Congress in Context

House passes disaster supplemental funding with $910 million for wildfires as part of CR

smccreary — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:44:51 -0400

The continuing resolution approved by the House of Representatives this week included a disaster relief package with $910 million to reimburse non-fire accounts used to fund fire suppression efforts during this year's near-record fire season, fund hazardous fuels reduction and rehabilitation work, and assist with fire fighter retention.

House leaves rural schools money out of bills

smccreary — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:37:46 -0400

After passing in the Senate earlier in the week, partisan bickering in the House resulted in the rejection of the extension for the program of payments to rural counties hurt by federal logging cutbacks. The House removed the provision from a huge spending bill after the White House objected to the legislation.

Continuing Resolution should restore forestry cuts

smccreary — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:39:49 -0400

The continuing resolution, or CR, that Congress must pass by September 30 should allow the Forest Service to reverse devastating cuts it has made to other programs in order to cover firefighting costs this season, according to an article in E&E News (subscription): The CR contains $775 million for the Forest Service and $135 million for the Bureau of Land Management for wildfire costs, according to a draft released by the House Appropriati

Extension of payments for rural counties approved by the Senate

smccreary — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:19:40 -0400

The U.S. Senate has approved provisions allowing $3.8 billion worth of rural county timber payments within an energy tax bill. Lawmakers had earlier this year discontinued the payments to more than 700 counties nationwide. The payment extension is a federal safety net designed to prop up communities that had relied on logging revenue. The measure now heads over to the House.

NASF urges emergency supplemental appropriations for wildfire operations

smccreary — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:09:50 -0400

NASF sent a letter to appropriations committee leadership in the House and Senate today urging them to provide emergency supplemental appropriations to the Forest Service and Department of the Interior for wildland fire operations. An extensive and destructive fire season across the U.S. has drained the agencies firefighting coffers, leading to a transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars from non-fire accounts to support fire suppression efforts. Read the full text of the letter here.

New tax package includes breaks for renewable energy

smccreary — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:51:13 -0400

The leaders of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles E. Grassley (R-IA), released a new tax package in another effort to extend tax breaks for renewable energy. The measure includes tax incentives for carbon sequestration, plug-in hybrid vehicles, conservation, wind energy, solar energy, nuclear energy and biofuels.

Woody biomass in the Energy Bill, redux

smccreary — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:28:40 -0400

Senator John Thune (R-SD), chairman of the Senate agriculture committee’s energy subcommittee, held a public hearing this week in Rapid City, SD, on the potential of woody biomass in national forests for cellulosic ethanol projects and why it’s not currently included in the definition of “woody biomass” as written in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

Obey, Dicks ask White House for emergency firefighting money

smccreary — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:28:29 -0400

According to an article from E&E News (subscription req.), Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) and Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Norm Dicks (D-WA) sent a letter to President Bush yesterday urging him to submit a FY08 supplemental request for additional funding for federal wildfire accounts that have already been "pushed to their breaking points." From the article:

NM State Forester testifies on "renewable" definition in energy bill

smccreary — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:35:36 -0400

From the Council of Western State Foresters: In a hearing this morning by the House Committee on Agriculture: Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research, Butch Blazer, New Mexico State Forester, gave testimony on the western impacts of the 2007 Energy Bill, with particular focus on woody bioenergy opportunities and failings with the new Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).

Coming up: Farm Bill conservation title briefing

smccreary — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:18:24 -0400

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) will hold a briefing on the conservation title of the Farm Bill next Thursday, July 24 from 9am – Noon here at the Hall of States in Washington.