Weekly Legislative Activities Report

The Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs puts out weekly reports on hearings, new legislation and other activities on the Hill. The following is the August 7th summary.

In order to obtain the full text of any of the bills that appear below, click on the following link: http://thomas.loc.gov/ . That will take you to Thomas, the Library of Congress legislative tracking system. Enter the bill number in the “Search Bill Text” block, being sure to also click on the “Bill Number” option below the block.

*****************



New Public Laws

None.

Floor Action

No floor activity.

Committee Activity

On August 3rd, the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife (Cardin) held an oversight hearing on “A Renewed Commitment to Protecting the Chesapeake Bay: Reauthorizing the Chesapeake Bay Program”.  There was no request for a DOI witness.

On August 4th, the Senate Finance Committee (Baucus) held an oversight hearing on “Climate Change Legislation: Allowance and Revenue Distribution.”  There was no request for a DOI witness.  

On August 4th, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (Bingaman) approved the nomination of Jonathan B. Jarvis to be the Director of the National Park Service and ordered the nomination to be reported favorably.

On August 6th, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (Boxer) held an oversight hearing on “Climate Change and Ensuring that America Leads the Clean Energy Transformation.”  The DOI witness was Thomas Strickland, Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

On August 6th, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee (Dorgan) reported favorably S. 443 (Murray, D-WA), to transfer certain land to the United States to be held in trust for the Hoh Indian Tribe, to place land into trust for the Hoh Indian Tribe. This legislation would make available to the tribe 37 acres of land currently within the boundary of Olympic National Park in order to facilitate the tribe’s move to new lands on higher ground, away from frequent flooding and tsunami risk.  The Department supports the bill.

New Bills Introduced

The following bills of interest to the NPS were introduced:

• H.R. 3444 (Farr, D-CA) - To establish Pinnacles National Park in the State of California as a unit of the National Park System, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 3476 (Garrett, R-NJ) - To reauthorize the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Citizen Advisory Commission.
• H.R. 3511 (Sablan, I-MP) - To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish and operate a visitor facility to fulfill the purposes of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 3514 (Schrader, D-OR) - To amend the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act.
• S. 1557 (Burr, R-NC) - A bill to reinstate the Interim Management Strategy governing off-road vehicle use in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina, pending the issuance of a final rule for off-road vehicle use by the National Park Service.
• S. 1579 (Byrd, D-WV) - A bill to amend the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to improve the management and long-term health of wild free-roaming horses and burros, and for other purposes.