September 12, 2014 Committee Holds Hearing on Administrations Shameful Response to Oversight Requests On Wednesday, the House Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing on The Status of the Fish and Wildlife Services Responses to Committee Subpoenas and the Continued Lack of Transparency about Its Implementation and Enforcement of American Wildlife Laws, and Oversight of the Department of the Interiors Solicitors Office. At the hearing, Members questioned U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Dan Ashe and the Department of the Interior Solicitor Hilary Tompkins about why the Administration is refusing to comply with Congressional subpoenas and providing redacted documents to Congress that were given in unredacted form to others under the Freedom of Information Act. Either the Administration is incompetent or it is going out of its way to expend time and money to withhold information from Congress, said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Hastings. The Administrations response to the Committees oversight efforts has been downright shameful. Their actions are unjustifiable and show blatant disrespect to the transparency they promised the American people. Click here to read Chairman Hastings full statement Interior Inspector Generals Office Continues to Violate Congressional Subpoena On Thursday, the House Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing on Oversight of the Office of Inspector General and its Ongoing Failure to Comply with a Subpoena for Documents About a Recent Investigation. At the hearing, Members questioned Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall about the Inspector Generals unwillingness to comply with a Committee subpoena for the OIGs unredacted report and documents on the Obama Administrations rewrite of the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule. According to Ms. Kendall, the report is being withheld at the request of the Interior Department. Specifically, the Departments Office of the Solicitor reviewed the OIGs report and documents and identified what parts were to be redacted. Either the Administration is incompetent or it is going out of its way to expend time and money to withhold information from Congress, said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Hastings. The Administrations response to the Committees oversight efforts has been downright shameful. Their actions are unjustifiable and show blatant disrespect to the transparency they promised the American people. Click here to read Chairman Hastings full statement. Committee Report Identifies Weakness in DOIs Ethics Program On Tuesday, an investigative report entitled Ethics Under Review: An Oversight Investigation into the Department of the Interiors Ethics Program and How Recusals are Managed for Senior Officials was released by the House Natural Resources Committees majority oversight staff. The report is the result of more than two years of investigation by Committee staff that identified weaknesses in how the Department of the Interior manages its ethics program, including the timeliness of its review of financial disclosure forms and its advice about recusals to political appointees. Click here to read the full report. Click here to read more and view a summary of the report. Transparency, Sound Science and Inclusion of States and Localities Needed In ESA Listing Decisions On Tuesday, the Full Committee held a legislative hearing on six pieces of legislation aimed at updating and improving the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a law that has not been reauthorized since 1988. This hearing is the latest in the Committees efforts to review the ESA to make sure that this important law is working in the best interests of species and people The bills before us today are not the only solutions to ESA issues but, these bills demonstrate a continuing and growing awareness that ESA, as it currently exists, is not serving people or species well, not just in the West, but in many other areas of the country as well. Among other things, these bills would instill greater transparency, more accurate economic analyses, counting of species, adding sunshine to ESA sue and settle policies, and greater deference to states that are already conserving species, said Chairman Hastings. Clearly, ESA as written and implemented can be improved upon to ensure that this important law is working in the best interest of species and people and I expect that a discussion on sound legislative updates and improvements will continue well beyond this Congress. Click here to read more. Hastings Water Storage Legislation Needed to Combat Western Water Supply Issues On Wednesday, the Water and Power Subcommittee held a legislative hearing on H.R. 5412, the Bureau of Reclamation Surface Water Storage Streamlining Act. The legislation, introduced by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, streamlines the Bureau of Reclamations environmental planning and study process for new surface water storage projects in order to help facilitate the construction of new or expanded dams and reservoirs. The bill mirrors the process that was applied to the Corps of Engineers in the recently enacted Water Resources Development Act by setting the same standards and expectations for the Bureau of Reclamation to become more transparent and accountable in how it operates. It is painfully clear, given the Bureau of Reclamations inaction on storage in California, that the agencys feasibility study process needs to be modernized in a productive way, said Chairman Hastings. For this reason, Ive introduced the Bureau of Reclamation Surface Water Storage Streamlining Act. Its a common sense bill based on the precedent of the newly enacted Water Resources Reform and Development Act, or WRDA, that only four Members of this House opposed. Click here to read more. Agriculture, Timber, and Energy Production Would Suffer If Northern Long-Eared Bat is Listed as Endangered On Monday, the Full Committee held an oversight field hearing on The Northern Long Eared Bat: The Federal Endangered Species Act and the Impacts of a Listing on Pennsylvania and 37 Other States. This hearing examined questions regarding bat data and non-human-caused disease, as well as the likely negative impacts that a federal endangered listing of the Northern Long -eared Bat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) would have on important activities such as farming, mining, timber, and agricultural activities. No one can deny the challenge facing the Northern Long-Eared Bat due to White Nose Syndrome and there is consensus that we must learn more about the disease and improve partnerships at all levels to slow its spread. However, it is imperative that we get the science right and strategically address the root cause of the apparent population losses, rather than restrict large areas of the economy and activities that have no bearing on slowing or reversing the disease, said Congressman Glenn GT Thompson (PA-05). Click here to read more. DID YOU KNOW House Natural Resources Committee is on Instagram? Follow us @natresources for a behind the scenes look at the committee. @NatResources Tweet of the Week House Republicans are focused on creating new jobs and putting people back to work. Job Fact of the Week From 2007 to 2012, total U.S. private sector employment increased about 1%. Over the same period, the oil and natural gas industry increased by more than 162,000 jobs, a 40% increase. Connect With Our Members Chairman Doc Hastings, WA-04 Don Young, AK-AL Louie Gohmert, TX-01 Rob Bishop, UT-01 Doug Lamborn, CO-02 Rob Wittman, VA-01 Paul Broun, GA-10 John Fleming, LA-04 Tom McClintock, CA-04 Glenn GT Thompson, PA-05 Cynthia Lummis, WY-AL Dan Benishek, MI-01 Jeff Duncan, SC-03 Scott Tipton, CO-03 Paul Gosar, AZ-04 Raúl Labrador, ID-01 Steve Southerland, FL-02 Bill Flores, TX-17 Jon Runyan, NJ-03 Markwayne Mullin, OK-02 Steve Daines, MT-AL Kevin Cramer, ND-AL Doug LaMalfa, CA-01 Vance McAllister, LA-05 Bradley Byrne, AL-01 In Case You Missed It Interior IG on Hot Seat for Refusing to Hand Over Documents Legal Times Republicans: Department of Interior has revolving-door problem Washington Examiner PA Industry Leaders Question Need to Increase Protection of Bats Philadelphia Inquirer Utah delegation proud of Canyonlands, but urges against monument Salt Lake Tribune Ex-BLM officials indicted in elaborate fraud scheme Billlings Gazette Mark Your Calendar Wednesday, September 17, 2014 Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Legislative Hearing on H.R. 5066 and H.R. 5176 Friday, September 19, 2014 Subcommittee on Water and Power Legislative Hearing on H.R. 4924 House Committee on Natural Resources 1324 Longworth House Office Building | Washington, D.C. | 20515 | naturalresources.house
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 09:47:16 +0000
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