{"id":18657,"date":"2022-02-28T18:31:23","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T18:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/?p=18657"},"modified":"2022-02-28T18:31:23","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T18:31:23","slug":"policy-news-february-28-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/2022\/02\/28\/policy-news-february-28-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Policy News: February 28, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Congress<\/strong><\/a>
\nSenate Energy and Natural Resource Committee leaders introduce legislation to reauthorize the Department of Energy Office of Science.<\/p>\n

Executive Branch<\/strong><\/a>
\nWhite House announces new leadership for the Office of Science and Technology Policy.<\/p>\n

Courts<\/a><\/strong>
\nSupreme Court to hear climate case.<\/p>\n

States<\/strong><\/a>
\nWisconsin Natural Resources Board approves new PFAS standards.<\/p>\n

International<\/a><\/strong>
\nUN report warns of unavoidable climate hazards with 1.5 degrees of warming.<\/p>\n

Scientific Community<\/strong><\/a>
\nESA Traditional Ecological Knowledge section to hold webinar with Office of Science and Technology Policy staff.<\/p>\n

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

<\/a>Congress<\/h2>\n

Nominations:<\/strong> The full Senate voted to confirm Martha Williams as the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Williams joined the Biden administration in January 2021 and is currently serving as the agency\u2019s principal deputy director. She previously worked as the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks director from 2017\u20132020 and was an assistant professor of law at the University of Montana.<\/p>\n

Appropriations: <\/strong>Congress approved a measure to keep the government open through March 11. President Biden signed the Further Additional Extending Government Funding Act (H.R. 6617<\/a>) Feb. 18. In early February, House and Senate Appropriators announced<\/a>\u00a0that they reached an agreement on a framework for domestic and defense spending, setting the stage for Congress to complete appropriations for fiscal year (FY) 2022. The federal government has been operating under a continuing resolution since October 2021. Congress has not passed appropriations bills since December 2020.<\/p>\n

Department of Energy:<\/strong> Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Ranking Member John Barrasso (R-WY) introduced legislation reauthorizing the Department of Energy Office of Science (S. 3699<\/a>). The bill is the Senate companion to the House\u2019s Department of Energy Office of Science for the Future Act (H.R. 3593<\/a>), which was included in the America COMPETES Act (H.R. 4521<\/a>). The House passed the America COMPETES Act earlier this month. Similar to the House bill, the Senate bill authorizes the creation of up to six bioenergy research centers and climate and earth modeling research. The House and Senate bills authorize slightly different funding levels for the Office of Science. The House bill authorizes annual budget increases for the Office of Science, reaching $11.1 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2026. The Senate bill authorizes $12 billion in FY 2026.<\/p>\n

Sen. Manchin says that the Senate bill complements the Senate\u2019s U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA, S. 1260<\/a>), which the Senate passed in June 2021 and addresses competitiveness with China and science and technology policy.<\/p>\n

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing<\/a> to consider the Department of Energy Office of Science for the Future Act March 1 as well as legislation to modernize the national laboratories.<\/p>\n

Natural Resources<\/strong>: The House Natural Resources Committee advanced<\/a> a group of bills of interest at Feb. 16:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n