Recent Developments
| Date | 01 July 2015 |
7-2015 NEWS & ANALYSIS 45 ELR 10707
Chamber Action
S. 501 (governance), which would
make technical corrections to the Nava-
jo water rights settlement in New Mexi-
co, was passed by the Senate. 161 Cong.
Rec. S3249 (daily ed. May 21, 2015).
H.R. 1561 (natural resourc es), which
would improve NOAA’s weather re-
search through a focu sed program of
investment on aordable and attainable
advances in observationa l, computing,
and modeling capabilities in order to
support substantial improvement in
weather forecasting and predict ion of
high-impact weather events, and would
expand commercial opportunities for
the provision of weather data, was
passed by the House. 161 Cong. Rec.
H3367 (daily ed. May 19, 2015).
H.R. 2028 (govern ance), which would
make appropriations for energy and
water development and related agencies
for the scal year ending September
30, 2016, was passed by the House. 161
Cong. Rec. H2775 (daily ed. May 1,
2015).
Committee Action
S. 321 (governance) was reported
by the Committee on Indian A airs.
S. Rep. No. 114-40, 161 Cong. Rec.
S2759 (daily ed. May 11, 2015). e bill
would revoke the charter of incorpora-
tion of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
at the request of the tribe.
S. 501 (water) w as repor ted by the
Committe e on India n Aairs. S . Rep.
No. 114-41, 161 Cong. Re c. S2759
(daily ed. May 11, 2015). e bill
would ma ke techn ical c orrections to
the Navajo water right s settlement in
New Mexic o.
S. 611 (water) was reported by the
Committee on Environment and Public
Works. S. Rep. No. 114-47, 161 Cong.
Rec. S2971 (daily ed. May 18, 2015).
e bill would amend the SDWA to re-
authorize technical a ssistance for small
public water systems.
S. 653 (water) was reported by the
Committee on Environment and Pub-
lic Works. S. Rep. No. 114-48, 161
Cong. Rec. S2971 (daily ed. May 18,
2015). e bill would amend the Water
Resources Resea rch Act to reauthorize
grants for, and require applied water
supply research from, the water resourc-
es research and technolog y institutes
established under the Act.
H.R. 944 (water) was reported by the
Committee on Transportation and
Infrastruct ure. H. Rep. No. 114-104,
161 Cong. Rec. S2820 (daily ed. May
8, 2015). e bill would reauthorize the
National Estuar y Program.
H.R. 1335 (wildl ife) was reported by
the C ommittee on Natur al Resou rc-
es. H. Rep. No. 114-116, 161 Cong.
Rec. H3250 (daily e d. May 15, 2015).
e bil l would ame nd the Mag nuson-
Steven s Fishery C onservation and
Mana gement Act to prov ide exibil-
ity fo r she ry mana gers a nd stabil ity
for s hermen.
H.R. 1561 (natural resourc es) was
reported by the Committee on Sci-
ence, Space, and Technology. H. Rep.
No. 114-126, 161 Cong. Rec. H3386
(daily ed. May 19, 2015). e bill would
improve NOAA’s weather research
through a focused program of invest-
ment on aordable and attainable
advances in observationa l, comput-
ing, and modeling capabilities, would
support substantial improvement in
weather forecasting and predict ion of
high-impact weather events, and would
expand commercial opportunities for
the provision of weather data.
H.R. 2028 (govern ance) was reported
by the Committee on Appropriations.
S. Rep. No. 114-54, 161 Cong. Rec.
S3236 (daily ed. May 21, 2015). e
bill would make appropriations for en-
ergy and water development and related
agencies for the scal yea r ending Sep-
tember 30, 2016.
H.R. 2393 (land use) was reported
by the Committee on Agriculture.
H. Rep. No. 114-131, 161 Cong. Rec.
H3581 (daily ed. May 29, 2015). e
bill would amend the Agricultu ral Mar-
keting Act to repeal countr y-of-origin
labeling requirements with respect to
beef, pork, and chicken.
Bills Introduced
S. 1180 (Johnson, R-Wis.) (natural
resources) would direct FEM A to
modernize the integrated public alert
and warning system of t he United
States. 161 Cong. Rec. S2599 (daily ed.
May 4, 2015). e bill was referred to
the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Aa irs.
S. 1187 (Coons , D-Del.) (e nerg y)
woul d improv e mana gement of the
Nati onal L aborato ries, enh ance
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
In the Congress
“In the Congress” entries cover act ivities reported in the Congressional Record from May 1, 2015, through May 31, 2015.
Entries are arranged by bill number, with Senate bills listed rst. “In the Congress” covers all environment-related bills that
are introduced, reported out of committee, passed by either house, or signed by the president. “In the Congress” also covers
all environmental treaties ratied by the Senate. is material is updated monthly. For archived materials, visit http://elr.
info/legislative/congressional-update/archive.
Copyright © 2015 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.
45 ELR 10708 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 7-2015
technol ogy commercia lizat ion, and
fac ilitate public -private part ner-
ship s. 161 Con g. Rec . S2599 (d aily
ed. May 4, 2015). T he bill was r e-
ferr ed to t he Com mittee on Ener gy
and Nat ural Res ources .
S. 119 6 (Cass idy, R-La .) (natu ral
res ourc es) would a mend the Min -
era l Leas ing Act to a uthoriz e DOI to
gra nt right s-of-way s on federal land.
161 Cong . Rec. S2650 (dai ly ed.
May 5, 2015). T he bill was ref erred
to t he Comm itte e on Ener gy and
Natu ral Re sources .
S. 1199 (Murray, D-Wash.) (energy)
would authorize federal agencies to pro-
vide alternative fuel to federal employ-
ees on a reimbursable basis. 161 Cong.
Rec. S2650 (daily ed. May 5, 2015).
e bill was referred to the Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources.
S. 1201 (S haheen, D-N.H.) (ener gy)
would ad vance the integrati on of
clean distributed energy into elec tric
grids. 161 Cong. Rec . S2687 (daily
ed. May 6, 2015). e bill was referred
to the C ommittee on En ergy and
Natura l Resources.
S. 1202 (Shaheen, D-N.H.) (energy)
would amend the Public Utility Regu-
latory Policies Act to assist states in
adopting updated interconnection pro-
cedures, tari schedu les, and standards
for fees for combined heat to energy
technology and waste heat-to-energy
technology projects. 161 Cong. Rec.
S2687 (daily ed. May 6, 2015). e bill
was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Natural Resources.
S. 1204 (Burr, R-N.C.) (wildlife)
would direct DOI to enter into an
agreement to provide for management
of the free-roaming wild horses in a nd
around the Currituck National Wildlife
Refuge. 161 Cong. Rec. S2687 (daily
ed. May 6, 2015). e bill was referred
to the Committee on Environment and
Public Works.
S. 1207 (Hirono, D-Haw.) (energy)
would direct DOE to establish a grant
program for eligible partnerships to
provide for the transformation of the
electric grid by 2030. 161 Cong. Rec.
S2687 (daily ed. May 6, 2015). e bill
was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Natural Resources.
S. 1208 ( Markey, D-Mass .) (g ov-
ernanc e) would requ ire gas pipeline
facilities to acc elerate the repair,
rehabilit ation, and r eplacement of
high-risk pipelines used in commerce.
161 Cong. Rec. S2687 (daily ed . May
6, 2015). e bill was re ferred to t he
Committe e on Commerc e, Science,
and Transpor tation.
S. 1209 (M arkey, D-Ma ss.) (go ver-
nanc e) woul d est ablish sta te revolv-
ing lo an funds to rep air or repl ace
natural g as distribution pipelines.
161 Cong. R ec. S2 687 (daily ed. M ay
6, 2015). e bi ll wa s referred to the
Committee on Com merce, Science,
and Tra nspor tation .
S. 1210 (Capito, R-W. Va.) (gover-
nance) would provide for the timely
consideration of all licenses, permits,
and approvals required under federal
law with respect to oil and gas produc-
tion and distribution. 161 Cong. Rec.
S2687 (daily ed. May 6, 2015). e bill
was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Natural Resources.
S. 1213 (King, I-Me.) (energy) would
amend the Public Utility Regulatory
Policies Act and the Federal Power Act
to facilitate the free market for dist rib-
uted energy resources. 161 Cong. Rec.
S2688 (daily ed. May 6, 2015). e bill
was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Natural Resources.
S. 1215 (Murkowski, R-Alaska) (en-
ergy) would provide for the develop-
ment of methane hydrate as a commer-
cially viable source of energy. 161 Cong.
Rec. S2688 (daily ed. May 6, 2015).
e bill was referred to the Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources.
S. 1216 (Murkow ski, R-Alask a) (en-
ergy) would modi fy a prov ision of the
Natural Gas Ac t relating to civi l pen-
alties. 161 Cong. Rec. S2688 (daily ed.
May 6, 2015). e bill wa s referred to
the Comm ittee on Energy and Natu-
ral Re sources.
S. 1218 (Murkow ski, R-Alas ka)
(govern ance) wou ld establ ish an
interagenc y coordination com mittee
between the leadership of DOE and
DOI focused on the ne xus between
energy a nd water production, us e,
and eciency. 161 Cong. Rec. S2688
(daily ed. May 6, 2015). e bill wa s
referred to the Comm ittee on Energy
and Natural Re sources.
S. 1219 (Murkow ski, R-Alas ka) (en-
ergy) would amend the Public Utility
Regul atory Policie s Act to prov ide for
safe a nd reliable interconnec tion of
distribut ed resourc es, and provide for
the exa mination of the e ects of net
metering. 161 Cong. Rec. S2688 (daily
ed. May 6, 2015). e bill was r eferred
to the Com mittee on Energy a nd
Natural Resourc es.
S. 1220 (Murkowski, R-Al aska) (en-
ergy) would improve the distribution
of energy. 161 Cong. Rec. S2688 (daily
ed. May 6, 2015). e bill was referred
to the Committee on Energy and Natu-
ral Resources.
S. 1221 (Murkowski, R-Alaska) (ener-
gy) would amend the Federal Power Act
to require periodic reports on electricity
reliability and reliability impact state-
ments for rules aecting the operation of
the bulk-power system. 161 Cong. Rec.
S2668 (daily ed. May 6, 2015). e bill
was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Natural Resources.
S. 1222 ( Murkowski, R-A laska) (en-
ergy) would amend the Federa l Power
Act to provide for repor ts relat ing to
electric capacit y resourc es of tra nsmis-
sion organ izations , and the amend-
ment of cert ain taris to addres s the
procurement of electric capacit y re-
sources. 161 Cong. Rec. S268 8 (daily
ed. May 6, 2015). e bill was r eferred
to the Com mittee on Energy a nd
Natural Resourc es.
S. 122 3 (Murkow ski, R-Al aska)
(energ y) wou ld amend t he En-
ergy Policy Act to impr ove the loan
gua rante e program f or innovative
techn ologie s. 161 Cong. Rec. S268 8
(daily ed. May 6, 2015). e bi ll wa s
referr ed to the C ommittee on Energ y
and Na tura l Resourc es.
S. 122 4 (Murkow ski, R-A laska)
(energ y) wou ld reconcile di ering
federa l approache s to natur al gas
conden sate. 161 Cong. R ec. S2 688
(daily ed. May 6, 2015). e bi ll wa s
Copyright © 2015 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.
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