Hill Heat

Legislative hearing to receive testimony on S. 648 & S. 1911.

• S. 648, Technical Correction to the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation Water Rights Settlement Act of 2021
• S. 1911, Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2021

S. 648 directs the Department of the Interior to deposit specified interest payments into the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes Water Rights Development Fund and the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes Operation and Maintenance Fund. These funds were established under the water rights settlement agreement for the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation.

S. 1911 modifies and ratifies a specified water rights settlement agreement entered into by the United States, Montana, and the Fort Belknap Indian Community (i.e., the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana).

The bill requires the community’s water rights to be held in trust for the benefit of the community and its allottees. The community must enact a tribal water code to regulate its water rights.

Among other activities, the Department of the Interior must

• negotiate with Montana for the transfer of specified parcels of state land located on and off the reservation,
• hold transferred land in trust for the benefit of the community,
• allocate 20,000 acre-feet per year of stored water from Lake Elwell,
• establish a settlement trust fund, and
• enter into a cost-share agreement with Montana to contribute to the design and construction of the Peoples Creek Dam and Reservoir to support mitigation activities.

The bill requires the Bureau of Reclamation to modify the operating procedures of the Milk River Project to ensure that the Fresno Reservoir is operated in accordance with the agreement.

The bill also outlines certain waivers, releases, and retention of claims under the settlement agreement.

The purpose of this hearing is to examine the status and management of drought in the western United States.

Opening Remarks

• Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.)

Witnesses:

• Tanya Trujillo, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, U.S. Department of the Interior
• Tom Buschatzke, Director, Arizona Department of Water Resources
• Julie Schaff Ellingson, Executive Vice President, North Dakota Stockmen’s Association
• Jennifer Pitt, Colorado River Program Director, National Audubon Society

On Wednesday, October 6, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. (EDT), the Committee on Natural Resources Office of Insular Affairs will hold a remote Full Committee Oversight Hearing titled, “PREPA Post Implementation of the LUMA Transmission and Distribution Contract.” This hearing will take place via Cisco WebEx and will be streamed on YouTube.

This hearing will examine various perspectives on emerging contaminants, so-called forever chemicals, and their impacts on public health and water quality. Specifically, the subcommittee will look at the growing concern in surface waters, their effects or potential effects on human and aquatic ecosystems, and the Clean Water Act’s framework for addressing contaminants in surface waters.

Witnesses:

• Dr. Elizabeth Southerland, Former Director of Science and Technology U.S. EPA Office of Water
• Chris Kennedy, Town Manager, Town of Pittsboro, North Carolina
• Dr. Elise Granek, Associate Professor, Environmental Science and Management Department, Portland State University
• Charles Moore, Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research
• Katie Huffling, Executive Director, Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment
• Dr. James Pletl, Director, Water Quality, Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Virginia Beach, VA

On Wednesday, October 6, at 10:00 AM ET, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold an oversight hearing to examine the response by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Hurricane Ida.

Witnesses:

• Major General William H. “Butch” Graham, Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Brigadier General Thomas J. Tickner, Commanding General, North Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Colonel Stephen F. Murphy, Commander, New Orleans District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills:

• S. 336, to amend the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 to reauthorize the Ohio & Erie National Heritage Canalway, and for other purposes;
• S. 378, to reauthorize the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, the Lackawanna Valley National Heritage Area, the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage Area, and the Oil Region National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 511, to establish the Bronzeville-Black Metropolis National Heritage Area in the State of Illinois, and for other purposes;
• S. 635, to reauthorize The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor and the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 654, to reauthorize the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 787, to amend the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area Act to extend the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance to the local coordinating entity for the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area under that Act;
• S. 825, to establish the Southern Maryland National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 972, to reauthorize the Essex National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 990, to reauthorize the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area;
• S. 1004, to extend the authorization of the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area, to designate the Great Basin National Heritage Route in the State of Nevada as the “Great Basin National Heritage Area”, to designate the Great Basin Heritage Route Partnership as the “Great Basin Heritage Area Partnership”, to extend the authorization of the Great Basin National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 1112, to amend the National Trails System Act to designate the Chisholm National Historic Trail and the Western National Historic Trail, and for other purposes.
• S. 1224, to reauthorize, and increase the total funding cap for, the America’s Agricultural Heritage Partnership, to redesignate the America’s Agricultural Heritage Partnership as the “Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area”, and for other purposes;
• S. 1258, to extend the authorization of each of the National Coal Heritage Area and the Wheeling National Heritage Area in the State of West Virginia, and for other purposes;
• S. 1284 / H.R. 2497, to establish the Amache National Historic Site in the State of Colorado as a unit of the National Park System, and for other purposes;
• S. 1318, to reauthorize the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area;
• S. 1329, to amend the National Aviation Heritage Area Act to reauthorize the National Aviation Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 1620, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the city of Eunice, Louisiana, certain Federal land in the State of Louisiana, and for other purposes;
• S. 1643, to establish the Alabama Black Belt National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 1942, to standardize the designation of National Heritage Areas, and for other purposes;
• S. 1954, to reauthorize the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, and for other purposes;
• S. 2158, to extend the authorization of the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission;
• S. 2296, to establish the Northern Neck National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 2438, to modify the boundary of the Cane River Creole National Historical Park in the State of Louisiana, and for other purposes;
• S. 2441, to establish in the States of North Carolina and South Carolina the Southern Campaign of the Revolution National Heritage Corridor, and for other purposes;
• S. 2482, to amend the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership Act of 2006 to reauthorize the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership, and for other purposes;
• S. 2490, to establish the Blackwell School National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, and for other purposes;
• S. 2580, to direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to make free National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes available to members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes;
• S. 2648, to amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to reauthorize the Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area in the State of Alaska, and for other purposes; and
• S. 2763, to extend the authorization for the MotorCities National Heritage Area in the State of Michigan, and for other purposes.

Witnesses:

• Joy Beasley, Associate Director of Cultural Resources, Partnerships, and Science, National Park Service
• Sara Capen, Chairwoman, Alliance of National Heritage Areas, Executive Director, Niagara Falls National Heritage Area, Inc.

On Tuesday, October 5, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. ET, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, will hold a hearing entitled, “Hurricane Ida and Beyond: Readiness, Recovery, and Resilience.”

Disaster recovery efforts by federal, state, and local governments are being outpaced by a volatile and intense 2021 hurricane season, and Americans continue to need assistance. On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall at Port Fourchon, Louisiana, as a category-four hurricane before remnants of the storm moved to the Northeast. Significant storm surge, hurricane-force winds, flash flooding, and damaged electric grids impacted communities in Louisiana, across the Gulf Coast, and in the Northeast.

The hearing will focus on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) recovery efforts following Hurricane Ida, including improvements the Biden Administration has made to accelerate recovery efforts following natural disasters, and steps FEMA must take to implement an environmental justice strategy to improve equity in disaster recovery and build climate resilient communities.

Hurricane Ida and its storm-related impacts resulted in nearly 90 deaths across the United States. In New York alone, at least 13 people died from flooding, many perishing in basement units of residential homes. The National Weather Service issued an emergency flash flood warning, noting, “[T]his particular warning for NYC is the second time we’ve ever issued a Flash Flood Emergency (It’s the first one for NYC). The first time we’ve issued a Flash Flood Emergency was for Northeast New Jersey a [sic] an hour ago.”

Extreme weather events like these are becoming more frequent and catastrophic, with nearly one in three Americans living in a county hit by a weather disaster in the past three months of 2021. Although the President approved emergency and major disaster declarations during Hurricane Ida, a more robust readiness strategy is necessary for future natural disasters.

This hearing will also discuss the urgent need to enact the Build Back Better Act to mitigate the impacts of climate change and invest in more climate resilient infrastructure.

Witness:

• Deanne Criswell, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency

The purpose of this hearing is to examine and consider updates to the Mining Law of 1872.

Witnesses:

• Chris Wood, President and CEO, Trout Unlimited
• Katie Sweeney, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, National Mining Association
• Autumn Hanna, Vice President, Taxpayers for Common Sense
• Rich Haddock, General Counsel, Barrick Gold Corporation
• David Brown, President and CEO, Wyo-Ben, Inc.

Markup of:

• H.R. 1456, Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2021
• H.R. 4133, Caribbean Basin Security Initiative Authorization Act
• H.R. 1311, Energy Diplomacy Act
• H.R. 3485, Global Respect Act
• H.R. 3344, Transatlantic Telecommunications Security Act
• H.Con.Res.45, Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the execution-style murders of United States citizens Ylli Agron and Mehmet Bytyqi in the Republic of Serbia in July 1999
• H.R. 2748, Israel Relations Normalization Act of 2021
• H.R. 4785, Uyghur Policy Act of 2021
• H.Res. 336, Calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to provide evidence or to release United States citizen Paul Whelan

The Energy Diplomacy Act, introduced by Rep. August Pfluger II (R-TX) and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), would create a new position in the State Department to promote the development and export of fossil fuels. Before this markup, it passed the House as an amendment to the NDAA.

The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce will hold a hybrid hearing that includes both in-person and remote attendance on Wednesday, September 29, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. This hearing will take place in the John D. Dingell Room, 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building, as well as remotely using Cisco WebEx online video conferencing. The hearing is entitled, “Protecting Communities from Industrial Accidents: Revitalizing the Chemical Safety Board.”

CSB is led by a five-member board of experts who are appointed individually by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Currently, there are four vacancies on the Board.

Memorandum from Chairman Pallone to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

The Chemical Safety and Hazards Investigations Board, commonly referred to as the Chemical Safety Board (CSB), is an independent federal agency responsible for investigating industrial chemical accidents. CSB was authorized by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, but only funded in 1998 after a series of industrial accidents led to a renewed impetus to secure appropriations for the organization.

Witness

• Katherine A. Lemos, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board