|
|
|
Senate Resumes Appropriations Process; House is Recessed for the 4th of July
The Senate will look to complete its work on the FY2017 Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) appropriations bill this week. A NEMWI fact sheet on the CJS bill--which provides approximately $56.3 billion to support national commerce, law enforcement, and scientific innovation-- can be viewed
here. Additionally, the Senate might take up a conference report that would fund Zika containment, as well as a bill aimed at helping Puerto Rico deal with its debt crisis. The House of Representatives is in recess this week for the 4th of July holiday.
Other regionally-relevant events this week are listed below.
Tuesday
- Senate Commerce, Science, & Transportation Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security hearing on "How the Internet of Things (IoT) Can Bring U.S. Transportation and Infrastructure into the 21st Century," 10:00 AM, 253 Russell Senate Office Building
Wednesday
- Senate Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee markup on various bills including the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act, the American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act and the Outdoor Recreations Jobs and Economic Impact Act, 10:00 AM, 253 Senate Russell Office Building
- Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight hearing on "Oversight of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Enforcement and Compliance Programs," 2:30 PM, 406 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Thursday
- Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing on "No More Hikes: Small Business Survival Amidst Unaffordable Flood Insurance Rate Increases," 10:00 AM, 428A Russell Senate Office Building
For more information, contact Matthew McKenna, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program, or Colleen Cain, Sr. Policy Analyst, at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
|
Senate Passes Brownfields Legislation
The Senate last night unanimously approved the bipartisan
Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act of 2015 (S. 1479). The bill reauthorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's brownfields program through FY2018 at a funding level of up to $250 million per year. Among other changes, the bill expands eligibility for grants, increases funding caps for remediation grants, allows grant recipients cover some administrative costs, and considers waterfront brownfields and clean energy projects. The bill will now head to the House, where its companion,
HR 4463, is awaiting committee action. These bills are just some of the blight legislation introduced in the 114th Congress, a listing of which is available on page 10 of NEMWI's recent
report.
For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Sr. Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
|
NEMWI Co-hosts Briefing on Efforts to Control Asian Carp in Mississippi River Basin
Attendees briefed on risk assessment by Rip Shively, Director at
USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center.
The Northeast-Midwest Institute, in cooperation with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, co-hosted a Congressional briefing with the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Association (MICRA), focused on efforts to control Asian carp in the Upper Mississippi River and Ohio River basins on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 in the Dirksen Senate office building. The briefing was the first to specifically address monitoring efforts and methods of controlling carp in the Mississippi River basin. Attendees represented approximately 30 Congressional offices and a variety of national and regional stakeholders. Seven panelists from federal and state agencies discussed the current state of the threat presented by Asian carp in the Upper Mississippi and Ohio River basins and strategies for monitoring and managing the invasive species.
More details and presentation slides are available
here
.
For more information, contact
Jared Mott
, Sr. Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
|
Waukesha Water Diversion Application Approved
The eight Great Lakes Governors unanimously voted last Tuesday to approve an application by Waukesha, WI to divert 8.2 million gallons of water a day from Lake Michigan. The diversion is subject to certain conditions required by the Compact Council. This is the first water approval outside the Great Lakes basin since the Great Lakes Compact was approved in 2008. The final decision by the Compact Council can be viewed
here.
The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Water Resources Regional Body (Regional Body) will hold its regular meeting on Monday, July 25, 2016, at 2 PM via conference call and the
Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council (Compact Council)
will hold their regular meeting at 2:30 PM that same day via conference call. Both meetings
will be be open for public comment. Details about the Regional Body's meeting can be viewed here, and details about the Compact Council's meeting can be viewed here.
For more information, contact
Matthew McKenna
, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program.
|
|
NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
