U.S. Congressman Mike Simpson - 2nd District of Idaho
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Recently in Washington      

Last week the House passed the conference report on H.R. 2055, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012, which completes the budget process for the 2012 fiscal year.  The House also passed the conference report on H.R. 1540, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2012, which Congressman Simpson opposed, as well as H.R. 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, which included a fully-offset extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. 

Simpson Protects Western Interests in Budget Bill
Chairman of Interior Subcommittee imposes litigation reforms, increases transparency for Department of Interior, EPA, and Forest Service
As Chairman of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, Congressman Mike Simpson has been instrumental in ensuring that western interests are protected in the final appropriations conference report for FY2012. The bill focuses on fiscal responsibility, reducing costs created through unnecessary litigation, and responsible management of our natural resources. The Interior and Environment conference report, which is included in H.R. 2055, was passed Friday.

“The deficit crisis facing our country has underscored the need for fiscal restraint,” said Simpson.  “This bill responds to that need not only by reducing funding for nearly every agency under the subcommittee’s jurisdiction, but also by making fundamental reforms necessary to ensure long-term fiscal health for agencies like the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service.”

The bill reduces funding overall for the agencies under the subcommittee’s jurisdiction and specifically cuts funding for the EPA by nearly 6% below the President’s request. Overall, funding for the EPA has been reduced by nearly $2 billion, or 18.4%, during calendar year 2011 under Simpson’s watch. These cuts include:
• Cutting the EPA Administrator’s immediate office budget by one-third;
• Reducing funding for EPA’s regulatory programs;
• Restraining spending on EPA’s proposed greenhouse gas regulations by cutting $4.6 million from the President’s request.

“After unparalleled increases in FY10, we have reined in EPA spending in significant ways, bringing fiscal sanity back to the way the agency operates and curbing the agency’s regulatory overreach,” said Simpson. “I’m hopeful that by restoring some fiscal sanity to the EPA’s budget we will also provide a positive charge to our recovering economy.”

In addition to reducing spending, the bill makes important reforms to address growing costs to taxpayers due to frivolous lawsuits.  Such lawsuits are one of the biggest unbudgeted costs for land management agencies. As litigation costs siphon funding away from critical priority programs, agencies are forced to divert taxpayer dollars intended for carrying out legitimate land management responsibilities. 

“I’ve been appalled to learn that some state and field offices of agencies like the BLM and Forest Service have reported spending more than half of their current budgets responding to litigation,” said Simpson. “These unaccounted for costs undermine any effort to implement a responsible budget, and we can’t expect to reduce government spending unless we address some of the underlying issues.”

To bring these costs under control, ensure greater accountability of taxpayer dollars, and increase transparency, Simpson included provisions in the conference report to:
• Extend for two years authorities to renew grazing permits while prioritizing work on the most sensitive environments;
• Require that environmental groups exhaust BLM’s administrative review process before litigating on grazing issues, saving the BLM significant taxpayer money currently wasted on litigation that could be resolved through the administrative process;
• Allow the Forest Service to use an administrative “objection” process rather than post-decisional appeals, saving the agency time and money and reducing litigation;
• Direct the Department of the Interior, the EPA, and the Forest Service to make publicly available detailed access to Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) fee information.

The bill also increases congressional oversight by requiring the President to submit a report to Congress describing all Federal agency spending for climate change programs and activities in fiscal year 2011 and requiring the DoI, EPA, Forest Service, and Indian Health Service to report quarterly on the status of balances of appropriations.

Other provisions in the bill include:
• A prohibition on funding for carrying out the Department of Interior’s “Wild Lands” initiative;
• Full funding for wildlife suppression and level funding for hazardous fuels reduction, as well as language directing the Forest Service to allocate hazardous fuels reduction funding based on highest priorities for reducing fire risk;
• Language prohibiting the EPA from requiring permits for storm water runoff from forest roads.

For a summary of the three separate bills, please visit: http://appropriations.house.gov/UploadedFiles/12_14_11_FY_12_Final_Bill_Detailed_Summary.pdf

Simpson Praises Final INL/Nuclear Funding Levels
Idaho Congressman says Energy Department funding bill allows progress at Idaho National Laboratory to continue on nuclear energy research and development.
Congressman Mike Simpson last week announced that the final Energy and Water Development conference report for fiscal year 2012 increases funding for nuclear energy and continues progress toward the development of new nuclear technologies, including those under development at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Simpson is a senior member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, serving as one of its members for nearly nine years.

“I am very pleased that the Appropriations Committee and Congress have once again demonstrated strong support for the development of nuclear energy and provided the resources necessary to continue our nation’s progress on new and promising nuclear technologies,” said Congressman Simpson. “Idaho National Laboratory and its exceptional workforce play a vital national and international role in leading the development of new nuclear technologies, and this bill will help maintain and expand that role in the future. We all know that Congress has had to make some very difficult choices about where to focus limited taxpayer resources, and with that in mind I am very grateful for the confidence my colleagues have shown for nuclear energy in this bill.”

Simpson also commended the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy and the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, Dr. Pete Lyons, for the support they have given to INL and nuclear energy programs. “The road to securing support for nuclear programs begins with the budgets produced by Assistant Secretary Pete Lyons and the folks who work at the DOE and at labs like INL,” said Congressman Simpson. “I want to thank Dr. Lyons for working with me and other supporters of nuclear energy to gain support for these critical programs in Congress.”

The fiscal year 2012 Energy and Water Development conference report includes $768.6 million for the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, a $31 million increase over the FY2011 funding level of $737 million. Nuclear energy research and development programs that receive funding within the $768.6 million allotment include:
• The Idaho Facilities Management account, which covers infrastructure maintenance and improvement at Idaho National Laboratory - $155 million;
• The Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies program - $74.9 million which includes;
• The Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility at INL - $14.6 million;
• Reactor Concepts Research and Development - $115.5 million. This funding includes $25 million for the Light Reactor Sustainability program and $40 million for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant program;
• Fuel Cycle Research and Development - $187.4 million;
• Small Modular Reactor Licensing Technical Support - $67 million.

The bill also provides $386.9 million for cleanup activities associated with the Idaho Cleanup Project and the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project co-located on the Idaho desert with Idaho National Laboratory.  The funding level of $386.9 million represents a $4.1 million increase over the President’s request and allows the significant cleanup activities currently underway to continue their progress.

Overall, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations conference report provides $32.1 billion dollars for the functions of the Department of Energy, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation and a number of independent agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Bonneville Power Administration. This level of funding for these agencies represents a reduction of $4.1 billion below the President’s request.

“If energy supply and price instability have taught us anything, it is that our nation needs to improve its focus on developing clean, safe, and domestic sources of energy and that nuclear energy must be a strong component of our nation’s energy portfolio,” said Simpson.
The conference report is expected to pass the House and Senate today and be sent to the President for his signature before the current authorization for funding expires at midnight.

Forest Roads Fix Included in Must-Pass Spending Bill
Simpson, Crapo, Risch, seek to overturn court decision that could cripple timber industry
A must-pass appropriations bill passed last week by the House and Senate includes a critical effort by Idaho Representative Mike Simpson and Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch to overturn a court decision that would bring forestry to a standstill in the Pacific Northwest and across the country. 

In August 2010, In NEDC v. Brown, the Circuit Court of Appeals for 9th Circuit ruled that logging road runoff, when channeled through a system of ditches and culverts and deposited into nearby rivers and streams, is point-source pollution and therefore subject to the permitting requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA).  By overturning the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 36-year-old policy of deferring to state regulators to manage such runoff, the decision will increase litigation on federal forests and, for the first time, subject state and private forests to the same specter.

In response, Simpson, who chairs the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, included a provision in H.R. 2584, the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, to overturn the court ruling and make permanent the successful system that EPA had utilized for 36 years.  Meanwhile, Crapo and Risch, along with democratic Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Begich of Alaska, introduced similar standalone legislation, the Silviculture Regulatory Consistency Act, which has 21 additional cosponsors, including seven Democrats.  In the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Washington) and Congressman Curt Schrader (D-Oregon) introduced identical legislation, cosponsored by 51 members, including Simpson.

At Simpson’s insistence, legislation filed this week to finish out the nine appropriations bills for FY2012 includes language prohibiting the EPA from requiring permits for stormwater runoff from forest roads.  Efforts by Crapo and Risch in the Senate were essential in ensuring that this language was included in the final appropriations bill.

“The forest roads provision is a major victory that we should all be proud of,” said Crapo.  “We in the Northwest have finally begun to work collaboratively to solve major natural resource conflicts.  For proof, one need only look to the Owyhee Initiative in southwest Idaho and the Clearwater Basin Collaborative in north central Idaho, where ranchers, conservationists, county commissioners, tribes and recreationists are setting aside their differences and coming together to solve problems outside of the court room.  This Court decision, if allowed to stand, would be a major setback for those efforts.  I want to thank all of my colleagues who took part in this effort, and especially Mike Simpson, for helping to make this happen.”

“Management authority to control runoff from logging roads must remain with the states.  For over 36 years the states have successfully managed this runoff through state laws and mitigation practices,” said Risch.  “To subject federal, state and private forest lands to the permitting requirements of the Clean Water Act will lock up these lands in endless litigation.  I appreciate the work Rep. Simpson did in getting this in the appropriations bill.”

“If enacted, the 9th Circuit Court’s decision would devastate the forest industry in the northwest—and its negative impacts are underscored by fact that this provision has broad bipartisan, bicameral support among those who represent the impacted states,” said Simpson.  “This language is a simple but important fix to a misguided and problematic decision, providing the industry with needed certainty and allowing the EPA’s long-standing policy on forest roads to stand.  I deeply appreciate the support of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in both the House and Senate, particularly Senators Crapo and Risch, in communicating to Senate Leadership and the White House how important this language is.”

Since 1976, this category of runoff has been regulated by the EPA’s Silviculture Rule, which used the agency’s authority to define nonpoint sources to exclude logging road runoff from permits under the EPA’s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System.  Congress assigned regulation of nonpoint sources to the States through adoption of best management practices and state law.  In NEDC v. Brown, the 9th Circuit determined that EPA exceeded its authority under the CWA when it defined the practices used to control the runoff from forest roads as a nonpoint source.  This legislation would reverse that ruling by codifying the Silviculture Rule into law and restoring management authority to the States.
In building support for this effort, the Idaho delegation and others worked closely with the National Alliance of Forest Owners and its member companies across the country.  This legislation also has the support of county commissioners, labor groups and countless others, including the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Boone and Crockett Club and the Wild Sheep Foundation. 

Floor Schedule

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19TH

On Monday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business.
First votes expected: 6:30 p.m. Last votes expected: ???

Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules:
1) H.Res. 497 - To provide for the placement of a statue or bust of Sir Winston Churchill in the United States Capitol (Sponsored by Rep. John Boehner / House Administration Committee)
2) Senate Amendment to H.R. 2056 - To instruct the Inspector General of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to study the impact of insured depository institution failures, and for other purposes (Sponsored by Rep. Lynn Westmoreland / Financial Services Committee)
3) Senate Amendment to H.R. 1801 - Risk-Based Security Screening for Members of the Armed Forces Act (Sponsored by Rep. Chip Cravaack / Homeland Security Committee)
4) Senate Amendment to H.R. 1059 - To protect the safety of judges by extending the authority of the Judicial Conference to redact sensitive information contained in their financial disclosure reports, and for other purposes (Sponsored by Rep. John Conyers / Judiciary Committee)
5) Senate Amendment to H.R. 515 - Belarus Democracy and Human Rights Act of 2011 (Sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith / Foreign Affairs Committee)

Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 3630 - Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011 (Sponsored by Rep. Dave Camp / Ways and Means Committee / Energy and Commerce Committee / Financial Services Committee / Foreign Affairs Committee / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee / Agriculture Committee / Oversight and Government Reform Committee / House Administration Committee / Budget Committee / Natural Resources Committee / Rules Committee / Permanent Select Intelligence Committee)

**Members are advised that additional votes related to H.R. 3630 are possible.**

              

MEDIA CENTER


Congressman Simpson speaks at a press conference to introduce a bipartisan letter to the Super Committee


Congressmen Simpson, Labrador and Senator Crapo pictured with the 744 Engineer Company

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