Washington, D.C. - U.S. Representative Kristi Noem today joined 231 Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle in a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy and Secretary of the Army John McHugh, urging their agencies to withdraw a proposed navigable waters rule. The rule of concern would expand the federal government’s control over small and seasonal bodies of water throughout South Dakota.
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Washington, D.C. (May 1, 2014) - This week EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy lashed out against the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other critics who believe the agency should grant public access to its scientific data. On Monday, McCarthy said to the National Academy of Sciences that EPA’s “Science is real and verifiable.” The EPA has resisted all attempts to publicize the scientific data used to implement its regulations. This “secret science” was used by the EPA to implement 98% of its air regulations between 2002 and 2012, most of which have had devastating economic impacts.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the House Natural Resources Committee approved four targeted bills that would improve and modernize the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The primary focus of these four bills is to promote data and cost transparency and species recovery.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Natural Resources Committee will hold a Full Committee markup on Wednesday, April 30th on four bills. These four bills, introduced in March, focus on common-sense, limited improvements and updates to the Endangered Species Act including transparency and species recovery.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following speech today at the Western Regional Forest Resources Association Spring Meeting in Pasco, WA. In the speech, Chairman Hastings talked about the House bill (H.R. 1526) that would put tens of thousands of Americans back to work, provide stable funding for counties to use for education and infrastructure, improve local management of our federal forests, and help reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires, and called on the Senate to act (see bold text below).
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Washington, D.C. (March 20, 2014) – In February, US Forest Service officers and canine units conducted a raid on the Taos Ski Valley. Multiple tickets were issued for various offenses, including driving with a cracked windshield. According to the Taos News, it was part of a “saturation patrol,” due to a demand from the Director of the Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations, David Ferrell, that officers reach a quota of 100 citations annually.
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WASHINGTON, D.C.- The Government Accountability Office (GAO) today released a comprehensive audit of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The audit found that the federal government does not have a system to track data and costs associated with performing NEPA reviews, NEPA delays are lengthy and vary agency to agency, and that litigation is a major driver in the environmental review process.
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Washington, D.C. (April 9, 2014) – This afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.Con.Res. 96, the Budget Resolution for fiscal year 2015, with a vote of 219-205. The fiscal year 2015 Budget Resolution balances the budget in ten years by cutting spending by $5.1 trillion, and it ensures greater access to federal lands for energy exploration, better forest management, wildfire suppression, and balanced land management.
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WASHINGTON, D.C.- At a Full Committee hearing today on “Tribal Forest Management: A Model for Promoting Healthy Forests and Rural Jobs,” House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) in his opening statement stressed the need for the Senate to take action on House-passed legislation to restore active forest management.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) issued a subpoena to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) seeking documents surrounding the process and science behind the decision to list the White Bluffs bladderpod as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The Committee first requested documents on March 7, 2014 and, after the FWS missed the initial March 21, 2014 deadline, Chairman Hastings warned FWS Director Dan Ashe at a March 26th Full Committee hearing that a subpoena would be issued if the FWS did not fully comply by April 2nd. While some information has been provided, the majority of the document requests remain unanswered.
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