Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) is planning to introduce a resolution stating that climate change is a national emergency -- a direct response to President Trump's declaration about border security.
Some Republicans fear the president's border wall emergency declaration could give a future Democratic president a roadmap to pursue policies on hotly contested issues, including climate change.
Wastewater and stormwater utilities are eyeing a future House infrastructure package as a vehicle to address their priorities including reauthorization of a key EPA infrastructure funding program, assisting low-income customers with their water bills, and building resilience to natural disasters, financial challenges and workforce changes.
EPA says appropriations language allows lawmakers 30 days to review its plan to reorganize its 10 regional offices, and that plan will be deemed approved unless lawmakers object or request an extension.
The Energy Department's (DOE) liability for cleaning up the remaining 16 contaminated sites in its nuclear weapons complex jumped $109 billion over the past year, to $377 billion, largely due to updated estimates for addressing high-level radioactive waste at the Hanford reservation in Richland, WA, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says in a just-released report.
EPA is poised to reopen after lawmakers and President Donald Trump agreed to a stopgap measure funding the agency at existing levels through Feb. 15, but there is no guarantee against another shutdown once that funding expires and environmentalists warn the existing shutdown has already caused significant environmental damage.
Former EPA enforcement chief Cynthia Giles and environmentalists say the Trump administration's $72 million in fines from 2018 were just 15 percent of what it has imposed in an average year.
The energy committee chairman had planned to hold the committee's first hearing of the new Congress on climate change, but that has been delayed for a hearing on the ongoing government shutdown.
Drinking water regulators are raising concerns that the government shutdown could stymie EPA efforts to regulate several high-profile contaminants, including lead, copper and perchlorate.
