Environment & Energy Congressional Round-Up | April 29 - May 3, 2024

Highlights:

The House passed the Abandoned Well Remediation Research and Development Act (H.R.4877/S.429). Reps. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) and Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) and Sens. Ben Lujan (D-N.M.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.Dak.) introduced the bill, which would accelerate research to plug abandoned and hazardous oil and gas wells. 

House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) passed their Weather Act Reauthorization Act of 2023 (H.R.6093) in the House. The bill reauthorizes weather modeling and forecasting research programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The reauthorization also creates new programs to improve forecasting, increase public-private partnerships, and bolster hazardous weather preparedness. Rep. Sorensen discussed the Weather Act in his introduction of EESI’s briefing, Innovations in Weather Forecasting for a Changing Climate.

The Fire Weather Development Act of 2023 (H.R.4866), introduced by Reps. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.), Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.), and Young Kim (R-Calif.), passed the House The bill would improve NOAA’s capacity to accurately forecast and detect wildfires and communicate risk to susceptible communities. 

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works passed the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2024 (S.3738/H.R.7257). Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Reps. David Joyce (R-Ohio), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) introduced the bill, which reauthorizes and increases funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to address ongoing and emerging threats to the Great Lakes system.

To catch up on all of the recent environmental and energy legislation in Congress, read the PDF here.