In The News
2013 Year End Review: A Continued Commitment to Sound Science, Conservation, and Fishermen
Tuesday December 10, 2013
During 2013, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Republicans, and ranking member U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), continued a commitment to sound science, conservation, and fisherman by taking various steps to conserve and improve the quality of the fisheries, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico.
ICYMI: Washington Times Editorial "Rules from the Obama air force"
Regulators plan unprecedented barrage of red tape in the new year
Tuesday December 10, 2013
Washington, DC
U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, has been working to increase transparency at the administration, and criticized the attempt to hide the recent release of their semiannual Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda), which was released right before the Thanksgiving holiday. The Fall 2013 Agenda lays out 134 rules specific to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Vitter said these new rules listed in the Unified Agenda will have a substantial impact on the future of this country’s energy production and independence.U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
“Oversight Hearing: NRC’s Implementation of the Fukushima Near-Term Task Force Recommendations and Other Actions to Enhance and Maintain Nuclear Safety”
Eye on the EPA: EPA’s Takeover of the “Waters of the U.S.”
Expanded water jurisdiction could lead to EPA controlling Americans’ backyard puddles…
Thursday November 21, 2013
The U.S. Environmental Agency (EPA) proposed a draft guidance in April 2011, defining the “waters of the U.S.” under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and giving EPA broad authority over regulating bodies of water, even on private property. Since the draft has been proposed, there has been significant criticism surrounding the guidance’s expansive interpretation of CWA jurisdiction. Instead of clearly abandoning the contemptuous guidance document outright, EPA has since doubled-down on one of the most significant private property grabs in U.S. history, with the development of a new rule that would give the federal government outright permitting authority over virtually any wet area in the country and would provide a new tool for environmental groups to sue private property owners.
ICYMI: Vitter on Fox News "Goal is to Shine Sunlight on Obama Administration to Have Openness & Transparency"
Monday November 18, 2013
Yesterday, U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, joined Fox News’ Shannon Bream on America’s News HQ to discuss the Obama Administration's problems with transparency, specifically focusing on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and their reluctance to share documents and communication behind major regulatory decisions that affect millions of Americans.
ICYMI: InsideEPA "Environmentalists Fight 'Sue-and-Settle' Bill Ahead of Looming Floor Vote"
Friday November 15, 2013
U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has been scrutinizing the Obama Administration's problems with transparency, specifically focusing on secret "sue-and-settle" deals that Administration officials will make with far-left environmental groups to enact unnecessary and burdensome regulations without any input from those who will be affected, including States, local governments, and private citizens.
Vitter Statement before House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee Hearing on TSCA Reform
Wednesday November 13, 2013
Washington, DC
U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), top Republican on the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, will testify at the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing today. Vitter will testify in support of legislation he coauthored with the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) to update the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976. Vitter’s legislation is entitled the Chemical Safety Improvement Act.ICYMI: Vitter Presses for Answers on EPA’s Involvement in Secretive Process for Social Cost of Carbon Estimates
Wednesday November 6, 2013
During yesterday’s Environment & Public Works Subcommittee on Oversight hearing, U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) pressed Sarah Dunham, Director of the Office of Atmospheric Programs within the Office of Air and Radiation for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for substantial answers on the Agency’s involvement in developing the Administration’s updated Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) estimates. Ms. Dunham admitted that her office assisted the Interagency Working Group, providing technical analysis and modeling for developing the SCC estimates. As these estimates are used to justify the benefits of Agency rulemakings, Sen. Vitter wants to know who this anonymous group of people includes, what exact role they played in the broad interagency effort, and wants the EPA to be more transparent in how these estimates were developed.
Vitter Summary Statement for "Fugitive Methane Emissions" Subcommittee Hearing
Tuesday November 5, 2013
Washington, DC
Ranking Member Vitter Hearing Summary StatementU.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Oversight
“Fugitive Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Operations”
November 5, 2013
Learning From The Shutdown
Five Job-Killing Energy Policy Disasters That Are Creating Some Private-Sector Shutdowns
Friday November 1, 2013
Losing a job, being furloughed, or not knowing when your next paycheck is coming are all very serious, stressful experiences. So the EPW Republican staff hope that the Obama Administration takes the government shutdown as a learning experience. Maybe now they can consider the furloughs and cancelled paychecks they create in the private sector through their massive over-regulation of American energy. What about the burdens that places on American farmers, manufacturers, and consumers?