Looking Back to Predict the Future: The Next Generation of Weather Satellites
This hearing will provide an opportunity to discuss the partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the development, testing, acquisition, launch and management of NOAA’s operational weather satellite programs. Furthermore, this hearing will examine how lessons learned from past challenges in recent weather satellite programs are being incorporated into the future goals, architecture, and capabilities for the next generation of weather satellites.
Witnesses- Dr. Stephen Volz, Assistant Administrator, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Services, NOAA
- John Gagosian, Joint Agency Satellite Division Director, NASA
- Fred Meny, Assistant Inspector General for Audit and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General
Reflections on Hurricanes Maria + Harvey & the Road to Recovery
- Johanna Bozuwa, Climate and Community Project
- Ruth Santiago, Comité Diálogo Ambiental
- Arturo Massol-Deyá, Casa Pueblo
- Sandra Edwards, Coalition for Environment, Equity and Resilience
- Dr. Brett Perkison, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston School of Public Health
Public Lands and Waters Climate Leadership Act of 2022
The Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, led by Chair Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), will hold a legislative hearing on the following bill:
H.R. 8802 (Grijalva), To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Chief of the Forest Service to align management of public lands and waters with the President’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, and for other purposes. Public Lands and Waters Climate Leadership Act of 2022
Witnesses
- Andrew Dessler, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences Director, Texas Center for Climate Studies; Reta A. Haynes Chair in Geosciences, Texas A&M University
- Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, Mayor, Nuiqsut, Alaska
- Abigail Ross Hopper, President and CEO, Solar Energy Industries Association
- Kenny Stein, Policy Director, Institute for Energy Research
Amplifying the Arctic: Strengthening Science to Respond to a Rapidly Changing Arctic
With the Arctic warming two to four times faster than the rest of the planet, the purpose of this hearing is to discuss the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee’s Arctic Research Plan 2022-2026, which is informed by the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. The hearing will explore gaps in research and analysis, needed improvements to federal science capabilities, research vessels and infrastructure, and barriers to strengthening our response to local and global climate change impacts, such as carbon and methane emissions released from permafrost thaw. Additionally, we will discuss gaps in Arctic system monitoring, observing, modeling, and prediction efforts. Importantly, we will examine the role of traditional knowledge holders and equitable practices in the coproduction of research, especially in critical areas such as food security and biodiversity. Finally, the hearing will be an opportunity to discuss the impact of geopolitical tensions on science diplomacy in the Arctic and challenges for future international collaboration in key research including boreal forest fires, sea ice melt and land ice loss, particularly the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Witnesses:- Dr. Larry Hinzman, Assistant Director of Polar Sciences, Office of Science and Technology Policy and Executive Director, Interagency Arctic Research and Policy Committee
- Dr. Mike Sfraga, Chair, U.S. Arctic Research Commission
- Vera Kingeekuk Metcalf, Executive Director, Eskimo Walrus Commission
- Dr. Susan Natali, Arctic Program Director, Woodwell Climate Research Center
Markup of the Disaster Resiliency Planning Act and other legislation
On Tuesday, September 20, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, will hold a hybrid business meeting to consider bills that will improve federal government operations and provide Washington D.C. with more autonomy.
The Committee will consider the following legislation:- S. 1941, the Metropolitan Areas Protection and Standardization (MAPS) Act;
- S. 3510, the Disaster Resiliency Planning Act;
- H.R. 8466, the Chai Suthammanont Healthy Federal Workplaces Act of 2022;
- H.R. 8665, the National Archives and Records Administration Modernization Act; and
- H.R. 8861, the District of Columbia Home Rule Expansion Act of 2022.
S. 3510 was introduced by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters and Senator Rick Scott on January 13, 2022. The bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent on June 22, 2022. Companion legislation in the House, H.R. 7863, is led by Rep. Troy Carter. In 2021, GAO released a report on the efforts of federal agencies to mitigate the impact of natural disasters on federal property and assets. In the five years preceding the report, billions of taxpayer dollars were appropriated to help repair assets from natural disasters. To better protect these federal assets and taxpayer dollars in the face of the escalating frequency and severity of natural disasters, the report recommended that OMB direct agencies to incorporate natural disaster risk information assessments into asset management investment decisions. That recommendation remains open today. To address this recommendation, S. 3510 would direct OMB to establish guidance within 180 days of enactment for the incorporation of natural disaster resilience into the real property asset management and investment decisions of federal agencies. As recommended by GAO, agencies would be required to incorporate their natural disaster risk information assessments into such decisions. OMB would also be required to report to Congress on the guidance, and to later brief Congress on its implementation.
The Committee will also consider additional legislative business and several postal naming measures.
A 2022 Review of the Farm Bill: Stakeholder Perspectives on Title II Conservation Programs
- Michael Crowder, President, National Association of Conservation Districts
- Nicole Berg, President, National Association of Wheat Growers, Paterson, WA
- Lori Faeth, Senior Director of Government Relations, Land Trust Alliance
- Shayne Wiese, Rancher, on behalf of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Examining Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta: The Implications of the Supreme Court's Ruling on Tribal Sovereignty
On Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. ET, in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building and via Cisco WebEx, the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States (SCIP) will hold an oversight hearing entitled “Examining Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta: The Implications of the Supreme Court’s Ruling on Tribal Sovereignty.”
On June 29, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals’ ruling in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta by determining that the State maintains concurrent jurisdiction with the federal government to prosecute major crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian Country. The 5-4 opinion led by Justice Kavanaugh held that Indian Country within a state’s territory is part of the State, which therefore confers State jurisdiction to the prosecution of crimes committed in Indian Country unless it is otherwise preempted.
Castro-Huerta overturns nearly 200 years of federal Indian legal precedent and further complicates an already complex framework for the investigation and prosecution of crimes committed in Indian Country. This expansion of State jurisdiction is anticipated to add greater uncertainty over what government entity maintains the authority to deliver public safety services on tribal lands and will likely influence the quality of such services.
The oversight hearing will provide an overview of Castro-Huerta’s national impacts in Indian County and explore how this ruling may pose additional threats to tribal sovereignty.
Witnesses
Panel I: Administration Panel- Bryan Newland, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior
- Jonodev Chaudhuri, Ambassador, Muscogee Creek Nation
- Kevin Killer, President, Oglala Sioux Tribe
- Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, Chairwoman, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah
- Whitney Gravelle, President, Bay Mills Indian Community
- Teri Gobin, Chair, Tulalip Tribes
- Sara Hill, Attorney General, Cherokee Nation
- Mary Kathryn Nagle, Counsel, National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center
- Bethany Berger, Wallace Stevens Professor of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law
- Carole Goldberg, Jonathan D. Varat Distinguished Professor of Law Emerita, University of California School of Law
- Stacy Leeds, Foundation Professor of Law and Leadership, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
- Matthew J. Ballard, District Attorney, Oklahoma District 12
- Mithun Mansinghani, Partner, Lehotsky Keller LLP
United States Nuclear Strategy and Policy
- Madelyn Creedon, Research Professor George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs
- Rose Gottemoeller, Steven C. Hazy Lecturer, Stanford University Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Center for International Security and Cooperation
- Eric S. Edelman, Counselor, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments Director, United States Institute of Peace
- Franklin Miller, Principal, The Scowcroft Group
Defund Deforestation Actionar
Join the Stop the Money Pipeline coalition on Friday, September 16 at 2 pm ET/11 am PT for a global online event to kick off a month of action in defense of forests.
Speakers, including Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, activist and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and Maria Luisa Mendonça of the Network for Human Rights and Social Justice in Brazil, will share why forests are critical to climate justice, what Indigenous and frontline communities are doing to stop deforestation, and how you can join the fight to hold Wall Street and corporations accountable.