\nNSF receives a seven percent cut.<\/p>\n
Trump Administration Formally Proposes Weakening the Migratory Bird Treaty Act<\/strong><\/a> Graphic: Administration Narrows Definition of Protected Waters<\/strong><\/a> Democrats Target Plastic Makers in New Bill<\/strong><\/a> Congress<\/strong><\/a> Executive Branch<\/strong><\/a> International<\/strong><\/a> Scientific Community<\/strong><\/a> ESA In the News<\/strong><\/a> Opportunities to Get Involved<\/strong><\/a> <\/a> National Science Foundation:<\/strong>\u00a0The budget includes $7.7 billion for NSF, a 7% cut. NSF\u2019s research and related budget line item, which funds the majority of NSF grants, receives a 7.8% cut. The Biological Science Directorate is allocated $705 million, a 10 percent cut from FY 2019 levels. Congress does not set funding levels for NSF directorates.<\/p>\n USDA<\/strong>: The administration proposes a $1.9 billion \u2013 or 8% \u2013 overall cut to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This includes an increase of an additional $175 million for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), the USDA\u2019s largest competitive research grants program. Congress funded AFRI at $425 million in FY 2020. The Agricultural Research Service receives $1.3 billion, a 19% cut. The U.S. Forest Service\u2019s research and development deputy area receives $255 million, an over 16% cut.<\/p>\n Interior:<\/strong>\u00a0The administration proposes cutting the Interior Department\u2019s budget by 16%, with cuts to discretionary funding for all of the Department\u2019s major agencies. The U.S. Geological Survey receives $972 million, a 23.52% cut from FY20 levels, with a similar 25% cut for the agency\u2019s Ecosystems mission area. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service receives a 16% cut, the National Park Service\u2019s budget is cut 17.3% and the Bureau of Land Management gets a 9.5% cut.<\/p>\n NASA:<\/strong>\u00a0NASA receives a 12% increase, with $4.3 billion going toward the administration\u2019s goal to return American astronauts to the moon by 2024 and building \u201csustainable presence on the lunar surface as the first step on a journey that will take America to Mars.\u201d As in previous years, the administration proposes cutting the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder and the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) missions and the agency\u2019s Office of STEM Engagement.<\/p>\n NOAA:<\/strong>\u00a0Funding for the Department of Commerce includes $188 million to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to map the U.S. exclusive economic zone and shoreline and nearshore maps for Alaska. The administration again proposes cutting NOAA\u2019s Sea Grant program.<\/p>\n Energy:<\/strong>\u00a0The Department of Energy\u2019s Office of Science receives $5.76 billion, a nearly 18% cut. The budget again proposes eliminating Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.<\/p>\n EPA:<\/strong>\u00a0The administration proposes a $6.7 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency, a 27% cut.<\/p>\n ESA will update the\u00a0Federal Budget Tracker<\/a>\u00a0as more details are released.<\/p>\n <\/a> Previous administrations have prosecuted and fined companies for violations of the MBTA that harm protected birds.\u00a0Notably, BP paid a $100 million fine under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act after the Deepwater Horizon spill.<\/p>\n A\u00a0December 2019 New York Times article<\/a>\u00a0detailed the real-life impacts of the legal opinion. For example, the Virginia Department of Transportation canceled plans to construct an artificial island to offset the effect of expanding the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel on seabird habitat.<\/p>\n Shortly before the administration released the proposed rule, the House Natural Resources Committee advanced Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA)\u2019s Migratory Bird Protection Act (H.R. 5552<\/a>) that requires USFWS to create a permitting program for the incidental take of migratory birds during commercial activities. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) also criticized the proposed rule and promised to \u201clook for ways for Congress to reverse this gift to big polluters.\u201d Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-DE), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Van Hollen criticized the proposal during a\u00a0USFWS oversight hearing<\/a>\u00a0with Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks Rob Wallace.<\/p>\n Several state attorneys general and conservation groups, led by the National Audubon Society, have challenged the administration\u2019s MBTA interpretation in the courts. Most recently, a federal judge in New York rejected a request from the federal government to dismiss the case.<\/p>\n States have also pushed back against the administration\u2019s reinterpretation of the MBTA on a policy level. In September 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed legislation declaring that the state will continue to enforce incidental take. Lawmakers in Vermont are considering similar legislation.<\/p>\n The\u00a0proposed rule<\/a>\u00a0is open for public comment through March 19, 2020.<\/p>\n <\/a> Shortly after the announcement, the EPA\u2019s Science Advisory Board approved a\u00a0letter<\/a>\u00a0denouncing the new WOTUS definition, writing that the rule \u201cdecreases protection for our nation\u2019s waters and does not provide a scientific basis in support of its consistency with the objective of restoring and maintaining \u2018the chemical, physical and biological integrity\u2019 of these waters.\u201d<\/p>\n A graphic from PoliticoPro summarizes what waters are protected under the new rule and provides comments from the Science Advisory Board about the rule.<\/p>\n <\/a> Congressional Democrats are introducing a bill\u00a0<\/strong>today that would require plastics manufacturers to take more responsibility for the waste their products generate.<\/p>\n Sen.\u00a0Tom Udall\u00a0(D-NM) and Rep.\u00a0Alan Lowenthal\u00a0(D-CA) are casting\u00a0their bill, dubbed the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act<\/a>\u00a0as the most comprehensive piece of legislation to date aimed at reducing plastic pollution flowing into the world\u2019s oceans. The bill would impose a \u201cpause\u201d the permitting of new production facilities for up to three years and impose a tax on plastic carry-out bags, among other provisions. It also would require large plastics companies to establish new organizations to oversee plastics recycling and cleanup programs.<\/p>\n \u201cPlastic producers are flooding the market with wasteful, single-use products,\u201d Udall said on a call with reporters Monday. \u201cOur bill is a game changer, the first bill that comprehensively tackles the plastic crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n The bill stands as a liberal alternative the other leading legislation in Congress to address the issue, the Save Our Seas Act 2.0 (S. 1982<\/a>).<\/p>\n That bill, introduced by Sens.\u00a0Dan Sullivan\u00a0(R-AK) and\u00a0Sheldon Whitehouse\u00a0(D-RI) in the Senate, passed the upper chamber unanimously in January with backing from the plastics industry. It would create a Marine Debris Response Trust Fund and direct EPA to develop a strategy to improve waste management, among other provisions, but has been criticized by activists as insufficient to deal with the problem.<\/p>\n Plastics represent a booming sector of the petrochemical industry, with dozens of new facilities in the works across the country. But while industry eyes plastics as a growing business line responsible for hundreds of thousands of jobs, the environmental community is increasingly viewing it as a climate change threat, since some production facilities are\u00a0<\/strong>estimated to emit carbon dioxide at a scale comparable to a coal-fired power plant,\u00a0according<\/a>\u00a0to the Center for International Environmental Law.<\/p>\n Until recently, much of the action has been at the local level, where environmentalists have won plastic bag bans in eight states \u2013 and industry lobbyists have won laws in\u00a0nearly twice as many states<\/a>\u00a0protecting them.<\/p>\n The plastics industry and beverage companies are raising red flags about the new bill.<\/p>\n \u201c[A] moratorium is the wrong approach and it\u2019s the wrong approach from the environmental perspective,\u201d said Keith Christman, managing director of plastics markets for the American Chemistry Council, arguing that plastics \u201cmake our cars lighter, more fuel efficient and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.\u201d<\/p>\n He said his organization backs more \u201ccollaborative\u201d approaches like those in the Save Our Seas Act and other measures that would provide modest federal grants for studying the pollution problem and improving public education around recycling programs.<\/p>\n The new Democratic legislation would take a different tack, placing responsibility for dealing with the waste, embracing the concept of \u201cextended producer responsibility,\u201d and requiring producers to design and fund programs to collect and process waste instead of the current system that relies on municipalities to manage and fund recycling programs.<\/p>\n The Udall-Lowenthal bill would also require certain single-use plastic products like plastic stirrers and utensils to be phased out beginning in 2022 and would create a nationwide bottle refund program like those that already exist in 10 states. And the bill would also block the U.S. from exporting plastic waste to developing countries, which studies have found to be responsible for the lion\u2019s share of plastic pollution in the world\u2019s oceans.<\/p>\n The measure faces steep odds in the Republican-controlled Senate, but advocates argue it could offer a starting point for Democrats if they win control of the upper chamber in November.<\/p>\n Judith Enck, a former EPA regional administrator under the Obama administration and founder of the Beyond Plastics initiative, said the new Udall-Lowenthal measure stands out as \u201ccommensurate with the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s lots of discussion about the science of plastic pollution, the sheer volume that\u2019s getting into the ocean and the nexus to carbon emissions, and yet around the country you see important but modest bills coming up from the ground up that attempt to address a gargantuan problem,\u201d Enck said.<\/p>\n In the meantime, there are some signals that individual provisions in the bill could see traction.<\/p>\n Speaking at a conference in Austin last week, the CEO of the American Beverage Association said her group was willing to talk about bottle refund programs, in part because of commitments made by major beverage companies like\u00a0PepsiCo<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0The Coca-Cola Company<\/a>\u00a0to increase their use of recycled plastic.<\/p>\n \u201cTraditionally, the industry has been opposed to bottle bills,\u201d CEO Katherine Lugar said, according to the trade publication Plastics News.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are not going to hear an outright \u2018no\u2019 from us right now. Part of that comes from the fact that each company has set really bold goals for the amount of recycled content they want to be using in their product. We know that a piece of that may evolve around policy. Everything needs to be on the table,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n <\/a> House Science Committee:<\/strong>\u00a0Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK)\u00a0introduced<\/a>\u00a0the Securing American Leadership in Science and Technology Act (H.R. 5685<\/a>). This bill would authorize doubling funding for basic research at the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration over the next 10 years.<\/strong>\u00a0Lucas cited the need to maintain U.S. leadership in science and technology and to address climate change as motivators for the legislation. Eleven Republican members of the Science Committee are co-sponsoring the legislation.<\/p>\n The Science Committee\u2019s Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics advanced legislation reauthorizing NASA\u2019s programs (H.R. 5666<\/a>).<\/strong>\u00a0The bill authorizes total NASA funding of $22.6 billion and $1.97 billion for the agency\u2019s Earth Sciences Division that are to NASA FY2020 spending levels. The bill also supports the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder and the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) missions. The Trump administration has sought to cut these missions in its president\u2019s budget request. Lawmakers encourage NASA to continue and expand the use of NASA earth science data by other federal agencies, states and civil society. Sections in the bill require NASA to survey states, tribes and territories about their applied use of NASA data and to commission the National Academies of Science to study \u201cthe opportunities and challenges related to the potential use of commercial Earth observation data collected for the purposes of conducting Earth science research.\u201d The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved NASA authorization legislation (S. 2800<\/a>) in November 2019.<\/p>\n House Natural Resources Committee:<\/strong>\u00a0The full committee advanced Chairman Raul Grijalva\u2019s (D-AZ)\u2019s PAW and FIN Conservation Act (H.R. 4348<\/a>), which would terminate rules finalized in August 2019 modifying the Endangered Species Act regulations (see Policy News, Sept. 9, 2019<\/a>).<\/strong><\/p>\n Committee members also approved two bills encouraging wildlife corridors.<\/strong>\u00a0Rep. Don Beyer\u2019s (D-VA) Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act (H.R. 2795<\/a>) would authorize federal agencies to designate National Wildlife Corridors on federal lands and establish a wildlife movement grant program to fund conservation efforts on state, tribal and private lands. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ)\u2019s Tribal Wildlife Corridors Act (H.R. 5179<\/a>) would provide federal grants and technical assistance to tribes for native wildlife corridors.<\/p>\n House Energy and Commerce Committee:\u00a0Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and committee leaders Reps. Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Bobby Rush (D-IL)\u00a0released<\/a>\u00a0draft legislation<\/a>\u00a0for their plan to ensure that the U.S. reaches net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.<\/strong>\u00a0The draft bill is titled the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation\u2019s (CLEAN) Future Act. Among other measures, the over 600-page bill calls on federal agencies and states to draft climate plans to reach this goal and establishes a national climate bank to fund climate mitigation efforts. The Committee is looking for feedback and recommendations from stakeholders on the draft legislation. Feedback can be submitted to\u00a0CleanFuture@mail.house.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n Legislative updates:<\/strong><\/p>\n See ESA\u2019s\u00a0Legislative Tracker<\/a>\u00a0for more updates on legislation relevant to the ecological community.<\/p>\n <\/a> The PCAST held its first working meeting Feb. 3 and 4 of the current adminstration. The discussion\u00a0focused<\/a>\u00a0around the White House\u2019s \u201cIndustries of the Future\u201d \u2014 quantum information science, artificial intelligence, wireless communications, biotechnology and advanced manufacturing with an emphasis on AI and quantum science.<\/p>\n Interior:<\/strong>\u00a0The Bureau of Land Management\u00a0published<\/a>\u00a0new land management plans opening up former parts of the Bear Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments in Utah to fossil fuel development and new grazing leases. Legal challenges to President Trump\u2019s December 2017 decision to shrink these national monuments from conservation and scientific groups and Native American tribes are still on-going.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/a> <\/a> NSF:\u00a0<\/strong>The Biological Science Directorate is currently seeking several program directors. The Division of Environmental Biology is recruiting program directors for the evolutionary processes, ecosystems science, and population and community ecology clusters.\u00a0Applications<\/a>\u00a0for these positions close March 5, 2020.<\/p>\n The Division of\u00a0Integrative\u00a0Organismal Systems is seeking two permanent\u00a0and\u00a0two temporary program directors, all of which close\u00a0Feb. 13, 2020. For the animal behavior program\u00a0in the behavioral systems cluster, NSF seeks candidates with a broad background in integrative organismal biology focused on behavior across levels of organization and contexts (temporary job announcement<\/a>,\u00a0permanent job announcement<\/a>). For the integrative ecological physiology (IEP) program\u00a0of the physiological and structural systems cluster, NSF seeks applicants whose background and expertise bridges genetics, functional genomics and physiological ecology (temporary job announcement<\/a>,\u00a0permanent job announcement<\/a>).<\/p>\n <\/a> Journals:<\/strong><\/p>\n View more letters and testimony from ESA<\/strong>\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Public Meetings, many of which are live-streamed:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Opportunities for Public Comment and Nominations:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nProposed rule would prevent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from fining companies that accidentally kill birds.<\/p>\n
\nA graphic from PoliticoPro summarizes what waters are protected under the \u2018Navigable Waters Protection Rule.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe \u201cBreak Free From Plastic Pollution Act\u201d aims to reduce plastic pollution flowing into the word\u2019s oceans.<\/p>\n
\nFull House of Representatives approves bills reauthorizing Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay programs and more.<\/p>\n
\nPresident Trump appoints two new members of the President\u2019s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.<\/p>\n
\nItaly and Uzbekistan join IPBES.<\/p>\n
\nNSF BIO seeks program directors.<\/p>\n
\nView an up-to-date list of ESA\u2019s media coverage.<\/p>\n
\nFederal Register opportunities.<\/p>\nWhite House Proposes Cuts to NSF, Other Science and Environmental Programs<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nThe White House Office of Management and Budget released the president\u2019s budget request for 2021 Feb. 10, titled \u201cA Budget for America\u2019s Future.<\/a>\u201d Similar to previous budget requests, the administration calls for sharp cuts to nondefense discretionary programs across the federal government. The president\u2019s budget request marks the beginning of the fiscal year (FY) 2021 appropriations process. As in previous years, Members of Congress are expected to largely disregard the president\u2019s budget request.<\/p>\nTrump Administration Formally Seeks to Weaken the Migratory Bird Treaty Act<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released a proposed rule determining that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) does not apply to the \u201cincidental take\u201d or accidental killing of birds. If finalized, this rule would formalize\u00a0a 2017 Interior Department legal opinion<\/a>, which \u2018clarified\u2019 that the law only applies to the intentional killing of birds. The rule is intended to provide \u201cregulatory certainty\u201d to industry, including the oil, gas and wind energy businesses. Future administrations would have to undergo the formal rulemaking process to reverse the rule.<\/p>\nGraphic: Trump Administration Narrows Definition of Protected Waters<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nLast month, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers released their \u201cNavigable Waters Protection Rule,<\/a>\u201d removing protections for ephemeral streams and wetlands that do not have surface connections to intermittent or perennial streams.<\/p>\n![\"Sample](\"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog-preprod\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2020\/02\/politicopro_WOTUS.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDemocrats Target Plastics Makers in New Bill<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nby Annie Snider, PoliticoPro, 2\/11\/2020<\/p>\nCongress<\/h2>\n
\nHouse:\u00a0<\/strong>The full House of Representatives passed a suite of watershed restoration bills:<\/p>\n\n
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Executive Branch<\/h2>\n
\nWhite House:<\/strong>\u00a0President Donald Trump appointed two new academic members of the President\u2019s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), Theresa Mayer and Hussein Tawbi.<\/strong>\u00a0Mayer is the executive vice president for research and partnerships at Purdue University and Tawbi is an associate professor of medical oncology at the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. The PCAST now has 11 out of 16 expected members.<\/p>\nInternational<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nIPBES:\u00a0<\/strong>Two new countries, Uzbekistan and Italy, have joined the International Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, bringing the international body to 136 member countries.<\/p>\nScientific Community<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nLaw:<\/strong>\u00a0The U.S. Department of Justice\u00a0arrested<\/a>\u00a0Harvard University chemist Charles Lieber, under charges that Lieber failed to disclose his ties to China\u2019s Thousand Talents program while receiving U.S. federal funding for his research and tried to recruit others to give scientific research to the Chinese government. Lieber is the longtime chair of Harvard\u2019s department of chemistry and chemical biology. He has been placed on administrative leave from Harvard. Top Justice Department officials said that Lieber\u2019s arrest is part of a likely \u2018spike\u2019 in cases related to the Chinese government\u2019s efforts to exploit the U.S. research system.<\/p>\nWhat We\u2019re Reading<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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ESA In the News<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nMembers:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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ESA Correspondence to Policymakers<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Opportunities to get involved\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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