Press Releases
Congressional drilling critics call on EPA to reopen pollution probes
E&E News By Mike Soraghan April 2, 2014 A Democratic House member from Pennsylvania and seven colleagues are asking U.S. EPA to renew their work in three communities where the agency bailed out of shale drilling contamination cases. EPA jumped into the cases in Dimock, Pa.; Parker County, Texas; and Pavillion, Wyo., several years ago. Since early 2012, the agency has slowly retreated without full explanations, often leaving many unanswered questions. In a letter to EPA Administrator G… Continue Reading
04.02.14
Despite rains, snowpack reading in Calif. brings bad news
E&E News By Anne Mulkern April 2, 2014 Recent rains in California have failed to rescue the state from its sweeping drought. A reading of the state's snowpack yesterday showed it was at 32 percent of average for this time of year. It was the final reading before the spring melt typically begins. "We're already seeing farmland fallowed and cities scrambling for water supplies," said Mark Cowin, director of the state's Department of Water Resources (DWR). "We … Continue Reading
03.31.14
Republicans Develop An Interest In Bird Deaths
FORBES By Jeff McMahon March 29, 2014 House Republicans think the Obama Administration may be selectively enforcing wildlife laws to prosecute oil and gas companies while sparing wind-energy farms. And they're pushing hard to get evidence. On March 11 the House Natural Resources Committee issued a subpoena to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for documents related to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, including the case file for every incident th… Continue Reading
03.31.14
House subpanel eyes bills to deter illegal catches, bolster enforcement
E&E News By Jessica Estepa March 31, 2014 A House Natural Resources subpanel this week will tackle a pair of bills that aim to deter illegal fishing around the world and strengthen the United States' own fisheries law enforcement. On the Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affair Subcommittee's agenda is legislation from Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) that would implement the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated F… Continue Reading
03.31.14
‘Mount Reagan’ a hot potato for Nevada Democrats
Las Vegas Review Journal By Steve Tetreault March 31, 2014 A bill that would name a peak on Frenchman Mountain for Ronald Reagan took a small step forward in Congress last week. But for Nevada Democrats, it was a hot potato. At a state delegation meeting in Washington, lawmakers were asked whether they supported the proposed Mount Reagan on the eastern edge of the Las Vegas Valley. The thought was batted around the table. "We probably haven't named enough stuff for Reagan," U.S. Sen. Harr… Continue Reading
03.31.14
House panel to explore reauthorization of recreation fees
E&E News By Phil Taylor March 31, 2014 House lawmakers Friday will consider ways to reauthorize the law that allows the Interior Department and the Forest Service to charge user fees for properties with restrooms, picnic tables or other facilities. The fees -- which in fiscal 2011 brought in $260.6 million to the Forest Service and four Interior agencies -- helped improve recreation facilities and maintenance, the Obama administration has said. The Natural Resources Subcommittee on Pu… Continue Reading
03.28.14
Tighten rules on drilling waste disposal, Dem says
E&E News By Mike Soraghan March 28, 2014 Federal law governing the disposal of oil and gas waste should be strengthened to address its potential to trigger earthquakes, a top House Democrat said. "We need to decide if re-injection of wastewater is wise in some places," said Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, at an earthquake hearing yesterday. "This is all regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, which is focused … Continue Reading
03.28.14
Feinstein leads bipartisan call for more deliveries to Calif. farmers
E&E News By Debra Kahn March 28, 2014 Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D), Rep. Devin Nunes (R) and other members of California's delegation asked the Obama administration yesterday to make more water available for farmers struggling with the state's ongoing drought. Feinstein sent a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker urging them to ease rules that protect endangered fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in order to send more water to… Continue Reading
03.28.14
Seismologists, Lawmakers Call For Earthquake Early Warning System
Alaskan Public RadioBy Liz Ruskin, APRN March 27, 2014 - 6:06 pm In Congress today, a House subcommittee marked the 5oth anniversary of the Great Alaska Earthquake with a hearing focused on what scientists have learned from that event that can prepare the nation for the next big temblor or tsunami. Seismologists and several lawmakers said Congress needs to pony up for an earthquake early warning system. For people who study earthquakes, each major event serves as a lab experiment. Plat… Continue Reading
03.28.14
Under grilling, FWS director defends wildlife enforcement at wind farms
SNL By Michael Copley March 26, 2014 A House Committee hearing that was called March 26 to investigate the Obama administration's relationship with the wind power industry and the government's enforcement of wildlife protection laws served up more partisan squabbling than the kind of procedural answers for which Republican members said they were searching. Members of the House Natural Resources Committee spent roughly two hours questioning U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Da… Continue Reading
03.27.14
National Monuments: Republicans push bill through House to curb president's authority to name sites
The Oregonian By Jeff Mapes March 26, 2014 U.S. House Republicans, taking another shot at federal wilderness designations, pushed a bill through the House Wednesday that would curtail a president's authority to authorize national monuments. The measure passed on a nearly party-line vote of 222-201 and faces little chance of becoming law, given the Democratic majority in the Senate and President Barack Obama's veto pen. But it gives Republicans a chance to sound a warning shot that… Continue Reading
03.27.14
Committee Hearing on Wind Energy and Eagles Deadlocks in Partisan Posturing
KCET By Chris Clarke March 26, 2014 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe delivered subpoenaed testimony Wednesday before a House committee investigating the agency's approach to wind turbine deaths of eagles and other birds. But what could have been an informative and illuminating hearing on Obama administration policy regarding wildlife and renewable energy turned out to be nearly two hours of partisan posturing instead. Ashe, who received a subpoena earlier this month to … Continue Reading
03.27.14
House panel's subpoena on bird laws 'enormously disruptive,' expensive -- FWS chief
E&E News By Phil Taylor March 26, 2014 A subpoena issued this month by House Republicans into the Obama administration's enforcement of bird protection laws has prevented scores of law enforcement officers from pursuing illegal wildlife trafficking and has imposed unnecessary costs on taxpayers, Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe said today. Compliance with the Natural Resources Committee's subpoena has required 125 agency employees to work 2,600 hours at a taxpayer co… Continue Reading
03.27.14
House pushes to limit president's right to designate monuments
Los Angeles Times By Richard Simon March 26, 2014, 7:19 p.m. WASHINGTON - The Republican-controlled House voted Wednesday to scale back the president's authority to establish national monuments, seeking changes to a century-old law that critics say has put wide swaths of the West off-limits to activities such as logging, grazing and mining. The measure, which passed on a largely party-line 222-201 vote, is unlikely to come to a vote in the Democratic-led Senate. Still, Republic… Continue Reading
03.27.14
House approves GOP bill rolling back presidential powers
E&E News By Phil Taylor March 27, 2014 Along mostly party lines, the House yesterday voted to greatly curtail presidents' authority to designate national monuments that protect public lands from mineral development and other impacts. Republicans said H.R. 1459 would ensure that the public has a say in what lands get protected, while Democrats blasted the measure as a red herring that would essentially block the creation of new national monuments and parks. The chamber approved the… Continue Reading
03.27.14
GOP: Administration stonewalling on bird deaths
Associated Press By MATTHEW DALY March 26, 2014 WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration is refusing to turn over documents related to enforcement of environmental laws at wind farms where dozens of eagles and other protected birds have been killed, House Republicans charged Wednesday. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., said the Fish and Wildlife Service has engaged in a "deliberate slow rolling of documents and answers" for nearly a year. Hastings is chairman of the House Natural Re… Continue Reading
03.27.14
How Republicans are using national monuments to fight President Obama
Washington Post By Ed O'Keefe and Juliet Eilperin March 26 at 10:14 am President Obama has spent much of the past two months exercising his executive authority, on issues ranging from the minimum wage to retirement benefits. But House Republicans are trying undercut his ability to protect public lands on his own. They pushed through a bill Wednesday, limiting the president's ability to declare national monuments, a key part of his reinvigorated environmental policy. … Continue Reading
03.27.14
U.S. House passes bill to curtail national monuments
Seattle Press Intelligencer By Joel Connolly March 26, 2014 The U.S. House of Representatives has narrowly approved Republican legislation to severely curtail presidents' ability to designate national monuments, a power first used in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt to create the forerunner to Olympic National Park. Rep. Dave Reichert, one of just 10 Republican House members to oppose legislation that would curtail the President's authority to designate new National Monuments. The 222… Continue Reading
03.27.14
House passes Bishop’s bill on creating monuments
The Salt Lake Tribune By Thomas Burr March 26, 2014 Washington • A proposed national monument would first have to go through an environmental review under legislation approved Wednesday by the House. The House voted largely along party lines - 222 to 201 - to pass Utah Rep. Rob Bishop's legislation that would restrict a president's unilateral power to protect large swaths of public land without congressional approval. Bishop said this approach is necessary to allow public input into … Continue Reading
03.27.14
House votes to curb White House authority on national monuments
The Hill By Peter Kasperowicz March 26, 2014 The House approved legislation on Wednesday that would create new hurdles to presidential designations of national monuments, a bill that Republican supporters say is needed because presidents of both parties are abusing their power to select these sites. Members passed H.R. 1459, the Ensuring Public Involvement in the Creation of National Monuments Act, in a 222-201 vote. Democrats cast the bill as an anti-environmental measure, and only th… Continue Reading