{"id":18222,"date":"2021-07-26T15:58:34","date_gmt":"2021-07-26T15:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/?p=18222"},"modified":"2021-07-26T15:58:34","modified_gmt":"2021-07-26T15:58:34","slug":"policy-news-july-27-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/2021\/07\/26\/policy-news-july-27-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Policy News: July 27, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this issue:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

House Moving Forward with FY 2022 Spending Bills, Bill Report Includes Funding for Climate Science<\/strong><\/a>
\nBill includes $1.2 billion for climate research at the National Science Foundation.<\/p>\n

Congress<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Senators reintroduce Recovering America\u2019s Wildlife Act.<\/p>\n

Executive Branch<\/a>
\n<\/strong>White House Task on Scientific Integrity told hold a series of listening sessions.<\/p>\n

Courts<\/strong><\/a>
\nJudge rules Maui County, Hawaii must receive a Clean Water Act permit in a case that reached the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

States<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Maine law banning PFAS takes effect.<\/p>\n

International<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Convention on Biodiversity releases draft agreement ahead of Conference of Parties.<\/p>\n

Scientific Community<\/a>
\n<\/strong>NASA to hold Earth Science Applications Week.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Federal Register opportunities<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

House Moving Forward with FY 2022 Spending Bills, Bill Report Includes Funding for Climate Science<\/h2>\n

<\/a>
\nThe full House expects to vote soon on ten spending bills for fiscal year (FY) 2022, including bills funding the Department of the Interior, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Agriculture and more this week. All of these bills were passed by the House Appropriations Committee.<\/p>\n

The Commerce Justice Science bill provides $9.63 billion for the National Science Foundation, including $1.2 billion for climate and clean energy-related research. This includes research about atmospheric composition, water and carbon cycles, computational modeling of climate systems, renewable energy technologies, materials sciences, and social, behavior and economic research on human responses to climate change.<\/p>\n

Echoing provisions in both the Senate\u2019s U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) (S. 1260<\/a>) and the NSF for the Future Act (H.R. 2225<\/a>), the report for the Commerce, Justice and Science spending bill directs NSF to create a Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships funded within the Research and Related Activities account. NSF\u2019s Research and Related Activities account provides most of the funding for existing NSF directorates, including the Biological Science Directorate. In addition, the House Appropriations Committee allocates up to $3.1 billion for investments in advanced manufacturing, advanced wireless, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, clean energy technology, microelectronics and semiconductors, quantum information science and the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Most of these areas are named as \u201ckey technology focus areas\u201d in the USICA. The NSF for the Future Act does not name specific technology areas for investments.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers direct $284 million towards NOAA, NASA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and NSF programs designed to broaden participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields among underrepresented groups.<\/p>\n

NOAA receives $6.46 billion, a nearly 20% increase over FY 2021 levels. This includes a 39% increase for climate research and a 29% increase for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. Lawmakers include $25 million for NOAA to launch the Climate-Smart Communities Initiative. This program is designed to scale up, accelerate the pace, and reduce the cost of climate resilience-building, inclusively and equitably, in communities across the United States. The House report also directs NOAA to expand the Regional Integrated Climate Sciences and Assessment program with the long-term goal of providing high-quality climate information and extension services to state, local and private decision-makers across the country.<\/p>\n

On the Senate side, Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL) said that the Senate may release three of its spending bills before the Senate leaves for its August recess. Still, Congressional leaders say that it is likely that Congress will pass a temporary stop-gap measure to buy more time for funding negotiations and avert a government shutdown when the new fiscal year starts on October 1, 2021.<\/p>\n

See ESA\u2019s budget tracker<\/a> for more details about the House appropriations bills and information about the appropriations process<\/p>\n

Congress<\/h2>\n

<\/a>
\nNominations: <\/strong>The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted<\/a> 10-10 to advance Tracy Stone-Manning\u2019s nomination to the full Senate. The even vote allows Senate Democrats to bring Stone-Manning\u2019s nomination to a vote. Stone-Manning\u2019s nomination has come under fire from Republicans, who question her role in a tree-spiking case in 1980s and 1990s.<\/p>\n

Stone-Manning is currently a senior advisor for conservation policy at the National Wildlife Federation and has been a top aide to former Montana Governor Steve Bullock (D) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT). The Bureau of Land Management has not had a Senate-confirmed director since the end of the Obama administration.<\/p>\n

Conservation: <\/strong>Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) reintroduced the Recovering America\u2019s Wildlife Act (S. 2372<\/a>). This bill provides an additional $1.4 billion annually in combined, dedicated funding to state and tribal fish and wildlife agencies to implement state wildlife action plans and conserve at-risk species. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) reintroduced the House version of the Recovering America\u2019s Wildlife Act (H.R. 2773<\/a>) in April 2021. Dingell and Fortenberry have also introduced similar legislation in 2017 and 2019.<\/p>\n

The Senate bill directs funds from penalties paid by polluters and those convicted of environment crimes towards wildlife conservation. The House bill does not include a specific funding source \u2013 instead, it directs the Treasury Department to transfer funds from the general treasury fund each year. Both bills are intended to supplement funds already received by state wildlife agencies under the Pittman-Robertson Act and the Dingell-Johnson Act, which direct funds from excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment toward conservation.<\/p>\n

ESA has supported<\/a> the Recovering America\u2019s Wildlife Act in the previous session of Congress. The House Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing for House version of the Recovering America\u2019s Wildlife Act this Thursday, July 29.<\/p>\n

Climate: <\/strong>More than 80 House and Senate Democrats signed<\/a> onto a letter<\/a> outlining their vision for a Civilian Climate Corps. This program would put American to work on projects to reduce carbon emissions, build climate resilience and implement natural climate solutions. The program would pay a living wage and include a \u2018robust\u2019 education award for college costs or student loans. Funding for the Civilian Conservation Corps is included Senate Democrats budget reconciliation bill.<\/p>\n

PFAS<\/strong>: The full House passed<\/a> legislation (H.R. 2467<\/a>) addressing PFAS pollution. The PFAS Action Act directs the EPA to designate two PFAS chemicals, PFOA (PFAS perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFOS (perfluorooctanesulfonic acid), as a hazardous substance under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. \u00a0Furthermore, the legislation directes the EPA to determine if other PFAS chemical should be designated as hazardous substances within the next five years. The bill also requires the EPA to determine whether PFAS should be designated as a toxic pollutant under the Clean Water Act. This would require the EPA must establish standards to limit discharges of PFAS from industrial sources into the waters of the United States.<\/p>\n

The bill passed with bipartisan support \u2013 all House Democrats and 22 House Republicans voted for the bill. Michigan Reps. Debbie Dingell (D) and Fred Upton (R) are the bill\u2019s lead sponsors. A similar bill passed the House in January 2020.<\/p>\n

Legislative Updates:<\/strong><\/p>\n