Recent Developments

• Date: 01 November 2018

11-2018 NEWS & ANALYSIS 48 ELR 11027

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

In the Congress

“In the Congress” entries cover activities reported in the Congressional Record from September 1, 2018, through September

30, 2018. 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 ratied by the Senate. is material is updated monthly. For archived

materials, visit http://elr.info/legislative/congressional-update/archive.

Public Law

H.R. 5895 (governa nce), which makes

appropriations for energy and water

development, and related agencies for

the scal yea r ending September 30,

2019, was signed into law by President

Trump on September 21, 2018. Pub. L.

No. 115-244, 164 Cong. Rec. D1035

(daily ed. Sept. 26, 2018).

Chamber Action

S. 186 (energy), which would amend

the Federal Power Act to provide that

any inaction by FERC that allows a r ate

change to go into eect sha ll be treated

as an order by FERC for purposes of

rehearing and cour t review, was passed

by the Senate. 164 Cong. Rec. S6031

(daily ed. Sept. 4, 2018).

S. 1417 (wildl ife), which would require

the Secretary of the Interior to develop

a categorical exclusion for covered veg-

etative management activities carried

out to establish or improve habitat for

greater sage grouse and mule deer, was

passed by the Senate. 164 Cong. Rec.

S6102 (daily ed. Sept. 6, 2018).

S. 1586 (water), which would require

the Under Secretary for Ocea ns and

Atmosphere to update periodical ly the

environmental sensitivity index prod-

ucts of NOAA for each coast al area of

the Great Lakes, wa s passed by the Sen-

ate. 164 Cong. Rec. S6103 (daily ed.

Sept. 6, 2018).

S. 1668 (water), which would rename

a waterway in the state of New York as

the “Joseph Sanford Jr. Channel,” was

passed by the House. 164 Cong. Rec.

H9060 (daily ed. Sept. 26, 2018).

S. 3508 (water), which would reautho-

rize and amend the Ma rine Debris Act

to promote international action to re-

duce marine debris, was pa ssed by the

House, 164 Cong. Rec. H9135 (daily

ed. Sept. 27, 2018), and the Senate,

164 Cong. Rec. S6330 (daily ed. Sept.

26 , 2018).

H.R. 46 (la nd use), which would au-

thorize the Secreta ry of the Interior to

conduct a special resource study of Fort

Ontario in the state of New York, was

passed by the Senate. 164 Cong. Rec.

S6258 (daily ed. Sept. 18, 2018).

H.R. 660 (g overnance), which would

require the Secretar y of the Interior to

submit to Congress a report on the ef-

forts of the Bureau of Reclamation to

manage its infr astructure a ssets, was

passed by the House. 164 Cong. Rec.

H8142 (daily ed. Sept. 12, 2018).

H.R. 698 (land u se), which would

require a land conveyance involving

the Elkhorn Ra nch and the W hite

River National Forest in the state of

Colorado, was passed by the Senate.

164 Cong. Rec. S6259 (daily ed. Sept.

18, 2 018).

H.R. 1109 (energy), which would

amend §203 of the Federal Power Act,

was passed by the Senate. 164 Cong.

Rec. S6031 (daily ed. Sept. 4, 2018).

H.R. 2278 (energy), which would ex-

tend authorization of the Uranium Mill

Tailing Radiation Control Act of 1978

relating to the disposa l site in Mesa

County, Colorado, was passed by the

House. 164 Cong. Rec. H8801 (daily

ed. Sept. 25, 2018).

H.R. 2389 (energy), which would

reauthorize the West Valley demonstra-

tion project, was passed by the House.

164 Cong. Rec. H8794 (daily ed. Sept.

25, 2 018).

H.R. 2591 (wildlife), which would

amend the Pittman-Robertson Wild life

Restoration Act to modernize the f und-

ing of wildlife conser vation, was passed

by the House. 164 Cong. Rec. H8133

(daily ed. Sept. 12, 2018).

H.R. 4606 (nat ural resources), which

would provide t hat applications under

the Natural Gas A ct for the importa-

tion or exportation of small volumes

of natural gas sh all be granted without

modication or delay, was passed by

the House. 164 Cong. Rec. H7887

(daily ed. Sept. 6, 2018).

H.R. 4689 (g overnance), which would

authorize early repayment of obligations

to the Bureau of Reclamation with in

the Northport Irrigation District in the

state of Nebraska, was pa ssed by the

House. 164 Cong. Rec. H8144 (daily

ed. Sept. 12, 2018).

H.R. 4809 ( governance), which would

increase access to a gency guidance

documents, was passed by the House.

164 Cong. Rec. H9072 (daily ed. Sept.

26 , 2018).

H.R. 5420 (la nd use), which would

authorize the acquisition of land for

addition to the Home of Franklin D.

Roosevelt National Historic Site in the

state of New York, was passed by the

House. 164 Cong. Rec. H8904 (daily

ed. Sept. 26, 2018).

Copyright © 2018 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.