Congress

Our congressional section has the latest on energy, environmental and related legislation in the House and Senate, with must-read stories on upcoming bills, amendments, hearings and floor battles.

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Our congressional section has the latest on energy, environmental and related legislation in the House and Senate, with must-read stories on upcoming bills, amendments, hearings and floor battles.

Administration Pushes Bill To Block Public Access To Litigation Records

The Bush administration is urging lawmakers to draft legislation that would block public access to documents produced by EPA and other federal agencies or any parties involved in legal settlement negotiations, arguing that increasing public requests for such information are undermining government enforcement efforts. The administration's push to allow the government to withhold those records from public review comes as a bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers are looking to revise the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which governs...

DOD's Environmental Exemptions Fail To Win Senate Panel's Backing

Defense Department (DOD) efforts to win exemptions for the military from a host of environmental requirements appear to have suffered a major setback after a key Senate panel failed to include the exemptions in the defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2006. The Senate Armed Services Committee had been expected to consider the provisions, known as the Readiness and Range Preservation Initiative (RRPI), during its May 10-12 markup of the defense bill. But despite support from Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK)...

House Democrat Claims Bipartisan Support To Strip LNG Provision

Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) plans to reintroduce an amendment to strike a liquefied natural gas (LNG) provision from a House energy bill, which proponents say is gaining bipartisan support, with at least one prominent Republican, Rep. Christopher Shays (CT), expected to support the proposal in an upcoming floor vote. The amendment would strip from the comprehensive energy bill a provision that critics say would allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to override local opposition to the construction and siting...

Congress May Revisit Nuclear Waste Law After NAS Suggests New EPA Role

Key lawmakers may push to revisit controversial legislation enacted last year that expands the Energy Department's (DOE) authority to reclassify highly radioactive nuclear waste as less hazardous after a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report said EPA should have additional regulatory oversight of DOE, environmental and congressional sources say. The study, along with a related study the academy is conducting on nuclear waste management, could also complicate efforts by DOE to win expanded authority to reclassify the waste at other...

Senate Budget Vote Unlikely To End Hill Fight Over ANWR Drilling

Supporters and detractors of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) say the Senate's vote to retain language in the budget blueprint that assumes revenue from the project is unlikely to end legislative debate on the issue. Nevertheless, the vote removes a major hurdle for advocates to see drilling in ANWR become a reality and is a major blow to environmental opponents of the effort. "It is one step at a time. This is not the final vote," said...

House Announces Move To Shift EPA To Interior Funding Panel

The House Appropriations Committee has announced its planned reorganization that would create a new subcommittee with jurisdiction over EPA and the Department of Interior, according to a Feb. 9 announcement from Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA). But it was not clear whether key senators have agreed to the move. The proposal, which trims the total number of subcommittees from 13 to 10, still requires ratification by the full Appropriations Committee, tentatively scheduled for Feb. 15, after which the House and...

New EPA Correspondence Database May Be Slowing Congressional Inquiries

A new EPA database for managing correspondence may be delaying responses to members of Congress about the agency's budget, policies and other inquiries, according to agency sources who say the system is difficult to access and use. The database is "delaying [by] days or weeks" responses to congressional correspondence, one agency source says. The problems could affect agency staff because delayed congressional responses are "one of the few things you can get in trouble for" as an EPA employee, the...

Democrats Eye Technology To Overcome 'Gridlock' On Environment Debate

A host of Democrats claim they can overcome Republican opposition to stricter pollution controls by arguing that pollution could be cut and jobs could be created by increasing investment in new environmental technologies, which some EPA officials say need additional funding to address the next generation of environmental problems. "Many observers . . . believe that the current environmental gridlock is unnecessary," said David Rejeski in a recent report issued by the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), a centrist Democratic think...

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