Hearings for Week of April 8 Focus on Rebuilding Puerto Rico Power Grid, Moratorium on Mountaintop Mining, Addressing Parks and Forests Budget Cuts
Washington, D.C. – The Committee on Natural Resources will host three hearings during the week of April 8 as members continue to work for the people.
Chairman Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) led a congressional delegation to Puerto Rico in March to focus on hurricane recovery and the damaging effects of economic austerity. Island residents participated in a historic public listening session on March 15, and Grijalva promised to take what he heard back to Washington. On Tuesday, April 9, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time, the next phase of the Committee’s assistance to Puerto Rico begins as Grijalva leads a hearing on The Status of the ‘Rebuilding and Privatization of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’, (PREPA). Updating the agency’s management and infrastructure is necessary to provide reliable, low-cost power for the Puerto Rican people and to support long-term recovery efforts.
Mountaintop removal mining is incredibly destructive to public health and the environment. On Tuesday, April 9, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time, the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee hosts a legislative hearing – Health and Environmental Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Mining – on Rep. John Yarmuth’s (D-Ky.) H.R. 2050, which places a moratorium on permitting for mountaintop removal coal mining until the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conducts public health studies to better understand its impacts.
On Wednesday, April 10, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time, the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands holds an oversight hearing Examining the Spending Priorities and Missions of the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
Witness lists are available below. As with all hearings, these events are open to media and the public.
Full Committee Hearing
Hearing: The Status of the ‘Rebuilding and Privatization of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’, (PREPA)
When: Tuesday, April 9, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time
Where: Longworth 1324
Livestream: http://bit.ly/2UzCQoz
Witness List
Panel 1
Bruce J. Walker
Assistant Secretary, Office of Electricity
U.S. Department of Energy
José Ortíz
Executive Director
Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority
Sergio M. Marxuach
Policy Director
Center for a New Economy
Marla Pérez Lugo
Professor of Sociology, Department of Social Sciences
University of Puerto Rico
Noel Zamot (minority witness)
President
Atabey Group LLC
Panel 2
Rodrigo Masses Artze
President
Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association
Nelson Colón
President and Chief Executive Officer
Puerto Rico Community Foundation
Ramón J. Cruz
Board of Directors
Sierra Club
Tom Sanzillo
Director of Finance
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis
Angel Figueroa Jaramillo
President
Electrical Industry and Irrigation Workers Union
Douglas Holtz-Eakin (minority witness)
President
American Action Forum
Tomás J. Torres (minority witness)
Executive Director
Puerto Rico Institute for Competitiveness and Sustainable Economy
Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
Hearing: Health and Environmental Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Mining
When: Tuesday, April 9, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time
Where: Longworth 1324
Livestream: http://bit.ly/2FX7eQb
Witness List
Panel 1
Rep. John Yarmuth
D-Ky., 3rd District
Panel 2
Donna Branham
Lenore, W.V.
Carl Shoupe
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth
Michael McCawley
Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences
West Virginia University
Tyler White (minority witness)
President
Kentucky Coal Association
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands
Hearing: Examining the Spending Priorities and Missions of the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management
When: Wednesday, April 10, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time
Where: Longworth 1324
Livestream: http://bit.ly/2TYXpWX
Witness List
Victoria Christiansen
Chief
U.S. Forest Service
Brian Steed
Deputy Director, Policy and Programs
Bureau of Land Management
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