Congress is in its second week of recess, or state working session, but Hill staff are busy prepping for intense legislative action upon their bosses' return. In addition to appropriations bills, legislative items relevant to the NEMW region that are likely consuming recess time for staff include a ballast water bill and the Water Resources Development Act. Prior to recess, Senator Mark Begich (AK) introduced a bill, the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act, that would revamp the vessel discharge programs within the U.S. Coast Guard and Environmental Protection Agency, including the ballast water standards finalized in 2012 and 2013, respectively. In particular, the bill sets forth a specific process for reviews and updates to the ballast water discharge standards, and creates a permanent exemption to the incidental discharge for fishing vessels. The next step on this bill would be a hearing in the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard. Additionally, staff from both chambers continue conference negotiations over provisions of the Water Resources Development Act, which authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and projects. The NEMWI put together a comparison of the House and Senate bills. Committee staff plan to have a final version presented for consideration in May.  

For more information, please contact Danielle Chesky, Director, Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

• The public comment period for the second round of applications
• Eligibility criteria
• Best practices from the first round
• Timeline for the second round
• Details on the President's Promise Zone Budget Proposal

The deadline to RSVP is Friday, April 25. Click here for more details and to RSVP. 

For more information, please contact Colleen Cain, Senior Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.