|
|
House Farm Bill Passes 213-211, Senate to Vote on Its Version Soon
The House passed its version of the Farm Bill 213-211 on June 21st, meeting its June 22nd target date almost as narrowly as the bill passed.
Politico
reported that "eight Freedom Caucus members flipped their votes from last month and voted in favor" of the bill. Twelve other Republicans and all of the Democrats present voted in opposition as well, but they collectively fell two votes short of the majority. Two Representatives from each party
missed the vote
.
As for the Senate, following a nearly unanimous vote by its Agriculture Committee, the legislative body can now vote on its version of the Farm Bill. Senators have planned on voting before their recess for Independence Day according to
Roll Call
, and
Politico
explained, "around 6 p.m. Monday, the Senate will hold a procedural vote on the motion to proceed to the legislation, which may pave the way for debate." Should it pass, members of both the House and Senate must form a conference committee and reconcile the differences between the two versions of the bill before its expiration date, September 30th. The committee will face the difficult task of negotiating whether or not to include
work requirements in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP), limits on farm subsidies, and changes to the conservation title.
One key change to the conservation title is that the House's version of the
Farm Bill increased the Conservation Reserve Program's limit to 29 million acres, has a gross income cap of $900,000 for farmers in order to obtain subsidies, and requires able-bodied individuals between the ages of 18 and 59 to work in order to receive SNAP benefits. None of these provisions are consistent with the Senate's bill that only increased the CRP's limit to 25 million acres, decreased the gross income cap to $700,000, and did not change SNAP's work requirements.
If the House and Senate cannot negotiate a Farm Bill in a conference session and the bill is not signed into law by the September 30th deadline, "agriculture policy would revert to 1938 and 1949 farm bill laws, ending many current farm programs and setting crop and dairy subsidy levels higher than current levels and far above market prices,"
Roll Call
reported. It is more likely, however, that the Farm Bill receives a year-long extension if the conference doesn't lead to a consensus bill.
For more information, please contact
Eric Heath
, Senior Policy Counsel for the Mississippi River Basin Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
Trump's Government Reorganization Recommendations Could Change Federal Environmental Oversight
President Trump has recently released his "Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century Reform Plan and Reorganization Recommendations" proposal. If Congress passes legislation that implements the plan, the federal government's environmental oversight would change. The experts at Circle of Blue reported on this in their most recent
Federal Water Tap
Newsletter. It explains that the administration plans to:
- Move the Army Corps' waterway navigation duties (e.g. dredging channels) to the Department of Transportation and its water infrastructure mission (e.g., dams and levees) to the Department of the Interior;
- Reduce the oversight and enforcement role of the Environmental Protection Agency in favor of state authority;
- Merge the National Marine Fisheries Service, a Commerce Department agency, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and
- Move the water office at the U.S. Agency for International Development into a bureau that also includes food security and climate.
For more information, please refer to the Circle of Blue's newsletter which can be found
here
.
|
EPA Allows States to Oversee Coal Ash Disposal, Changes Grant Review Process
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency allowed Oklahoma to issue permits "for [the] disposal of toxic ash from coal plants,"
The
Washington Post
reported.
Prior to this action, the agency's administrator, Scott Pruitt, had expressed his intention to reverse the effect of an Obama-era rule that made it difficult for coal plants to dispose of toxic ash for the sake of preventing groundwater contamination. Upon a state's request, the EPA will now allow states to issue permits for coal ash disposal, adding another action that highlights Pruitt's goal to weaken environmental protection.
Administrator Pruitt believes state officials "are best positioned to oversee [such] management... [and] have intimate knowledge of the facilities and the environment in their state," but environmentalists are concerned about the implications that this cession of federal oversight could have.
The EPA has also changed how the grants it awards will be reviewed. EPA-funded grants will now be reviewed by "relevant regional administrators or assistant administrations," according to
The Hill
. This comes after environmentalists' criticism of the agency's attempt to direct grant funding towards applicants with similar policy goals to those of the administration. The EPA previously required grant requests to go through an appointed senior press aid. This had resulted in a feeling that the policy, first implemented last year, made this process too political.
For more information, please contact
Eric Heath
, Senior Policy Counsel for the Mississippi River Basin Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
Administration Signs Executive Order Reversing Obama Stewardship Policies for the Great Lakes and Oceans
President Trump signed an Executive Order (
EO 13547) on June 19th that rolls back Obama-era policies aimed at protecting the Great Lakes and oceans. Following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama issued the EO to emphasis the vulnerability of the Great Lakes and oceans and established a council to support conservation of these marine environments. Trump's newly issued executive order creates a smaller Ocean Policy Committee while eliminating "duplicative" regional planning bodies created under Obama. Additionally, the order states "that Federal regulations and management decisions do not prevent productive and sustainable use of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters."
While Trump's EO does not lift the current federal ban on drilling in the Great Lakes, Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI), Co-Chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, has expressed her concerns that the new executive order could open the door for companies to potentially drill in the Great Lakes. The Senator sent a letter to President Trump reminding him of the current federal ban on drilling in the Great Lakes. She is also calling on him to "reverse course and oppose any efforts to open our waters to oil and gas drilling as a result of [his] recent Executive Order." The complete text of the letter can be viewed
here
.
For more information, please contact Matthew McKenna, Director of Great Lakes Washington Program.
|
|
This Week in Washington
After passing its Farm Bill last week, the House will continue to work on a compromise immigration reform package.
Additionally, the House will also take up a Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Bill, a FY19 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, and could also motion
to go to conference on H.R. 5515, the National Defense Authorization Act. The House passed the FY19 Department of Defense Authorization on
May 24th
,
while the Senate passed its version on
June 18th
.
Both chambers of Congress will hold the last of their hearings before they begin their week-long recess for Independence Day.
The following are hearings and markups of interest.
Tuesday
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will hold a hearing to consider the
nominations
for various positions within the Department of Energy. The committee will examine the nominations of Teri L. Donaldson (TX) to be Inspector General, Christopher Fall (VA) to be Director of the Office of Science, Karen S. Evans (WV) to be Assistant Secretary of Cyber Security, Energy Security, and Emergency Response, and Daniel Simmons (VA) to be Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. This will begin at 10:00 a.m. and occur in 366 Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Wednesday
The House Committee on Natural Resources will hold a
markup
on the Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunity Act, the Education and Energy Act of 2018, the Removing Barriers to Energy Independence Act, the Streamlining Permitting Efficiency in Energy Development Act, and the Ending Duplicative Permitting Act. This will begin at 10:15 a.m. in 1324 Longworth House Office Building.
|
|
NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation
|
|
|
|
|
