Climate, & Grid Security Subcommittee Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC) announced a subcommittee markup of 3 bills.

• H.R. 1042, The Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act
• H.R. 1640, Save Our Gas Stoves Act, to prohibit the implementation of Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Conventional Cooking Products
• H.R. 3277, Energy Emergency Leadership Act

Markup memo

“America produces some of the cleanest, most affordable, and most efficient energy in the world. We’ve led the world in emissions reductions while upholding some of the highest labor and environmental standards. This Committee is at the forefront of improving people’s lives by unleashing American energy and improving our energy security. We look forward to considering several bills that build on these efforts by preserving people’s access to natural gas stoves, strengthening American leadership in clean nuclear energy, and protecting our electric grid from cyber threats.”

Rep. McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) introduced H.R. 1042 on February 14, 2023. This legislation would amend the relevant sections of the USEC Privatization Act to prohibit the importation of unirradiated, low-enriched uranium that is produced in the Russian Federation. It would provide waiver authority until January 2028 to the Secretary of Energy to authorize the importation of such uranium, subject to certain limits, if no alternative, viable source of lowenriched uranium is available to sustain U.S. nuclear reactor or U.S. nuclear company operations or is determined to be in the national interest. This prohibition would not apply to imports of non-uranium isotopes or certain imports for national security or nonproliferation purposes. The legislation also would authorize the Department of Energy (DOE) to use funds available in the Department’s nuclear credit program, up to no more than $1.5 billion, for its American Assured Fuel Supply, to address potential low-enriched uranium supply disruptions.

Rep. Lesko (R-AZ) introduced H.R. 1640 on March 17, 2023. This legislation would amend Section 325(h) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act so that an energy conservation standard under this section for kitchen ranges or ovens cannot be “economically justified” if it likely will result in the unavailability in the United States of a type (or class) of product based on what type of fuel the product consumes. H.R. 1640 also would prohibit the Secretary of Energy from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing the proposed energy conservation standard for consumer conventional cooking products, or any substantially similar rule.

Reps. Walberg (R-MI) and Blunt-Rochester (D-DE) introduced H.R. 3277 on May 11, 2023. H.R. 3277, the “Energy Emergency Leadership Act”, would amend the Department of Energy Organization Act to include energy emergency and energy security among the functions that the Secretary of Energy shall assign to an Assistant Secretary. The legislation would provide that the functions to be assigned to an Assistant Secretary include responsibilities with respect to infrastructure, cybersecurity, emerging threats, supply and emergency planning, coordination, response, and restoration. It would also provide that these functions include the provision of technical assistance, support, and response capabilities with respect to energy sector threats, risks, and incidents to State, local, and Tribal governments, and the energy sector. Finally, H.R. 3277 would require the Secretary of Energy to ensure that the departmental functions added by this legislation are performed in coordination with relevant Federal agencies.

05/16/2023 at 10:00AM

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, will convene a full committee hearing titled “Examining NASA’s FY24 Budget and Priorities” at 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

Witness:

• Bill Nelson, Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Following the successful 2022 Artemis I and Double Asteroid Redirect Test missions, and looking ahead to the 2023 flying of X-59 Quiet Supersonic Transport, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) remains the world’s preeminent aeronautical and space research agency. This oversight hearing will examine the activities and funding levels required to maintain U.S. leadership in these science and technology areas. Topics such as achieving Artemis mission goals with commercial and international partners, future of the International Space Station, Earth observation data sharing, workforce development and meeting the requirements of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 will be considered. The hearing will also inform committee efforts to develop a multi-year NASA authorization that will help ensure NASA’s continued success.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration FY2024 budget request is $27.2 billion, including $2.5 billion for earth science.

05/16/2023 at 10:00AM

Energy, Climate, & Grid Security Subcommittee hearing on the DOE’s fiscal year 2024 budget.

Subcommittee Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC)

2024 Department of Energy Budget Justification: $52 billion ($32.5 military)

Chairs Rodgers and Duncan released the following statement:

“The Department of Energy (DOE) has long served America’s critical national and energy security interests. It maintains the nation’s nuclear stockpile, advances world class national security and engineering goals through the national laboratories, and nurtures the supply of American energy. The Democrats’ reckless spending spree has allocated billions of taxpayer dollars for DOE to implement President Biden’s rush-to-green agenda, which is forcing higher energy costs on Americans, making the U.S. more reliant on China, and distracting from the agency’s congressionally-mandated mission of advancing our nation’s energy security and leadership. Secretary Granholm, who has been at the helm of implementing this radical agenda, needs to answer to Americans whose lives have been made worse while she’s praising China—a country with some of the worst environmental and labor standards in the world. We’ll demand answers from her on how we can reverse this damage and flip the switch on domestic production of cleaner oil, natural gas, nuclear, hydropower, and other sources, which is the best way to bring down costs and reduce emissions.”

05/11/2023 at 02:00PM

The purpose of the hearing is to review the effectiveness and priorities of the United States Fire Administration and the Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs. The hearing will help inform legislation to address current program authorizations that expire on September 30, 2023.

Hearing charter

Opening Statements:

• Subcommittee Chairman Mike Collins
• Chairman Frank Lucas

Witnesses:

• Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, U.S. Fire Administrator, U.S. Fire Administration
• Chief Donna Black, President, International Association of Fire Chiefs
• Kevin B. O’Connor, Assistant to the General President, International Association of Fire Fighters
• David Bullard, Volunteer Firefighter and Past President, Georgia State Firefighters Association
• Kevin Reardon, State Fire Marshall, State of Ohio

Overarching Questions

• What are the priority needs for the fire safety of the nation?
• What emerging fire safety issues should Congress be aware of and is the Fire Administration taking steps to address them?
• What is the proper role of the federal government, working with state and local governments, in addressing fire safety?
• How effective and efficient are the merit-reviewed FIRE and SAFER grant programs?
• How can the USFA and the fire grants programs be improved?
• How can the USFA facilitate information and data sharing regarding best practices and fire incidents?

The United States Fire Administration (USFA) is an entity within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Its mission is to provide leadership, coordination, and support for the nation’s fire prevention and control, fire training and education, and emergency medical services activities, and to prepare first responders to react to all hazard and terrorism emergencies. USFA is located on the grounds of the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, MD.

The genesis of USFA and FEMA’s fire prevention and control activities (and the House Science Committee’s jurisdiction) was a 1973 report of the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, entitled America Burning. The commission recommended the creation of a federal fire agency to provide support to state and local governments and private fire organizations in their efforts to reduce fire deaths, injuries, and property loss. In legislation developed by the Science Committee, Congress placed the agency in the Department of Commerce and with the passage of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-498), the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration (NFPCA) was established. In 1978, Congress changed the name of NFPCA to USFA (P.L. 95-422), and in 1979, President Carter’s Reorganization Plan placed the USFA within the newly created FEMA.

05/11/2023 at 02:00PM

The purpose of this hearing is to examine opportunities for Congress to reform the permitting process for energy and mineral projects.

Witnesses:

• Jason Grumet, CEO, American Clean Power Association
• Rich Nolan, President and CEO, National Mining Association
• Liz Shuler, President, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
• Paul Ulrich, Vice President, Jonah Energy, Member, Wyoming Energy Authority Board of Directors

05/11/2023 at 10:00AM

On Thursday, Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX) and Members of the House Budget Committee will hold a hearing to “expose the woke, wasteful, and bloated bureaucracy.”

Witnesses:

• Paige Agostin, Policy Director at the Center for Renewing America
• Myron Ebell, Director for the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute
• Rachel Greszler, Senior Research Fellow on Budget and Entitlements at the Heritage Foundation
• Indivar Dutta-Gupta, President and Executive Director at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), Democratic witness

Paige Agostin is Policy Director at the Center for Renewing America. She most recently served as Legislative Director for Congresswoman Lauren Boebert and has spent more than a decade working on conservative policy development in Washington, and on Capitol Hill.

She previously served as Associate Director for Domestic Policy in the Trump Administration and a Special Assistant at the Department of Education, in the Office of Postsecondary Education.

05/11/2023 at 10:00AM