Hill Heat

There will be a hearing of the Committee on the Budget on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, 10:00 AM in Room SD-608. Members of the Committee may participate in person or by video conference technology. To consider: “Rising Seas, Rising Costs: Climate Change and the Economic Risks to Coastal Communities”

Witnesses:

• Dr. Sean Becketti, Principal, Elliott Bay Analytics
• Matthew Eby, Founder And Chief Executive Officer, First Street Foundation
• Kate Michaud, Town Manager, Warren, Rhode Island
• Dr. Jessica Weinkle, Associate Professor, University of North Carolina Wilmington
• Marlo Lewis, Jr., Senior Fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute

Hearing page

Witness:

• Joseph Goffman, Assistant Administrator (acting), Office of Air and Radiation at the Environmental Protection Agency

Goffman’s nomination was stalled through 2022.

Business meeting, following the caucus lunches, to consider the nominations of

• Career diplomat Stephanie Sanders Sullivan, of Maryland, to be Representative to the African Union, with the rank and status of Ambassador
• Career diplomat Michael Alan Ratney, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• Geeta Rao Gupta, of Virginia, to be Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues
• Former Los Angeles mayor Eric M. Garcetti, of California, to be Ambassador to the Republic of India
• Former ambassador to India and current Mastercard lawyer Richard R. Verma, of Maryland, to be Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources, Department of State
• Cuban-American technologist, political operative, and venture capitalist L. Felice Gorordo, of Florida, to be Alternate Executive Director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
• ExxonMobil lawyer Richard L.A. Weiner, of the District of Columbia, to be Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
• Venezuelan-American politician and law professor Leopoldo Martinez Nucete, of Virginia, to be Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has placed holds on most of the nominees.

On Tuesday, February 28, 2023, at 2:00 p.m., in Room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources will hold a legislative hearing on H.R.­ ___ (Graves of Louisiana), “Building United States Infrastructure through Limited Delays and Efficient Reviews Act of 2023”.

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

• Brenda Mallory, Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality
• Brent Ridge, President and CEO, Dairyland Power Cooperative, La Crosse, Wisconsin
• Brian Veerkamp, President – Board of Directors, El Dorado Irrigation District, Placerville, California
• Keith Pugh, PE, PWLF, President, American Public Works Association, Asheville, North Carolina
• John Beard, Jr., Founder, President and Executive Director, Port Arthur Community Action Network

On Tuesday, February 28, at 1:00 p.m. (or 30 minutes after the Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security markup concludes), the Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials will meet in open markup session in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building to consider the following.

Legislation to be considered includes:

• H.R. 1070, a bill to amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) to treat the owner or operator of a critical energy resource facility as having been issued an interim permit for the treatment, storage, and disposal, of hazardous waste, and for other purposes. This legislation, which was included in Title VI of H.R. 8981 of the 117th Congress, is patterned after a previous SWDA practice. It would address delays for SWDA-regulated waste permitting that is a condition of operation, but only for facilities that deal with critical energy resources. Specifically, the permitting involved would relate to on-site storage of more than 90 days, onsite waste treatment, or on-site waste disposal. The legislation would provide a facility, that files a Part A permit application, “interim status” until EPA or the State requires the facility to submit its Part B permit application for a long-term permit. (Rep. Carter introduced this legislation.)
• H.R. 1131, a bill to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to authorize the use of flexible air permitting with respect to certain critical energy resource facilities, and for other purposes. This legislation would authorize EPA to issue flexible air permits and facilitate flexible, market-responsive operations for critical energy resource facilities. Flexible air permitting is a procedure that has been promoted by EPA to allow industrial facilities to obtain advance approval for changes to an emissions source without requiring the change to be reviewed and approved individually. Flexible air permitting ensures equal or greater environmental protection than conventional air permits. (Rep. Joyce introduced this legislation.)
• H.R. 1140, a bill to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to waive application of certain requirements with respect to processing and refining of a critical energy resource at a critical energy resource facility, and for other purposes. This legislation would authorize the EPA Administrator, under certain conditions, to waive temporarily any Clean Air Act (CAA) or Solid Waste Disposal Act requirement the Administrator determines is necessary to allow for the processing or refining of a critical energy resource to meet national security or energy security needs and to serve the public interest. The introduced bill includes new language that establishes requirements, timeframes, and a public interest protection by which the Administrator must act to avoid or minimize any adverse environmental impacts of a temporary waiver. (Rep. Pence introduced this legislation.)
• H.R. 1158, the Elimination of Future Technology Delays Act. This legislation would address repeated, documented delays with EPA reviewing and making legally mandated, timely determinations of pre-manufacturing notices for new critical energy resources and new uses of existing critical energy resources. The legislation would prevent EPA from withholding judgment on a notice and preventing commercialization – without justification – of a substance beyond the Toxic Substances Control Act’s (TSCA’s) statutory deadlines. This legislation would also prevent EPA from proactively encouraging manufacturers to exercise their right to suspend or end the legal clock on EPA action if EPA has not made an initial review of the new critical energy resource and communicated the noted risks to the applicant. Finally, this legislation would require EPA to consider economic, societal, and environmental costs and benefits when determining whether an “unreasonable risk” exists from the manufacturing, processing, commercial transportation, use or disposal of the critical energy resource. (Rep. Curtis introduced this legislation.)
• H.R. 1141, Natural Gas Tax Repeal Act. This legislation would repeal the natural gas tax contained in Sec. 136 of the CAA. The natural gas tax was established through amendments to the CAA contained in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was signed into law on August 16, 2022. Sec. 136 of the CAA authorizes the EPA to impose or collect a “charge on methane emissions,” also referred to as a tax on natural gas. H.R. 1141 also would rescind the unobligated balance of any amounts made available under Sec. 136. The IRA authorized and appropriated over $1.5 billion under Sec. 136 of the CAA. (Rep. Pfluger introduced this legislation.)
• H.R. 1023, a bill to repeal section 134 of the Clean Air Act, relating to the greenhouse gas reduction fund. This legislation would repeal the program established under section 134 of the CAA and would rescind any unobligated balance of any funds made available under this section. Section 60103 of P.L. 117-169, the IRA, added this new section to the CAA to establish a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and appropriated $27 billion for EPA to award grants under the program until September 2024. (Rep. Palmer introduced this legislation.)
• H.R. 1155, Keeping America’s Refineries Act. This legislation responds to a regulatory proposal in the Biden administration’s Risk Management Rule (RMP) expansion (proposed on August 18, 2022). The regulatory proposal would make petroleum refineries using hydrofluoric acid alkylation units conduct technology and alternatives analyses of their existing plant’s chemical usage and manufacturing practices to identify changes that could be made. This bill would prevent this operations assessment requirement from applying to refineries with active construction or operating permits. A new refinery or refinery without its permits could choose to follow the RMP assessment requirement (if finalized) or demonstrate it conforms or will conform to American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practice 751. Of note, section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer Act of 1995, requires the Federal government to defer to industry consensus standards when those standards intersect with agency goals. (Rep. Crenshaw introduced this legislation.)

On Tuesday, February 28, 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 a legislative hearing on the following bills:

• H.R. ___ (Westerman), “‘Transparency and Production of American Energy Act of 2023”
• H.R. 209 (Stauber), “Permitting for Mining Needs Act of 2023”

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

• Dan Naatz, Chief Operating Officer, Independent Petroleum Association of America
• Rich Nolan, President and CEO, National Mining Association
• Mark Squillace, Professor of Law, University of Colorado
• Paul Thomsen, Vice President of Business Development, Americas, Ormat Technologies

Hearing page

Witnesses:

• Zippy Duvall, President, American Farm Bureau Federation
• Peter Friedmann, Executive Director, Agriculture Transportation Coalition
• Corey Rosenbusch, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Fertilizer Institute
• Michael Twining, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Willard Agri-Service
• Mike Brown, President, National Chicken Council

On Tuesday, February 28, 2023, the Science, Space, and Technology Committee will hold a hearing to examine the current state of the United States’ science and technology enterprise and how it is impacting our global leadership, as well as threats to that leadership from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This hearing will examine the CCP’s attempts to surpass U.S. scientific leadership and the economic and national security implications that it has for America. It will also serve as an opportunity to discuss and identify key objectives for a U.S. National Science and Technology Strategy and quadrennial review to ensure the United States’ continued growth and competitiveness.

Witnesses:

• Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier, Regents’ Professor of Meteorology and Weathernews, Chair Emeritus Roger and Sherry Teigen Presidential Professor, University of Oklahoma and Former Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
• Deborah Wince-Smith, President and CEO, Council on Competitiveness
• Dr. Kim Budil, Director, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Klon Kitchen, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

Overarching Questions

• What is the current state of U.S. leadership in science and technology (S&T), and what is the outlook for continued leadership, particularly in areas of S&T that will help drive economic competitiveness and national security in the coming decade? Why is it important for the U.S. to maintain leading capabilities in both fundamental research and technology development, and what are the consequences of loss of leadership, especially to China?
• What makes the U.S. S&T ecosystem of government, academia and industry unique in the world, and how can we continue to use that system to our competitive advantage?
• What are the benefits to having a National Science and Technology Strategy? What are the key characteristics of a National Science and Technology Strategy that will ensure it is adopted and utilized by the U.S. S&T ecosystem and leads to the public and private sectors working together to ensure America’s S&T dominance?

On Tuesday, February 28, 2023. at 10:00 a.m., the Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security will meet in open markup session in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building to consider the following.

Legislation to be considered includes:

• H.R. 1068, Securing America’s Critical Minerals Supply Act. This legislation would amend the Department of Energy (DOE) Organization Act to require the Secretary of Energy to conduct an ongoing assessment of the nation’s supply of critical energy resources, the vulnerability of the critical energy resource supply chain, and the criticality of critical energy resources in the development of energy technologies. It would also direct the Secretary to strengthen critical energy resource supply chains by diversifying sourcing and increasing domestic production, refining, and processing of resources. Under this legislation, the term “critical energy resource” means any energy resource that is essential to the energy sector and energy systems of the United States and the supply chain of which is vulnerable to disruption. (Rep. Bucshon introduced this legislation.)
• H.R. 1121, Protecting American Energy Production Act. This legislation would prohibit a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing unless such moratorium is authorized by an Act of Congress. The legislation also establishes the sense of Congress that States should maintain primacy for the regulation of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas production on state and private lands. (Rep. Duncan introduced this legislation.)
• H.R. 1085, Researching Efficient Federal Improvements for Necessary Energy Refining (REFINER) Act. This legislation would require the Secretary of Energy to direct the National Petroleum Council to issue a report examining the importance of petrochemical refineries to energy security. The report must also contain an analysis of the capacity of such refineries and opportunities to expand capacity, as well as analyze risks to refineries. (Rep. Latta introduced this legislation.)
• H.R. 1058, Promoting Cross-border Energy Infrastructure Act. This legislation would establish a more uniform, transparent, and modern process to authorize the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of international border-crossing facilities for the import and export of oil and natural gas and the transmission of electricity. The legislation would replace the existing Presidential Permit process that has been established through Executive Order with a statutorily directed process. Under the legislation, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) would be authorized to review applications for cross-border oil and natural gas pipelines, and DOE would be authorized to review applications for cross-border electric transmission facilities. Substantially similar legislation passed the House in the 115th Congress with a bipartisan vote. (Rep. Armstrong introduced this legislation.)
• H. Con. Res. 14, a resolution expressing disapproval of the revocation by President Biden of the Presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. (Rep. Lesko introduced this legislation.)
• H. Con. Res. 17, a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the Federal Government should not impose any restrictions on the export of crude oil or other petroleum products. (Rep. Guthrie introduced this legislation.)
• H.R. 1130, Unlocking Our Domestic LNG Potential Act. This legislation would amend the Natural Gas Act (NGA) to repeal all restrictions on the import and export of natural gas. Under current law, the NGA prohibits the import or export of natural gas, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), without completing a lengthy approval process conducted by DOE. The legislation would align the NGA with the existing national policy on the import and export of other fossil fuels, including crude oil and petroleum products. (Rep. Johnson introduced this legislation.)
• H.R. 1115, Promoting Interagency Coordination for Review of Natural Gas Pipelines Act. This legislation would improve coordination among Federal and State agencies reviewing applications for the construction of interstate natural gas pipelines. The legislation would strengthen FERC’s lead agency role under the NGA by requiring schedules, concurrent reviews, and provisions to resolve disputes among permitting agencies. Substantially similar legislation passed the House in the 115th Congress with a bipartisan vote. (Rep. Burgess introduced this legislation.)
• H.R. 1160, Critical Electric Infrastructure Cybersecurity Incident Reporting Act. This legislation would amend the Federal Power Act (FPA) to authorize DOE to promulgate regulations to require critical electric infrastructure owners and operators to share information regarding cybersecurity incidents with DOE. The provisions within the FPA that would be amended by this legislation originated from authority DOE was granted in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) that was signed into law in 2015. The FAST Act designated DOE as the “Sector-specific agency” for energy sector cybersecurity, granted DOE authority to address grid security emergencies, and granted FERC, in consultation with DOE, authority to protect, share, and designate critical electric infrastructure information. (Rep. Walberg introduced this legislation.)

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) announced that the full Committee will hold a markup at 10:00 a.m. EST on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building. The Committee will consider a joint resolution to overturn the Biden Administration’s new waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, a bill to promote the development of energy infrastructure and ensure water quality under Clean Water Act Section 401, and several public buildings and General Services Administration (GSA) resolutions. The Committee will also consider its budget views and estimates and its authorization and oversight plan.

The Committee is scheduled to consider the following:

• The Authorization and Oversight Plan for the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure – 118th Congress
• The Fiscal Year 2024 Views and Estimates of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
• H. Res. 152, Supporting the goals and ideals of “move over” laws
• H. Con. Res. 15, Authorizing the use of the Capitol Grounds for the National Peace Officers Memorial Service and the National Honor Guard and Pipe Band Exhibition
• H.R. 783, To designate the Department of Energy Integrated Engineering Research Center Federal Building located at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, as the “Helen Edwards Engineering Research Center”
• General Services Administration Capital Investment and Leasing Program Resolutions
• H.J. Res. 27, Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “Revised Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’”. Support from industry lobbyists
• H.R. 1152, Water Quality Certification and Energy Projects Improvement Act of 2023. Press release