Hill Heat

Full committee hearing.

Member Statements

• Ron Wyden (D – Ore.)
• Mike Crapo (R – Idaho)

Witnesses

• Mark R. Widmar, Chief Executive Officer, First Solar, Inc., solar panel manufacturer
• Anna Fendley, Director Of Regulatory & State Policy, United Steelworkers
• Shannon Janis, Vice President Of Global Tax, Onsemi, semi-conductor manufacturer
• Courtney Silver, President And Owner, Ketchie, Inc., precision parts manufacturer
• Peter R. Huntsman, Chairman, President, And Chief Executive Officer, Huntsman Corporation, petrochemical manufacturer

Full committee hearing to examine the findings and recommendations of the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission, issued in September 2023.

Witnesses:

• Meryl Harrell, Deputy Under Secretary — Natural Resources and the Environment, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Joan Mooney, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary — Policy, Management, and Budget, U.S. Department of the Interior
• Cody Desautel, Executive Director, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, forestry industry commissioner
• Madelene McDonald, Senior Watershed Scientist, Denver Water, public utilities industry commissioner
• Kelly Norris, State Forester, Wyoming State Forestry Division

Subcommittee hearing.

• Chair Pat Fallon (R-Texas)
• Ranking Member Cori Bush (D-Mo.)

Witnesses:

• James P. Danly, Partner, Energy Regulation, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates
• Travis Fisher, Director of Energy and Environmental Studies, Cato Institute
• Jonathon Monken, Principal, Coverage Strategies (Minority Witness)

This is a hearing of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. The hearing will examine if the expanded use of resources is impacting the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) ability to carry out its disaster readiness mission. While disaster costs in the United States continue to increase, FEMA is being tasked more frequently with responding to non-disaster emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the southern border crisis, and Operation Allies Welcome.

Rescheduled from February 14.

Chairman Scott Perry (R-PA)

Witnesses:

• Deanne Criswell, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency
• Kristen D. Bernard, Deputy Inspector General for Audits, United States Department of Homeland Security
• Chris Currie, Director, Homeland Security and Justice, United States Government Accountability Office

The President will address a Joint Session of Congress at the United States Capitol on Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 9 PM ET.

Ahead of President Biden’s State of the Union address, join Axios Pro energy and climate policy reporter Jael Holzman for a conversation with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers on her energy legacy and the future for “permitting reform.”

• Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington’s 5th Congressional District, Chair, House Energy and Commerce Committee
• Jael Holzman, Energy and Climate Policy Reporter, Axios Pro
• Nick Sobczyk, Energy and Climate Policy Reporter, Axios Pro

Schedule

• 4:30 PM ET | Doors open
• 5:00 PM – 5:30 PM ET | Programming
• 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM ET | Reception continues

Hawk ‘n’ Dove

329 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, Washington, D.C., 20003

Register

On Thursday, March 7, 2024, at 10:15 a.m., in room 1334 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold an oversight hearing titled “Monetizing Nature and Locking up Public Land: The Implications of Biden’s Strategy for Natural Capital Accounting.”

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

• Marlo Oaks, State Treasurer, State of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
• Ross Butcher, Commissioner, Member District 1, Fergus County, MT
• Kathleen Sgamma, President, Western Energy Alliance, Denver, CO
• [Minority Witness TBC]

Full committee markup.

• H.R. 7526, the D.C. Consumer Vehicle Choice Protection Act, to block D.C.’s December adoption of the California Air Resources Board’s Advanced Clean Cars II rule, which phases out gasoline-powered cars by 2035 and, in the meantime, ramps up the sale of low- and zero-emission cars, reported favorably out of committee by a party-line vote of 21-19

and other legislation

Full committee hearing.

Witnesses:

• General Michael E. Langley, USMC, Commander, United States Africa Command
• General Michael E. Kurilla, USA, Commander, United States Central Command

On Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at 2:00 p.m., in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources will hold a legislative hearing on the following bills:

• H.R. 6482 (Rep. Fulcher), “Enhancing Geothermal Production on Federal Lands Act”;
• H.R. 7370 (Rep. Curtis), “Geothermal Energy Opportunity Act” or the “GEO Act”;
• H.R. 7375 (Rep. Hageman), To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to improve the assessment of expression of interest fees, and for other purposes;
• H.R. 7377 (Rep. Hunt), “Royalty Resiliency Act”;
• H.R. 7409 (Rep. Kim of Calif.), “Harnessing Energy At Thermal Sources Act” or the “HEATS Act”; and
• H.R. 7422 (Rep. Ocasio-Cortez), “Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act of 2024”.

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

• Benjamin E. Gruber, Deputy Assistant Director, Energy, Minerals, and Realty, Bureau of Land Management [All Bills]
• Steve Dudgeon, Principal, Severance Tax/Royalty, Ryan LLC, Houston, TX [H.R. 7377]
• Dr. Bryant Jones, Executive Director, Geothermal Rising, Boise, ID [H.R. 6482, H.R. 7370, H.R. 7409, and H.R. 7422]
• Dan Naatz, Chief Operating Officer, Independent Petroleum Association of America [H.R. 7375, and H.R. 7377]
• Joe Uehlein, Founding President, Labor Network for Sustainability [Minority Witness] [H.R. 7422]

H.R. 6482 aims to streamline the permitting process for geothermal energy by exempting geothermal exploration wells (temperature gradient wells, monitoring wells, and calibration wells) from review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

H.R.7370 would require DOI to continue processing drilling permits and other authorizations within 30 days unless a United States Federal court vacates the underlying lease.

H.R. 7409 would expedite the development of geothermal energy on non-federal lands that involve federal minerals. Currently, geothermal operators on non-federal land producing any amount of federal resources must abide by all federal laws and permitting processes, even if the share of federal minerals is minuscule. H.R. 7409 would address this issue by clarifying that geothermal exploration or production wells on non-federal lands are not subject to NEPA, Section 7 of ESA, or Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) if the United States holds an ownership interest of less than 50 percent of the subsurface geothermal estate and the operator receives a drilling permit from the respective state.

H.R. 7422 would provide DOI with explicit authority to charge geothermal leaseholders fees to recover costs for geothermal lease applications, GPDs, utilization plans, site licenses, facility construction permits, commercial use permits, other approvals associated with a geothermal lease, and inspection and monitoring of exploration activities, drilling and plugging of wells, and construction, operation, and reclamation of wells sites.

H.R. 7375 reverses the expression-of-interest fee increases in the Inflation Reduction Act for oil or gas leases. In the case that EOI acreage is submitted and not bid on during a lease sale, the person or entity that first submitted the acreage would be required to pay the fee. The bill would also ensure that EOIs remain active for a period of at least five years instead of three.

H.R. 7377 reduces royalty paments on oil and gas leases.