Week ahead: House returns to target energy, environmental regs

The House Natural Resources Committee has a busy week scheduled as lawmakers are back in Washington after the August recess.

The panel has hearings scheduled on GOP-backed measures to reform the Endangered Species Act and streamline environmental review for water storage. It will also grill the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Interior Department’s inspector general.

{mosads}Six Endangered Species Act bills will be subject to a legislative hearing Tuesday.

Among the bills are proposals to restrict the Interior Department’s ability to settle endangered species lawsuits, to require economic analysis before an endangered species is designated and to allow states to implement protective measures before the federal government acts to designate a species.

Many of the measures were included in a comprehensive bill of conservative Endangered Species Act reform measures passed by the full House shortly before the August recess.

The panel has been working throughout the year on reforming the law to reduce burdens to states, landowners and businesses.

The committee will hear from local officials from western states, experts, federal officials and conservation advocates.

Fish and Wildlife Service Director Daniel Ashe will join the panel for a Wednesday hearing where criticisms of the Obama administration’s enforcement of wildlife laws are expected, especially as they relate to energy production. Hilary Tompkins, Interior’s solicitor general, will also answer questions about how the department handles lawsuits.

The full committee will meet Monday in Pennsylvania about the conservation status of the long-eared bat and Thursday for a hearing on Interior’s inspector general, who the panel said has failed to comply with subpoenas regarding recent investigations.

Various subcommittees will hold hearings on bills related to public lands, surface water storage and consultation with Indian tribes.

On the other side of Capitol Hill, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday will consider whether to confirm Jeffrey Baran and Stephen Burns, President Obama’s nominees for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Monday, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chairman of the committee’s subpanel on water and wildlife, will hold a hearing in Annapolis, Md., on efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay. The subcommittee will hear from representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, along with officials from states in the bay’s watershed. 

The House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Energy and Power will hear Tuesday from state officials about the impact of the EPA’s proposed rule to limit carbon pollution from power plants. Texas, Montana, Arizona, Indiana, Rhode Island, Maryland and Washington will all send representatives.

The House Rules Committee will meet Monday to discuss whether to bring legislation to the House floor to block the EPA’s Waters of the United States rule, which would redefine the federal government’s jurisdiction for the Clean Water Act. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed the bill in July.

Off Capitol Hill, the Brookings Institution will hold an event Tuesday on the United States’ ban on crude oil export, and its implications for the country’s energy security.

Larry Summers, former president of Harvard University and secretary of the Treasury, will give the opening remarks.

The International Water Resource Economics Consortium will hold its 11th annual meeting at the World Bank headquarters from Sunday to Tuesday.

The World Resources Institute will hold a briefing and webinar Thursday to present its new report on how the lack of freshwater availability could impact shale oil and gas development.