The Washington Word

NOTE: This will be the last Washington Word for 2018. We wish you a very happy holiday season and a sustainable new year. See you in 2019!

Incoming House Chairs Eager for Piece of the Climate Action

Bloomberg

Dec. 13, 2018

A new House panel focusing on climate change won’t be alone in addressing the issue in the 116th Congress: Roughly half a dozen incoming committee chairs are itching to jump into the fray.

Nearly a decade ago, when Democrats last controlled the House, the Energy and Commerce Committee was front and center on climate. It remains likely to play a role in any broad legislation Democrats try to move in the next two years, but other panels on agriculture, foreign relations, science, oversight, and natural resources also will have new Democratic chairs eager to put climate change and its impacts on center stage. More...

House Climate Change Panel Won't Likely Pass Bills

The Hill

Dec. 12, 2018

A growing number of House Democrats are backing the idea to create a special committee to fight climate change next year, but it likely won’t have the authority to pass any bills.

Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told lawmakers Wednesday that the panel, championed by Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), won’t have any legislative jurisdiction.

In the meeting, meant to assuage concerns of incoming committee chairmen that the new climate panel might encroach on their authority, Pelosi (D-Calif.) promised that the select committee wouldn’t have the authority to pass its own bills, according to Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who attended the meeting. More...

NRDC: DOE Hasn’t Distributed Hundreds of Millions in Approved Clean Energy Funding

Solar Power World

Dec. 10, 2018

The Natural Resources Defense Council today urged Congress to investigate why the Department of Energy (DOE) still has not distributed as much as $600 million in congressionally approved clean energy research and development funding more than two months after the end of Fiscal Year 2018.

Citing the findings in a new NRDC analysis, NRDC managing director of government affairs Ana Unruh Cohen described the delays as “uncharacteristic and concerning” in her letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees on Energy and Water. More...

NEW IN CONGRESS

NEW BILL: H.R.7279/To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide for an integrated planning process, to promote green infrastructure, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH)

Introduced: Dec. 13, 2018

NEW BILL: H.R. 7197/Renewable HEAT for Schools Act

Sponsor: Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY)

Introduced: Nov. 29, 2018

Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to make grants to local educational agencies for purposes of supporting renewable energy-based heating and cooling systems in schools.

S.1768/National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2018

Sponsor: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

Latest Action: Became Public Law 115-307

AGENCY ACTION

Proposed Modification to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for Stormwater Discharges From Construction Activities

EPA

Dec. 12, 2018

All ten Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regions today are proposing for public comment a modification to the 2017 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit for stormwater discharges from construction activities, also referred to as the “2017 Construction General Permit (CGP)” or “2017 CGP” which became effective on February 16, 2017. The EPA is proposing a modification to the 2017 CGP that is limited to clarifying the intent of several requirements and ensuring consistency with the Construction and Development Effluent Limitations Guidelines and New Source Performance Standards.

This action is hereafter referred to as the “proposed modification” or “draft modified permit.” The proposed modification, if finalized, would replace several existing conditions in the 2017 CGP and relevant fact sheet sections subject to modification, but would not affect any other terms and conditions of the existing permit, including: The eligible coverage area; the number or type of entities eligible to be covered by the permit; nor the five-year permit term of the current 2017 CGP, which will expire on February 16, 2022.

The current 2017 CGP remains in effect while the EPA pursues this action. This Federal Register notice describes the proposed modification and where the proposed changes can be found in the 2017 CGP. To assist in the public's review of this proposed modification, the EPA has posted a redline strikeout version of the permit and accompanying fact sheet showing all of the proposed changes in context of the documents they would modify at https://www.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater-discharges-construction-activities ; these documents can also be found in the Docket (EPA-HQ-OW-2015-0828).

Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; EPA's ENERGY STAR Program in the Commercial and Industrial Sectors (Renewal)

EPA

Dec. 13, 2018

The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), “EPA's ENERGY STAR Program in the Commercial and Industrial Sectors” (EPA ICR No. 1772.08, OMB Control No. 2060-0347), to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. This is a proposed extension of the ICR, which is currently approved through September 30, 2019. An Agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.