Recent Developments

• Date: 01 December 2015

45 ELR 11164 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 12-2015

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

In the Congress

“In the Congress” entries cover activities reported in the Congressional Record from October 1, 2015, through October 31,

2015. Entries are arranged by bill number, with Senate bills listed rst. “In t he 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 Laws

S. 230 (land use), which provides for

the conveyance of certain propert y to

the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corpo-

ration in Bethel, Alask a, was signed by

the president on September 30, 2015.

161 Cong. Rec. D1053, Pub. L. No.

114-56 (daily ed. Oct. 5, 2015).

S. 501 (water), which makes technical

corrections to the Navajo water rights

settlement in the state of New Mexico,

was signed by the president on Septem-

ber 30, 2015. 161 Cong. Rec. D1053,

Pub. L. No. 114-57 (daily ed. Oct. 5,

2015).

S. 565 (governance), which would seek

to reduce the operation and mainte-

nance costs associated with the federal

eet by encouraging the use of remanu-

factured part s, was signed by President

Obama on October 7, 2015. 161 Cong.

Rec. D1094 Pub. L. No. 114-65 (daily

ed. Oct. 19, 2015).

S. 986 (land use), which requires the

Secretary of the Interior to take into

trust four parcels of federa l land for the

benet of certain Indian Pueblos in t he

state of New Mexico, was signed by

President Obama on October 16, 2015.

161 Cong. Rec. D1104 Pub. L. No.

114-69 (daily ed. Oct. 20, 2015).

H.R. 23 (natura l resources), which

reauthorizes the National Windstorm

Impact Reduction Program, was signed

by the president on September 30,

2015. 161 Cong. Rec. D1053, Pub. L.

No. 114-52 (daily ed. Oct. 5, 2015).

H.R. 2051 (land use), which amends

the Agricultura l Marketing Act of 1946

to extend the livestock mandatory price

reporting requirements, was signed by

the president on September 30, 2015.

161 Cong. Rec. D1053, Pub. L. No.

114-54 (daily ed. Oct. 5, 2015).

Chamber Action

S. 986 (land use), which would require

the Secretary of the Interior to take i nto

trust four parcels of federa l land for the

benet of certain Indian Pueblos in t he

state of New Mexico, was passed by the

House. 161 Cong. Rec. H6820 (daily

ed. Oct. 6, 2015).

S. Res. 286 (wildl ife), which would

designate the week beginnin g on Oc-

tober 11, 2015, as “National Wildlife

Refuge Week,” was passed by the Sen-

ate. 161 Cong. Rec. S7281 (daily ed.

Oct. 8, 2015).

H.R. 34 (govern ance), which would

authorize and strengthen NOA A’s

tsunami detection, forecast, warning,

research, and mitigation program, wa s

passed by the Senate. 161 Cong. Rec.

S7167 (daily ed. Oct. 6, 2015).

H.R. 538 (energy), which would seek

to facilitate the development of energy

on Native American lands by reducing

federal regulations that impede tribal

development of Native American lands,

was passed by the House. 161 Cong.

Rec. H6911 (daily ed. Oct. 8, 2015).

H.R. 702 (energy), which would seek

to adapt to changing crude oil market

conditions by amending the CA A to re-

peal EPA’s renewable fuel program that

requires transportat ion fuel to contain

a minimum volume of renewable fuel,

was passed by the House. 161 Cong.

Rec. H6941 (daily ed. Oct. 9, 2015).

H.R. 774 (wildlife), which would

strengthen enforcement mechanisms to

stop illegal, unreported, a nd unregu-

lated shing and amend the Tuna Con-

ventions Act of 1950 to implement the

Antigua Convention, was passed by the

Senate. 161 Cong. Rec. S7407 (daily

ed. Oct. 21, 2015).

H.R. 1937 (natural resources), which

would require the Secretary of t he In-

terior and the Secretary of Agriculture

to more eciently develop domestic

sources of the minerals and mi neral

materials of strategic and critica l im-

portance to U.S. economic and national

security and manufacturing competi-

tiveness, was passed by the House. 161

Cong. Rec. H7107 (daily ed. Oct. 22,

2015).

H.R. 2168 (wildlife), which would

make the current Dungeness cra b sh-

ery management regime perma nent,

was passed by the House. 161 Cong.

Rec. H6819 (daily ed. Oct. 6, 2015).

Committee Action

S. 1324 (climate change) was reported

by the Committee on Environment and

Public Works. S. Rep. No. 114-159, 161

Cong. Rec. S7654 (daily ed. Oct. 29,

2015). e bill would require the Ad-

ministrator of EPA to fulll certain re-

quirements before regulating standards

of performance for new, modied, and

Copyright © 2015 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.