Recently in Washington

Last week the House passed H.R. 2018, the Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011, which preserves the authority of each State to make determinations relating to the State’s water quality standards.  The House also passed H.R 1309, the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2011, which reauthorizes the National Flood Insurance Program for five years, reduces rate subsidies, and reforms the program to put it on the path to soundness.  Congressman Simpson supported both of these bills.

The House also passed H.R. 2354, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of FY2012.  This legislation provides the budget for the Department of Energy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in addition to other agencies, cutting spending by a total of $5.9 billion from the President’s request and bringing the total cost of the bill to below FY2006 levels.  H.R. 2354 includes funding for the Idaho National Lab.  Congressman Simpson, who is a member of the House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, supported the bill.

Simpson’s Interior Appropriations Bill Approved by Committee
The House Appropriations Committee last week marked up the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for FY2012.  Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson, who chairs the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, put forth a bill that responds to our nation’s fiscal crisis by cutting $2.1 billion from the current fiscal year’s level.  The bill shifts the focus away from efforts to grow government and back on proven, core programs.

“This subcommittee has made very difficult choices in preparing this budget proposal, but at the end of the day, what this Committee is attempting to do is all about reducing spending, creating more certainty in the marketplace, and promoting an economic environment conducive to job growth,” Chairman Simpson said during the markup.  “If there’s one thing we should have learned from the last Congress, it’s that we can’t spend our way to economic recovery.  That didn’t work.  All it did was make the hole we’re in much deeper.”

The FY12 Interior and Environment Appropriations Act funds agencies under the bill at $27.5 billion, a 12% cut from the President’s budget request and 7% below the FY11 enacted level.  To do so, the bill prioritizes funding for agencies’ core missions and programs that have demonstrated value to the taxpayer.  For example:
• The bill fully funds wildfire suppression at the 10-year average. 
• The bill also restores funding to core science programs at the US Geological Survey, rejecting the administration’s proposal to transfer new, unfunded programs to the agency. 
• The bill includes increased funding for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to hire new inspectors and move forward with offshore oil and gas permitting while also improving safety. 
• The bill also ensures that land management agencies like the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Park Service have adequate funding for achieving land management goals, including ensuring that our national parks remain operational and fully staffed.

“I recognize that the agencies funded under this bill are of keen interest to Idahoans, who live in a state where the federal government owns nearly two-thirds of the land, and I recognize that these cuts will be felt by many, even those who recognize that we need to rein in spending,” said Simpson.  “The reality is that getting our economy back on track requires us to make difficult and sometimes unpopular choices.  With this bill, we’ve shown that we are willing to do what it takes to make our nation healthy again.”

Bill Cuts EPA Budget, Reins in Regulatory Agenda
While the bill aims to provide adequate funding for fundamental programs, it makes deep cuts in programs that have received unsustainable funding increases in recent years and dramatically reduces funding intended to grow government.  The EPA, which received a $1.6 billion cut in FY11, is cut by an additional $1.5 billion.  Taken together, funding for the EPA has been reduced by nearly a third during the current calendar year.

“Earlier this year I said that the scariest agency in the federal government is the EPA,” Chairman Simpson said during the markup.  “I still believe that.  The EPA’s unrestrained effort to regulate greenhouse gases and the pursuit of an overly aggressive regulatory agenda are signs of an agency that has lost its bearings.  Wherever I go, the biggest complaint I hear about the federal government is how the EPA is creating economic uncertainty and killing jobs.” 

The FY12 Interior and Environment Appropriations Act includes an 18% cut from current levels.  Taken together with the $1.6 billion cut included in the FY11 continuing resolution passed in April, Simpson has reduced funding for the EPA by nearly a third during the current calendar year.

The bill includes a number of provisions intended to address EPA actions that have created uncertainty in our economy and threaten future economic growth, including:
• A provision instituting a one-year prohibition on the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources;
• A provision prohibiting the EPA from changing the definition of “navigable waterways” under the Clean Water Act;
• A provision clarifying that aquatic pesticides, which are currently regulated under FIFRA, are not subject to duplicative regulation under the Clean Water Act;
• A provision requiring agencies to make information regarding payments for legal fees to litigants who sue the federal government available to the public;
• A provision providing exemptions from greenhouse gas reporting for certain agricultural activities;
• A provision putting an effective hiring freeze on EPA employees, rejecting the President’s proposal to hire additional regulators;
• A provision preventing EPA from implementing costly, counterproductive requirements for cooling water intakes at nuclear and other energy plants that would raise energy prices;
• A provision preventing EPA from expanding federal stormwater discharge program to existing commercial or residential properties without meeting congressional requirements;
• A provision maintaining EPA’s current regulations exempting forest practices—including forest roads—from point source permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act;
• A provision preventing EPA from implementing regulations to identify coal ash as a hazardous waste.

During the Committee markup, additional amendments were adopted that would:
• Prohibit EPA from implementing proposed rules, including flawed Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards, unachievable standards on the Portland cement industry, and the Transport rule, that would devastate domestic manufacturing and energy production;
• Prohibit EPA from regulating the use of the word "green" on lawn product labels;
• Prevent EPA from regulating animal emissions of ammonia under the Clean Air Act standard for nitrogen oxide;
• Prohibit EPA from usurping state authority over financial assurance regulations for hardrock mining;
• Prevent EPA from regulating farm dust;
• Prohibit EPA from designating areas that were flooded in the Midwest earlier this year as wetlands to be regulated under the Clean Water Act.

“If we really want to do something about the national deficit, we need to get our economy going again.  Unfortunately, the EPA is the wet blanket that is preventing small businesses, farmers, and ranchers from investing in their businesses and creating jobs,” said Simpson.  “The provisions in this bill are about jobs.  They are about creating certainty in the marketplace and assuring businesses that it is safe to start hiring people again without the threat of the EPA—under the guise of protecting the environment—imposing millions of dollars of penalties through regulations that are unreasonable or simply defy common sense.”

Bill Provides Agencies with Tools for Responsible Grazing
The bill contains several provisions essential for preserving responsible access to public grazing.

“Today’s grazing practices are vastly different than the ones of the past. The majority of farmers and ranchers recognize that their livelihood depends on a healthy and sustainable environment, and the BLM and Forest Service do a much better job of weeding out the bad players and protecting sensitive areas,” said Simpson. “As a result of this bill, agencies will be able to focus their energies and resources on protecting the most environmentally sensitive areas while carrying out their mission more effectively.”

The bill also addresses Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) fee payments. “Our ranchers have been under assault by frivolous lawsuits for years, lawsuits that are brought up for no other reason but to obstruct the process in order to control land and water,” said Simpson. “I’m concerned that some groups are basically funding themselves by abusing EAJA, turning suing the government into a cottage industry where taxpayers are the big losers.  Our bill shines some light on the EAJA process, requiring detailed reports on the amount of program funds used, the names of the fee recipients, and the hourly rates of attorneys and expert witnesses stated in the applications that was awarded. Until now this information has not seen the light of day, and the public has a right to know how taxpayer dollars are being used.”

Highlights:
• The bill includes language extending the grazing rider that has been in place since FY99, which allows the BLM to extend existing expiring grazing permits while they complete the environmental work required for 10-year renewals.  This language was included in the President’s budget request.  This bill extends that language for five years.
• Also, requested by the Administration, the bill expands that language by allowing BLM to transfer permits under the same conditions without retriggering the NEPA process.  This language will allow the BLM to process approximately 2250 permits per year, fully reducing its permit backlog over four or five years while focusing on better environmental work.
• The bill exempts the process of trailing from NEPA requirements for the years 2011 through 2014.  This language will allow ranchers with existing permits to continue moving their cattle to grazing allotments while giving the BLM the opportunity to begin including trailing as part of their environmental analysis when renewing permits.
• The bill includes language preventing the Forest Service from applying the grazing rules that eliminate domestic sheep grazing on the Payette National Forest to other forests for five years while the Forest Service and the USDA complete needed research on the impact that domestic sheep have on wild sheep and to continue development of a vaccine to protect bighorn sheep populations from respiratory disease.  Research has recently produced an experimental vaccine that shows promise, but work still needs to be done.  Although this bighorn sheep population is not endangered, the bill continues current preventative management, including buffer zones between bighorn sheep and domestic sheep.  Similar language is included to prevent BLM from implementing similar grazing restrictions.
• The bill also includes an increase of $16 million for BLM Range Management and a $10 million increase for Grazing Management on the National Forest System.
• The bill includes language requiring litigants to exhaust the administrative appeals process before litigating in federal court on grazing issues.
• The report also includes language directing the Department of the Interior, the EPA, and the Forest Service to provide the Appropriations Committee with detailed information regarding EAJA payments and to make that information publicly available.  The information required includes:  detailed reports on the amount of program funds used; the names of the fee recipients; the names of the federal judges; the disposition of the applications (including any appeals of action taken on the applications); and the hourly rates of attorneys and expert witnesses stated in the applications that was awarded, for all EAJA fee payments awarded as a result of litigation against any of the Department of Interior bureaus, the EPA, or the Forest Service, or their respective employees.  The report shall also include the amounts, outside of EAJA awards, paid in settlement of such litigation.  Such information will also be included with each agency’s annual budget submission in the future.

The FY12 Interior and Environment Appropriations Act passed committee and it will be considered on the House floor in the coming weeks.

Floor Schedule

MONDAY, JULY 18TH
On Monday the House will meet at 12:00 p.m. for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.

H.R. 33- To amend the Securities Act of 1933 to specify when certain securities issued in connection with church plans are treated as exempted securities for purposes of that Act (Suspension, 40 minutes of debate) (Sponsored by Rep. Judy Biggert / Financial Services Committee)

TUESDAY, JULY 19TH
On Tuesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business.

H.R. 2560 - Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011 (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Jason Chaffetz / Budget Committee / Rules Committee / Ways and Means Committee)

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20TH
On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business.

H.R. 2553- Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2011, Part IV (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. John Mica / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee / Ways and Means Committee)

H.J.Res. 66- Approving the renewal of import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 (Suspension, 40 minutes of debate) (Sponsored by Rep. Joseph Crowley / Ways and Means Committee)

THURSDAY, JULY 21ST, AND FRIDAY, JULY 22ND
On Thursday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business.

On Friday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. Last votes for the week are expected no later than 3:00 p.m.

H.R. 1315 - Consumer Financial Protection Safety and Soundness Improvement Act of 2011, Rules Committee Print (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Sean Duffy / Financial Services Committee)

H.R. 2551 - Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2012 (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Ander Crenshaw / Appropriations Committee)

In the News

Republicans Working to Put Rewrite of Endangered Species Act on Agenda
By Geof Koss, CQ Staff; CQ Today Online News, July 11, 2011
House Republicans hope to use the appropriations process to revive efforts to overhaul the Endangered Species Act — a longtime goal of GOP lawmakers from the West that has stalled in recent years.

The Appropriations Committee’s draft fiscal 2012 spending bill includes language that would bar the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from using funds to list new species and habitats for protection under the law.

Mike Simpson, chairman of the Interior-Environment Appropriations subcommittee, said he included the policy rider to draw attention to the fact that Congress has not reauthorized programs under the law (PL 93-205) since it expired in 1992.

“What we’re trying to do is put pressure on all parties that have an interest in this to come to the table and sit down” to work on a reauthorization of the act, the Idaho Republican said during a subcommittee markup of the measure. The full committee is scheduled to mark up the bill Tuesday.

Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., whose panel has primary jurisdiction over the law, said he fully supports Simpson’s language.

“It needs to be reauthorized, and all parties need to sit down and start talking about that,” he said. “If this leads to that, I am very pleased.”

Democrats said that argument does not ring true.

“There isn’t an appropriations bill that passes that doesn’t have funding for unauthorized programs in it,” said James P. Moran of Virginia, the top Democrat on Simpson’s panel.

“Picking and choosing what you haven’t funded because it wasn’t authorized I think is a little disingenuous.”

The gap since the last reauthorization of the law reflects the philosophical divide between the two parties over the Nixon-era statute, which gives the federal government broad powers to protect habitats for threatened species.

Republicans, especially from Western states, have long maintained that the law hands environmentalists too much power to challenge energy projects and other activities on public lands. “The fact is we spend far too much money in court instead of recovering species,” Simpson said.

Additionally, conservatives complain that the restrictions authorized by the law threaten private property rights. But earlier efforts to overhaul the law have fallen short, even during the presidency of George W. Bush, when Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress for several years.

The attempt by House Resources Chairman Richard W. Pombo, R-Calif., to rewrite the law earned him such enmity that environmentalists made his electoral defeat a priority in 2006. His challenger, Democrat Jerry McNerney, received an influx of support from national environmental groups that helped sweep him to victory. Comprehensive reauthorization proposals have not been introduced since.

Narrower Bills
A handful of narrower bills related to the law already have been introduced in both chambers. Legislation (S 228) introduced in January by Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, would bar regulation of greenhouse gas emissions under numerous laws, including the species law.

A House bill (HR 1996) offered by Rep. Cynthia M. Lummis, also a Wyoming Republican, earlier this year aims to curtail plaintiffs attorneys’ fees awarded under federal law, which supporters at the time said was necessary in part to curb rampant litigation brought under the Endangered Species Act and other environmental laws.

That effort could receive a boost under report language unveiled Monday for the Interior-Environment spending bill. That language would require the Interior Department, the EPA and the Forest Service to compile for the Appropriations Committee the costs associated with Endangered Species Act litigation.

Norm Dicks, a Washington Democrat and the ranking member on the full Appropriations Committee, noted that Simpson’s rider would allow the Interior Department to de-list or downgrade protection of species, but not to add new protections.

“It thus creates a one-way ratchet in which wildlife protection can only be weakened,” Dicks said.

Bill Snape, senior counsel for the Center for Biological Diversity, said the rider language may in part be in response to an administrative overhaul of the Endangered Species Act that the Interior Department unveiled in May. That plan, he said, takes steps to address longstanding criticism of the law.

But Snape said the language in the House spending bill would bar protection for roughly 250 species that federal biologists have identified as needing protection under the law.

“The only reason they haven’t been listed is because of a lack of funds,” Snape said. “These are species that are very imperiled and continue to decline, and that’s just a value call about whether you really want to try to protect those species or whether you don’t care, and I assert that the House Republicans by this action are indicating that they don’t care.”