|
House energy subcommittees given roles overseeing Obama environmental policies
Story Date: 1/31/2011
| |
Source: Dean Scott, Daily Environment Report, 1/19/11
Three House Energy and Commerce subcommittees will play key roles in a broader Republican effort to dismantle Obama administration energy and environmental policies over the next two years, congressional aides told BNA Jan. 18.
Of the six Energy and Commerce subcommittees, three panels—the subcommittees on Energy and Economy, Oversight and Investigations, and Energy and Power—will have jurisdiction over specific energy and environmental policies from clean water to carbon limits in the Republican-controlled House, according to Republican committee aides.
The full committee will appoint the chairmen and ranking members of all six subcommittees and adopt new committee rules at a formal organizational meeting scheduled for Jan. 20, although House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) announced his picks for subcommittee chairmen earlier in January.
The Subcommittee on Environment and Economy, chaired by Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), will have jurisdiction over “all matters relating to soil and water contamination” as well as regulations related to solid, hazardous, and nuclear waste, according to an undated GOP committee memo. Shimkus's panel also will oversee regulations related to industrial plant security, drinking water, and those governing toxic substances and noise, it said.
The Subcommittee on Energy and Power, chaired by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), will have jurisdiction over energy regulation, electricity transmissions issues, and other energy matters including carbon limits such as the Obama administration's greenhouse gas emissions limits, according to Republican committee aides. Those Environmental Protection Agency rules, which govern automobiles and light trucks as well as power plants and other large stationary sources, also are likely to be the focus of hearings in the full committee, the aides said.
Upton's committee and its subcommittees are expected to take a lead role in Republicans' plans to reverse course on the energy and climate agenda championed by Democrats in the previous Congress, including a rollback of the EPA rules.
The third subcommittee with a key role on energy and policy will be the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), Republican aides said.
Stearns will conduct oversight hearings and probes into Obama administration energy and environment policies, although some high-profile environmental issues such as the EPA emissions rules may first be taken up in the full energy committee, according to Steven Tomaszewski, a Shimkus spokesman.
Coordination With Issa Oversight Panel Unclear
Still undetermined is how those Energy and Commerce Committee oversight efforts will mesh with those of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Its chairman, Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), asked industry groups and individual companies in December for examples of federal rules that hurt job growth as well as suggestions on how to reform the rulemaking process. EPA's greenhouse gas rules governing power plants and other large stationary sources as well as cars and light trucks have been a top complaint thus far from many industry groups responding to Issa's request.
Republicans, who announced their Energy and Commerce Committee roster in mid-December, hold a seven-vote edge over Democrats on the committee in the 112th Congress.
Republicans announced their subcommittee rosters Jan. 7. Democrats on the committee have not yet assigned their members to the six subcommittees but are expected to do so over the next day or so, according to Karen Lightfoot, a spokeswoman for Democrats on the energy panel.
Democrats have assigned 23 members to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, compared with 30 Republican members on the panel. Former Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) will serve as the top Democrat on the committee.
|
|
|
|
