Week ahead: Energy bills hit the House floor

The House is taking up a slew of environmental measures including a bill that would slash EPA funding and block many of President Obama’s climate rules.

Lawmakers are expected to consider the Interior and environment appropriations bill, setting up a floor fight. The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved the bill, which would cut the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by 9 percent and halt a handful of upcoming agency rules.

The House will also vote on the Ratepayer Protection Act. The bill, from Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), would allow states to opt out of the EPA’s proposed rule limiting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. It would also block implementation of the rule until all legal challenges against it are decided.

{mosads}Finally, a bill overhauling federal chemical safety laws will also be on the House floor. The legislation, which passed a House committee nearly unanimously earlier this month, would direct the EPA to assess dangerous chemicals and let states regulate them as well.

Two committees will also make upcoming EPA regulations the subject of hearings.

On Tuesday, the Senate Environment and Public Works subcommittee on clean air will hold a hearing on the impact of the EPA’s proposed carbon rules on electricity rates.

The House Science, Space and Technology subcommittees on environment and energy will hold a joint hearing on the Energy Information Administration’s report on the EPA’s Clean Power Plan on Wednesday.

The House Natural Resources Committee’s oversight subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Bureau of Land Management’s handling of wind and solar reclamation bonds on Wednesday. The next day, the panel’s energy and mineral resources subcommittee will hold a hearing on a bill to support mineral mining in the U.S.

A Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee will hold a hearing on energy exports on Tuesday.

Off Capitol Hill, Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D), Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton (D), former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) and former EPA Administrator Carol Browner are scheduled to participate in a Washington Post forum on energy Tuesday. 

Also Tuesday, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, will speak at a Heritage Foundation event on the “social cost of carbon” regulations.

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) will speak at an Alliance to Save Energy discussion on comprehensive energy legislation on Wednesday.

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