Articles

WASHINGTON – Today, the House Natural Resources Committee passed Rep. Scott Tipton’s (R-CO) Water Rights Protection Act (H.R.3189) with bipartisan support, clearing the effort to protect privately-held water rights from federal takings for a vote in the House of Representatives. Read more »

U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) and Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) today led a meeting with top officials at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—including Deputy Commissioner Mike Taylor—to voice continued concerns about draft water quality rules that could put many farmers out of business in the Northwest and nationwide. The FDA agreed to work to address concerns of growers, and to provide an additional opportunity for farmers to give input prior to the rules being finalized. Read more »

Congressman Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has released a bi-partisan letter asking House Ways and Means Committee Chairman David Camp, R-Mich., to allow the wind production tax credit (PTC) to expire at the end of 2013 under current law and not to include an extension of the PTC in tax reform or tax extenders legislation. Read more »

WASHINGTON – Congressman Markwayne Mullin (OK-2) was selected to be a conferee for the upcoming Conference Committee on water infrastructure reform. H.R. 3080, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 (WRRDA), was approved with overwhelming bipartisan support in the House by a vote of 417-3. The Senate has its own version of water infrastructure reform, which has resulted in the two chambers coming together for a Conference Committee. Read more »

Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources approved Congressman Doc Hastings’ bill H.R. 1308, the “Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act,” by a bipartisan vote of 22 to 16. This legislation is aimed at protecting endangered Columbia River salmon and other fish species from predation by California and Steller Sea Lions. The bill only addresses sea lions that are not listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Read more »

Washington, D.C. – Today Congressman Kevin Cramer announced the House of Representatives named its members of the conference committee which will merge the Water Resources Reform & Development Act of 2013(WRRDA) with the Senate’s version. Read more »

Washington, D.C. – Today Congressman Kevin Cramer announced the House Committee on Natural Resources favorably reported two bills he cosponsors to rein in waste at the Department of the Interior and protect state and local water rights from federal takings. Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congressman Kevin Cramer questioned Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy on hydraulic fracturing and coal regulations, and reiterated his request for a listening session in North Dakota on the agency’s planned carbon emission standards. Cramer, a member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, asked McCarthy why the EPA continues to create uncertainty in the energy industry by searching for what is possible without attention to what is probable or likely. Read more »

WASHINGTON, DC – House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today named the following House Republican negotiators to serve on the House-Senate Conference Committee charged with resolving differences over the Water Resources Reform & Development Act (WRRDA). Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Steve Daines (R-MT), Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) and Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ), along with 31 of their colleagues, today sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell regarding plans to designate national monuments on public lands without congressional approval. Read more »