Obama administration plans to expand offshore oil-and-gas drilling will soon come under the microscope on Capitol Hill.
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) will convene a hearing on the White House strategy in the “near future,” a spokesman said.
“He views it as an important part of the Committee’s jurisdiction,” Rahall spokesman Blake Androff said.
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said Tuesday that he is unlikely to support upcoming Senate climate and energy legislation unless it alters Obama administration plans that open the Atlantic coast to oil-and-gas leasing.
“Let me put it very bluntly: As someone who has been supportive
generally of climate change legislation, if we don’t get very
significant alteration of the drilling issues, they will probably lose
my vote,” he told reporters in the Capitol.
Menendez, a drilling opponent, didn’t specify what changes he is seeking. But Menendez – and New Jersey colleague Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) – have both criticized the the Obama administration leasing strategy rolled out March 31.
One of the main architects of the Senate's climate bill Tuesday met
with two House Democrats who helped pass the lower chamber's
legislation.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who is crafting the
measure with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.),
said in a Twitter post that he hopes to capture some of the House's
"legislative karma." The House approved its climate bill last summer.
Kerry tweeted:
Great meeting with Henry Waxman and Ed Markey today on climate/energy – hope their legislative karma rubbed off
Kerry,
Graham and Lieberman hope to roll out their bill next week, which is
expected to differ significantly from the House's legislation.
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said Tuesday that he’ll convene an April 27 hearing on mine safety and is exploring legislation to toughen federal oversight.
The hearing follows the explosion at Massey Energy Co.’s Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia last week that killed 29 workers. The mine had racked up a substantial number of safety violations.
Harkin said he is exploring potential legislation to toughen inspections, enforcement and penalties for mine safety violations. Harkin said specific issues he’s exploring include whether the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration should have subpoena powers.
Another issue, he said, are the frequent industry appeals of safety violations that prevent MSHA from establishing a “pattern of violations,” a finding that gives regulators authority to take tougher actions, including shutting down a mine.
“Right now, companies are gaming the system by appealing,” Harkin said. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has called for closing what he calls a "loophole" that prevents regulators from taking stronger actions while violations are under administrative appeal.
Update: Harkin spokeswoman Kate Cyrul provides this description of the upcoming hearing:
The HELP Committee will hold a hearing on April 27th (the day before Worker’s Memorial Day) addressing the Upper Big Branch mine disaster and related workplace safety issues. This hearing will not attempt to explore the specific causes of the recent disaster since the DOL investigation will still be ongoing at the time of the hearing, but will examine the weaknesses in our laws that provide incentives for companies to ignore health and safety – such as inadequate penalties and the excessive delays that employers can create in challenging citations.
We will also begin looking at ways to strengthen the enforcement tools available to MSHA and OSHA so that they can better enforce the law, and how to change the incentive structure so that companies no longer feel they can ignore health and safety laws with impunity.
Cyrul also said that Harkin will hold a separate hearing next month in the Appropriations Committee. Harkin is chairman of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee that will convene the hearing.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is pushing manufacturers of flame retardant chemicals to cough up information about their products ahead of a hearing next month on use of the compounds in consumer goods.
Waxman and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) sent letters Monday to three chemical companies -- Albemarle Corporation, Chemtura Corporation, and ICL Performance Products -- asking a series of detailed questions.
The lawmakers are seeking a broad amount of environmental and health information -- such as toxicity tests and risk assessments if they exist -- from the companies, as well as many other documents and data on volumes manufactured and sold.
President Obama on Tuesday encouraged Americans to take part in local environmental projects, releasing a message ahead of next week’s Earth Day (April 22) that touts administration policies but adds that “it’s clear that change won’t come from Washington alone.”
“It will come from Americans across the country who take steps in their own homes and their own communities to make that change happen,” Obama said in a videotaped message released by the White House.
“That’s why, as we get ready to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, I want to leave you with a challenge,” Obama continues. “I want you to take action – in your home or your community; at your school or your business – to improve our environment. It can be as simple as riding the bus or the subway to work, making your home more energy efficient, or organizing your neighbors to clean up a nearby park.”
The message promotes a new White House website (www.whitehouse.gov/earthday) that connects visitors to volunteer programs in their communities, such as tree planting projects.
The Wall Street Journal reports that investigators are focusing their investigation into the Upper Big Branch mine explosion on “whether nearby mining activity and blasting the day of the accident could have contributed to the worst coal-mining disaster in 40 years.”
The explosion killed 29 miners.
There are mines above and below Upper Branch. According to the Journal, a Massey spokeswoman said the company couldn't immediately confirm that blasting occurred on the surface the day of the accident or comment on the potential impact. The company defended its safety record.
“Surface blasting typically occurs using ammonium nitrate and diesel fuel to expose coal seams for miners operating massive earth-moving equipment,” the Journal reports.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Monday that he's pushing the architects of upcoming Senate climate and energy legislation to produce the measure quickly.
Asked if he hoped to bring the bill to the floor before July 4, Reid said "I hope so. We're going to try very hard."
"A lot is waiting until we get the bill. I'm pushing very hard to get the bill," Reid told reporters in the Capitol.
Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) met again to discuss their upcoming bill in the Capitol Monday evening.
Lieberman said before the meeting that they remain "on track" to unveil the measure next week.
"There are some issues we are closing out, discussing, but we are making progress," he said.
West Virginia Sen. John Rockefeller, a Democrat, has formally requested that a Senate committee investigate the Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 workers. Here’s his letter.
“[Last] week’s accident at the Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, West Virginia, shows that coal mining remains an unacceptably dangerous profession,” Rockefeller wrote to the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Monday.
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