Legislative Activity

Nomination Proceedings

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has scheduled votes for Tuesday, January 31 beginning at 9:30am on the nominations of Rep.Ryan Zinke (R-MT) for Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Governor Rick Perry for Secretary of the Department of Energy. Also at that meeting, subcommittee assignments and jurisdictional listings for the committee for the 115th Congress will be set. On Wednesday, February 1, at 10:45am, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is scheduled to vote on Scott Pruitt’s nomination for EPA Administrator.

This Week’s Hearings:

• On Monday, January 30, the House Committee on Rules will consider a joint resolution on the Stream Protection Rule, by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement of the Department of the Interior, as its first step to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to invalidate the rule. Similarly, on Tuesday, January 31, the Committee will consider a joint resolution using the CRA  in effort to invalidate the final rule by the Bureau of Land Management titled “Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation.”

• On Wednesday, February 1, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Energy and Power, will hold a hearing titled, “The Electricity Sector’s Efforts to Respond to Cybersecurity Threats.”

Regulatory Activity

Ocean Use

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, is scheduled to hold a public meeting to discuss the use of ships and other platforms in ocean exploration by the private sector and non-profit entities. The meeting will be held on February 22 and 23.

The Future of Sustainable Agriculture

The Department of Agriculture will hold a listening session concerning the future of sustainable agriculture over the next 50 years. The session titled “Visioning of U.S. Agriculture Systems for Sustainable Production” will focus on how to implement new technologies and scientific discoveries to improve existing agriculture systems. Agricultural systems are defined by the agency to include “row crops, horticultural crops, rangeland, livestock, aquaculture, forest, urban agriculture, and alternative agricultural production systems for food, fiber and fuel in addition to the water, landscape and ecosystem services they depend on and affect.” The session will be held on March 2; RSVPs are due by February 27.