The Week Ahead (May 17-21)
May 14, 2010
02:44 PM
Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources
Week of May 17-21
On Tuesday, May 18, the full committee will receive testimony from the Administration on issues related to offshore oil and gas exploration, including the ongoing crisis in the Gulf of Mexico involving the oil rig Deepwater Horizon. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, accompanied by several senior members of his oil spill response team, will be the witness. Secretary Salazar is not only a leader in the response effort, but has key responsibilities for the accident investigation, will produce the Administration’s first report on the causes of the accident and has responsibility for regulation of OCS operations going forward. (Kennedy Caucus Room, 325 Russell, 11:00 a.m.; overflow room is 366 Dirksen)
On Wednesday, May 19, the full committee will consider the proposed Constitution of the U.S. Virgin Islands; S. 2941, the Republic of the Marshall Islands Supplemental Nuclear Compensation Act of 2010; H.R. 3940, to clarify the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to extend grants and other assistance to facilitate political status public education programs for the peoples of the non-self-governing territories of the United States; and H.R. 2499, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2010. Witnesses will include Delegate Pedro Pierluisi (Puerto Rico), U.S. House of Representatives; Delegate Madeleine Bordallo (Guam), U.S. House of Representatives; Gov. Luis Fortuño, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; Héctor Ferrer Ríos, president, Popular Democratic Party; Rubén Ángel Berríos Martínez, president, Puerto Rican Independence Party; Delegate Donna Christensen (U.S. Virgin Islands), U.S. House of Representatives; Anthony Babauta, assistant secretary of the interior for insular areas, Department of the Interior; Jonathan Cedarbaum, deputy assistant attorney general, Department of Justice; John Silk, minister of foreign affairs, Office of the President and Cabinet, The Republic of the Marshall Islands; and Gerald Luz James II, president, Fifth Constitutional Convention of the Virgin Islands, St. Croix, USVI. (366 Dirksen, 9:30 a.m.; overflow room is 628 Dirksen)
On Wednesday, May 19, the Subcommittee on National Parks will consider S. 349, to establish the Susquehanna Gateway National Heritage Area in Pennsylvania; S. 1596, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire the Gold Hill Ranch in Coloma, CA; S. 1651, to modify a land grant patent issued by the Secretary of the Interior; S. 1750, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of the General of the Army George Catlett Marshall National Historic Site at Dodona Manor in Leesburg, VA; S. 1801, to establish the First State National Historical Park in Delaware; S. 1802/H.R. 685, to study the feasibility of establishing the United States Civil Rights Trail System; S. 2953/H.R. 3388, to modify the boundary of Petersburg National Battlefield in Virginia; S. 2976, to designate as wilderness certain land and inland water within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan; S. 3159/H.R. 4395, to revise the boundaries of Gettysburg National Military Park to include the Gettysburg Train Station; S. 3168, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire certain non-Federal land in Pennsylvania for inclusion in the Fort Necessity National Battlefield; and S. 3303, to establish the Chimney Rock National Monument in Colorado. Witnesses include Stephen Whitesell, associate director of park planning, facilities and lands, National Park Service, Department of the Interior; Joel Holtrop, deputy chief, National Forest System, Department of Agriculture; Commissioner Robert Moomaw, Archuleta County, CO; Tim Slavin, director, state division of historic and cultural affairs, Dover, DE; and Mark Platts, president, Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area, Wrightsville, PA. (Dirksen 366, 2:30 p.m.)
On Thursday, May 20, the full committee will consider S. 2921, a bill to provide for the conservation, enhanced recreation opportunities and development of renewable energy in the California Desert Conservation Area. The legislation would require the Secretary of the Interior to designate certain offices to serve as Renewable Energy Coordination Offices for Federal permits for renewable energy projects and transmission lines to integrate renewable energy development. Witnesses include Robert Abbey, director, Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior; Dr. Dorothy Robyn, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment; Faye Krueger, acting associate deputy chief of the National Forest System, Department of Agriculture; David Myers, executive director, The Wildlands Conservancy, Oak Glen, CA; Harry Baker, representing the California Association of 4WD Clubs, Encino, CA; Pedro Pizarro, executive vice president for power operations, Southern California Edison, Rosemead, CA; V. John White, executive director, Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies, Sacramento, CA; David Hubbard, representing EcoLogic Partners, Inc., Escondido, CA; and Johanna Wald, representing Natural Resources Defense Council, San Francisco. (Dirksen 366, 9:30 a.m.)
Bonus …
“Clean Technology Manufacturing Competitiveness: the Role of Tax Incentives” will be the focus next Thursday (5/20) in the Senate Finance Committee. A well-informed panel of witnesses will testify on the topic during a hearing of the Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure, which Sen. Bingaman chairs. The hearing will examine the Advanced Energy Project Credit, the first Federal tax credit for clean-energy manufacturers. Bingaman drafted and secured the credit’s enactment as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Under the program, DOE and Treasury awarded $2.3 billion in tax credits to 183 projects in 43 states. Bingaman is lead sponsor of a bill to expand the credit allocation. The meeting will start at 2:30 p.m. in 215 Dirksen.
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