As Wait for House Speaker Continues, Ranking Member Grijalva Celebrates End-of-Year Wins, Including More Than 100 Natural Resources Provisions Signed into Law

Washington, D.C. – While the House of Representatives awaits a successful vote on speakership, Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) highlighted the many policy wins for the Committee in the last month of the 117^th Congress. Through both major bipartisan legislative packages—FY23 government funding and the National Defense Authorization Act—and standalone bills, the House passed 97 Natural Resources Committee bills and nine other provisions into law. Grijalva also secured $1 billion in funding for rooftop solar and battery storage for low-income households and households with disabilities in Puerto Rico.

On these historic accomplishments, Grijalva said, “The last month of the 117^th Congress showed the American people what a Democratic House majority can do. As we watch the new Republican majority eat their own just to make a decision as simple as picking their own leader, we’re getting a preview of what the next two years will bring. It’s good for entertainment, but at the end of the day, we’re all getting robbed of the climate action and progress we need. I’m glad we got a lot done when we did, since it’s clear nothing will get done for the foreseeable future.”

A few highlights of the bills that were signed into law include the bipartisan Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act, which will combat human trafficking and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; the bipartisan Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act, which prohibit the shark fin trade; the bipartisan STREAM Act, which will protect communities from acid mine drainage; the bipartisan National Heritage Area Act, which will standardize and streamline the popular National Heritage Areas System; and the bipartisan Big Cat Public Safety Act, which will prohibit private ownership and breeding of big cats.

The bills also include the bipartisan Right Whale Coexistence Act, which provides funding to help transition the lobster fishing industry to ropeless gear that protects the highly endangered right whales. Despite this commonsense conservation win, the omnibus also included a provision that will codify a problematic and insufficient National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) rule that will put right whales’ existence in serious jeopardy.

A full list of the Natural Resources Committee provisions that were signed into law in the month of December alone is below:

Provisions included in the National Defense Authorization Act:

H.R. 3075, Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act (Huffman)
H.R. 160, Restoring Resilient Reefs Act (Soto)
H.R. 3748, BLUE GLOBE Act (Bonamici)
H.R. 5957, To reduce risks to marine mammals, and other purposes (Larsen)
H.R. 2848, Marine Mammal Research and Response Act (Murphy)
H.R. 2811, Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act (Sablan)
Makes updates to the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and provides authorities for the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations for acquiring new aircraft
S. 381, National Ocean Exploration Act (Sen.Wicker)
H.R. 3817, Regional Ocean Partnership Act (Crist)
Authorizes a National Academies study on the effects of 6PPD-quinone on salmonids, aquatic species, and watersheds, including an economic analysis of declining salmon populations in the U.S. and its effects on the importation of salmon from other countries. (Porter request)
Names a previously uncharted pinnacle in Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary “Brennan Reef” in his memory. (Carbajal request)
Update Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force
Update Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund
Authorize NOAA Norfolk Transfer and NOAA Juneau Transfer
Amend the Sikes Act to add the use of natural and nature-based features to promote resilience on military installations as part of the conservation program on military bases and installations. In addition, make the invasive species management program on installations permanent.
H.R. 5996, Eliminate, Neutralize, and Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Reauthorization and Improvements Act (Fortenberry/Meng)
Expand the Fallon Range Training Complex and Designate New Conservation Areas

Provisions included in the FY2023 Omnibus (Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023):

U.S. Department of the Interior Provisions

S. 557, Native Plant Species Pilot Program (Sens. Collins, Cantwell) (H.R. 1548, Cartwright)
S. 753, Highlands Conservation Act reauthorization (Sen. Murphy) (H.R. 2793, Sean Patrick Maloney)
S. 2433, Federal Land Asset Inventory Reform (Sens. Cramer, Heinrich) (H.R. 5522, Kind)
S. 4444, Tribal eligibility for R&PP land conveyances (Sen. Padilla) (H.R. 8115, LaMalfa)

U.S. Forest Service Provisions

S. 3997, Land Between the Lakes amendments (Sen. McConnell) (H.R. 7399, Comer)
H.R. 297, Hawaii National Forest Study (Case) (S. 554, Sen. Hirono)

Land Conveyances and Exchanges

S. 569, Gilt Edge Mine conveyance (Sen. Thune) (H.R. 1638, Dusty Johnson)
S. 1128, University of Alaska land selections (Sen. Murkowski) (H.R. 2546, Young)
S. 1222, Bonneville Shoreline Trail land conveyance (Sen. Romney) (H.R. 2551, Krishnamoorthi)
S. 1631, Arizona Experiment Station land conveyance (Sen. Kelly) (n/a)
H.R. 5093, Wind River (Herrera Beutler)

New National Park Service Units

S. 3141, New Philadelphia National Historical Park (Sen. Durbin) (H.R. 820, LaHood)

Existing National Park Service Units

S. 1317, Sunset Crater Volcano NM boundary adjustment (Sen. Kelly) (H.R. 803, DeGette)
S. 1344, Pullman National Historical Park redesignation (Sen. Durbin) (H.R. 2626, Kelly)
S. 1718, Rosie the Riveter NHP expansion (Sen. Padilla) (H.R. 1117, DeSaulnier; H.R. 803, DeGette)
S. 2158, Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission (Sen. Markey) (H.R. 817, Keating; H.R. 803, DeGette)
S. 2438, Cane River Creole NHP Boundary Modification (Sen. Cassidy) (H.R. 4648, Mike Johnson)
S. 3185, Delaware Water Gap NRA amendments (Sen. Toomey) (H.R. 6364, Cartwright)
S. 3307, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield additions (Sen. Blunt) (H.R. 6130, Long)
S. 3338, Ste. Genevieve NHP boundary revision (Sen. Blunt) (H.R. 6199, Jason Smith)
S. 4114, Bar Harbor, ME land conveyance for housing (Sen. King) (n/a)
S. 5129, Mammoth Cave NP boundary expansion (Sen. McConnell) (n/a)
H.R. 268, Palo Alto Battlefield NHP Boundary Adjustment (Vela)
H.R 7496, Ram Head Plaque (Plaskett)
H.R. 7942, Valley Forge (Owens)

National Park Service Studies

S. 3685, John Parker House NPS study (Sen. Brown) (H.R. 6799, Wenstrup)
S. 5031, Dearfield, CO NPS study (Sen. Hickenlooper) (H.R. 6438, Buck)
H.R. 7912, Memphis lynching locations NPS study (Cohen)
H.R. 1354, Santa Monica study (Lieu)

National Park Service Programs

S. 2367, Frederick, MD NPS historic preservation center (Sen. Cardin) (H.R. 4494, Trone)
S. 3240, National Mall permit fee waivers for veterans (Sen. Rubio) (H.R. 1029, Steube)
S. 3667, African American burial grounds preservation (Sen. Brown) (H.R. 6805, Adams)
S. 4168, National Park Foundation reauthorization (Sens. Portman, King) (H.R. 7693, Westerman)
H.R. 1931, Japanese American Confinement Education (Matsui) (S. 4576, Sen. Schatz)
H.R. 6434, Japanese American World War II history network (Obernolte) (S. 4555, Sen. Barrasso)

Wild and Scenic Rivers

S. 491, York Wild and Scenic River (Sen. King) (H.R. 1469, Pingree, H.R. 803, DeGette)
S. 4122, Housatonic Wild and Scenic River (Sen. Murphy) (H.R. 7551, Hayes)
H.R. 4358, Little Manatee WSR (Buchanan) (S. 5283, Sen. Scott)
H.R 4404, Kissimmee River WSR (Soto)

National Trails

S. 4707, Buckeye National Scenic Trail study (Sen. Portman) (H.R. 6142, Tim Ryan)

Memorials and Commemorative Works

S. 3447, National Service Animals Commemorative Work (Sen. Blumenthal) (H.R. 6353, Wild)
S. 3579, Jean Monet Commemorative Work (Sen. Coons) (H.R. 6611, Keating)
S. 4121, Kol Israel National Memorial (Sen. Sherrod Brown) (H.R. 7618, Shontel Brown)
S. 4377, El Paso Community Healing Garden (Sens. Cornyn, Luján) (H.R. 4380, Escobar)
S. 4732, Enslaved Voyages Commemorative Work (Sen. Booker) (H.R. 4009, Norton)
H.R. 3531, Women Who Worked on the Home Front WWII Commemorative Work (Norton) (S. 1814, Sen. Duckworth)
H.R. 6201, National Liberty Memorial reauthorization (Watson Coleman) (S. 3334, Sen. Grassley)
S.J.Res. 62, Approving location of Fallen Journalists memorial (Sen. Cardin) (H.J.Res. 96, Napolitano)
H.R. 7075, Ukrainian Independence Park (Spartz)
H.R. 6720, Thomas Paine Memorial (Raskin)

Energy

H.R. 7283, STREAM Act, (Cartwright) (S. 3957, Sen. Casey)

Water

H.R. 3877, Salton Sea Projects Improvements Act (Ruiz) (S. 2693, Sen. Padilla)
H.R. 5001, Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Recovery Act (Neguse) (S. 3693, Sen. Hickenlooper)
H.R. 9173, Colorado River Basin Conservation Act (Stansbury) (S. 4579, Sen. Hickenlooper)
H.R. 6369, Sun River Hydropower Authorization Act (Rosendale) (S. 3450, Sen. Daines)
S. 4176, A bill to authorize the use of funds for certain Carey Act projects (Sen. Risch) (n/a)

Department of Commerce & Oceans Package

H.R. 5453, Fishery Resource Disasters Improvement Act (Huffman) (S. 2923, Sen. Wicker)
H.R. 404, Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act (Lieu) (S. 273, Sen. Feinstein)
H.R. 6651, Alaska Salmon Research Task Force Act (Young) (S. 3429, Sen. Sullivan)
IUU technical corrections to NDAA provisions

EPW

H.R. 6734, Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act of 2022 (Jeffries) (S. 4194, Sen. Carper)

Other

H.R. 6289, To provide the consent of Congress to an amendment to the Constitution of the State of New Mexico (Stansbury) (S. 3404, Sen. Heinrich)
H.R. 6785, Right Whale Coexistence Act of 2022 (Moulton) (S. 3664, Sen. Booker)

Other Bills Passed into Law:

S. 1942 National Heritage Area Act (Sen.Stabenow) (H.R. 1316, Tonko)

Standalone bills included in the National Heritage Area Act:

H.R. 670, Black Metropolis Heritage Area Act (Rush)
H.R. 1154, Great Dismal Swamp National Heritage Area Act (McEachin)
H.R. 1286, Southern Campaign of the Revolution National Heritage Area Act (Clyburn)
H.R. 1908, The Ka’ena Point National Heritage Area Act (Case)
H.R. 2024, Southern Maryland National Heritage Area Act (Hoyer)
H.R. 2899, Guam National Heritage Area Act (San Nicolas)
H.R. 3222, Alabama Black Belt National Heritage Area Act (Sewell)
H.R. 4167, Northern Neck National Heritage Area Act (Wittman)
H.R. 4815, Saint Croix Island Heritage Act (Plaskett)
H.R. 7268, Downeast Maine National Heritage Area Act (Golden)

S. 3168, A bill to amend the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act (Sen. Kelly)
S. 3308, Colorado River Indian Tribes Water Resiliency Act (Sen. Kelly)
S. 3773, bill to authorize the leases of up to 99 years for land held in trust for the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation (Sen. Cantwell) (H.R. 6964, Strickland)
S. 4104, Hualapai Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2022 (Sen. Sinema) (H.R. 7633, O’Halleran)
S. 5087, A bill to amend the Not Invisible Act of 2019 to extend, and provide additional support for, the activities of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Justice Joint Commission on Reducing Violent Crime Against Indians, and for other purposes (Sen. Murkowski)
S. 989, Native American Language Resource Center Act (Sen. Schatz) (H.R. 2271, Young)
S. 1402, Durbin Feeling Native American Languages Act (Sen. Schatz)
S. 4439, Katimiîn and Ameekyáaraam Sacred Lands Act (Sen. Padilla) (H.R. 6032, Huffman)
H.R. 4881, Old Pascua Community Land Acquisition Act (Grijalva)
H.R. 441, To provide for the conveyance of certain property to the Tanana Tribal Council located in Tanana, Alaska, the conveyance of certain property to the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium located in Sitka, Alaska, and the conveyance of certain property to the Alaskan Native Tribal Health Consortium located in Anchorage, Alaska, and for other purposes. (Young)
H.R. 478, Blackwater Trading Post Land Transfer Act (O’Halleran)
S. 3519, Butterfield Overland National Historic Trail Designation Act (Sen. Boozman)
H.R. 263, Big Cat Public Safety Act (Quigley)
H.R. 5973, Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Reauthorization Act (Dingell)
H.R. 6427, Red River National Wildlife Refuge Boundary Modification Act (Johnson)
S. 1466, Saline Lake Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Program Act (Sen. Merkley)

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