Hill Heat

On Thursday, March 23, 2023, at 2:00 p.m., in Room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands will hold a legislative hearing on the following bills:

• H.R. 200 (Rep. Rosendale), “Forest Information Reform (FIR) Act”, To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to provide that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior are not required to reinitiate consultation on a land management plan or land use plan under certain circumstances, and for other purposes;
• H.R. 1473 (Rep. Peters), “Targeting and Offsetting Existing Illegal Contaminants Act”, To provide for a program within the Forest Service to detect, document, monitor, and remediate the environmental damages caused by trespass cultivation on National Forest Lands, and amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to include criminal penalties for illegal pesticide application on Government property, and for other purposes;
• H.R. 1567 (Rep. Tiffany), “Accurately Counting Risk Elimination Solutions (ACRES) Act”, To require that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior submit accurate reports regarding hazardous fuels reduction activities, and for other purposes; and
• H.R. 1586 (Rep. LaMalfa), “Forest Protection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 2023”, To allow the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to use a fire retardant, chemical, or water for fire suppression, control, or prevention activities

Hearing page

Witness:

• Antony Blinken, Secretary, Department of State

• Congressional Budget Justification: $63.1 billion for the Department of State and USAID

This includes:

• $800 million in ESF for the State Department to provide to the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
• $425 million for Climate Investment Funds
• $168.7 million for Global Environmental Facility
• $27 million for Multilateral Development Bank Climate Trust Funds and Facilities
• $18.5 million for Diplomatic Policy and Support, Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, including costs for the U.S. Center at the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• $16 million for World Meteorological Organization
• $6 million for Diplomatic Policy and Support, Energy Resources
• $4.8 million for International Renewable Energy Agency
• $537 thousand for International Union for Conservation of Nature

This hearing will serve as a legislative hearing for three bills that would authorize research, development, and demonstration activities carried out or supported by the U.S. Department of Energy in the areas of grid security, hydrogen, and pipelines. Attached are discussion drafts of bills under consideration.

Opening Statements:

• Subcommittee Chairman Brandon Williams
• Chairman Frank Lucas

Witnesses:

• Spencer Nelson, Managing Director – Research and New Initiatives, ClearPath
• Dr. Richard Boardman, Directorate Fellow, Idaho National Laboratory, Energy and Environmental Science & Technology
• Cliff Johnson, President, Pipeline Research Council International
• Dr. Arvind Ravikumar, Co-Director, Energy Emissions Modeling and Data Lab Research Associate Professor, Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin
• Jason Fuller, Chief Energy Resilience Engineer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Legislation:

• Discussion draft: Grid Security
• Discussion draft: Hydrogen
• Discussion draft: LNG pipelines

Hearing page Witnesses

• Jane Bocklage, Deputy And Senior Advisor to the Special Presidential Envoy for Compact Negotiations, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
• Taylor Ruggles, Office Director, Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State
• Craig Hart, Deputy Assistant Administrator for East Asia and the Pacific, U.S. Agency for International Development
• Holly Haverstick, Director of International Affairs and Foreign Policy Advisor, U.S. Coast Guard
• Keone Nakoa, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior

This is a hearing of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.

Includes:

• Budget request of $980.2 million for the Maritime Administration

Witness list:

• Rear Admiral Ann C. Phillips (Ret.), Administrator, United States Maritime Administration, United States Department of Transportation
• Daniel B. Maffei, Chairman, United States Federal Maritime Commission

Written testimony:

• Richard Spinrad PhD, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The hearing is on the FY24 budget request for Army military construction and family housing.

• Budget justification: $1.47 billion

Witnesses

• Rachel Jacobson, Assistant to Secretary, Army, Installations, Energy, and Environment
• Lieutenant General Kevin Vereen, Deputy Chief of Staff G9, Installation Management Command

Hearing page

• Budget request: $53 million

Witness:

• Peggy E. Gustafson, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Commerce

Hearing page

Hearing page

• 2024 DOE Budget Justification: $52 billion ($32.5 military)

Witness:

• Jennifer Granholm, Secretary, Department of Energy

On Thursday, March 23, 2023, at 10:15 a.m., in Room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hold a legislative hearing on the following bills:

• H.R. 764 (Rep. Boebert), “Trust the Science Act”, to delist the gray wolf as an endangered species
• H.R. 886 (Rep. Bonamici), “Save Our Seas 2.0 Amendments Act”, to improve programs on removing marine debris
• H.R. 1245 (Rep. Hageman), To direct the Secretary of the Interior to reissue a final rule relating to removing the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population of grizzly bears from the Federal list of endangered and threatened wildlife, and for other purposes; and
• H.R. 1419 (Rep. Rosendale), “Comprehensive Grizzly Bear Management Act of 2023”, To direct the Secretary of the Interior to issue a new rule removing the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem population of grizzly bears from the Federal list of endangered and threatened wildlife