Monthly Review: March 2007This monthly review goes out to the leadership of AGI's member societies, members of the AGI Government Affairs Advisory Committee, and other interested geoscientists as part of a continuing effort to improve communications between GAP and the geoscience community that it serves.
The House and the Senate completed their non-binding budget resolutions
for fiscal year 2008 and in April the two chambers will convene a
conference committee to work out differences between their spending
blueprints. The budget resolution sets spending limits for major functions
of the federal government and provides an outline of budget priorities
for the 12 appropriation subcommittees in both chambers to follow. The full text and summaries of all bills are available from Thomas The Senate passed a $123 billion war supplemental spending bill in
late March and must now work with the House to resolve any differences
between their two bills. The measure passed on a partisan vote of
51-48 and President Bush has threatened to veto the measure because
it sets timelines for military withdrawals from Iraq.
The Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced the America COMPETES Act. Also known as "America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act," or S. 761, the bill calls for greater investments in education and innovation. The bill is similar to last year's Frist-Reid National Competitiveness Investment Act. The bill, which currently has 44 cosponsors, will not be referred to committee, but has been placed directly on the Senate's legislative calendar. This means that leadership could take action on this bill, including considering amendments and a full Senate vote in the near future. The full text and summaries of all bills are available from Thomas
The House is also working on competitiveness legislation that would
provide more funding for science and math education. The House Committee
on Science and Technology passed H.R.
362 with overwhelming support this month. Also known as the "10,000
Teachers, 10 Million Minds" Science and Math Scholarship Act,
H.R. 362 is designed to better prepare U.S. math and science teachers
to teach these subjects. The measure, sponsored by Chairman Bart Gordon
(D-TN), was created in response to the National Academies' 2005 "Rising
Above the Gathering Storm" report, which concluded that "America's
footing as a global leader is slipping," according to Chairman
Gordon. The report showed that the majority of U.S. grade school students
receive math and science instruction from teachers without degrees
or certifications in these areas. The full text and summaries of all bills are available from Thomas Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) introduced the Energy Research Act of 2007, or S. 696, in late February. The bill establishes an Advanced Research Projects Administration-Energy (ARPA-E) to initiate high risk, innovative energy research to improve the energy security of the United States. Aimed at reducing foreign energy imports and improving the competitiveness of the U.S. economy, the bill promotes revolutionary changes in the critical technologies that would promote energy competitiveness, brings cutting-edge science and engineering to the market, and encourages greater innovation in energy efficiency and alternative energy sources. The full text and summaries of all bills are available from Thomas
On March 22, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) introduced S. 962, a bill that amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to reauthorize and improve the carbon capture and storage research, development, and demonstration program of the Department of Energy. The bill tightens the language in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to make the goals of the carbon capture and storage program more specific. In particular, the bill provides more support for research and calls for greater development and demonstration efforts. The full text and summaries of all bills are available from Thomas
Representative Doris Matsui (D-CA) introduced the Scientific Communications
Act of 2007 (H.R.
1453) to provide communications skills training for graduate students
in the sciences. This legislation, co-sponsored by Congressman Bart
Gordon (D-TN), Chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology,
provides resources at the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve
the ability of scientists to convey the relevance and importance of
scientific research and technical topics to policy makers. The full text and summaries of all bills are available from Thomas
With scientists predicting a very active hurricane season this year, the introduction of the National Hurricane Research Initiative Act of 2007 (S. 931) is timely. The bill, authored by Senator Mel Martinez (D-FL) and co-sponsored by Senators Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Thad Cochran (R-MS), and Bill Nelson (D-FL), aims to improve hurricane preparedness, further hurricane research efforts, and facilitate cooperation between agencies during research, planning, and response efforts. S. 931 addresses the National Science Board's hurricane warning report recommendations and is a reintroduction of a bill from the 109th Congress. The full text and summaries of all bills are available from Thomas The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the Water Resources Development Act without additional amendments and sent the measure to the full Senate, where it awaits a floor vote. The re-authorization of WRDA, which provides funds for about 200 Army Corps of Engineers projects, has been delayed for years. The bill would pay for navigation and ecosystem restoration to the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Waterway, ecosystem and restoration projects in Florida, environmental restoration of the controversial Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet in Louisiana, remediation of abandoned mines, restoration of Chesapeake Bay, an assessment of the national levee system and other projects. The full text and summaries of all bills are available from Thomas
The House passed legislation in late March aimed at making it a bit
easier for marine mammals to survive the rigors of being stranded.
Rep. Don Young (R-AK), the Ranking Republican in the House Natural
Resource Committee, authored the "Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance
Act Amendments," or H.R.1006. The legislation will extend the
John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program, which
was first authorized in 2000, to address the funding needs of facilities
assisting the National Marine Fisheries Service with the recovery
and rehabilitation of stranded marine mammals. The full text and summaries of all bills are available from Thomas
Despite a largely Republican outcry, the House has created a special
panel to study and offer recommendations on how to deal with global
warming. The Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming,
advanced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), was approved by a vote
of 269-150. "Global warming may be the greatest challenge of
our time, setting at risk our economy, environment and national security,"
Pelosi said in a statement, With the new committee, "the House
is giving these issues the high visibility they deserve." In a close 5 to 4 ruling released on April 2, 2007, the Supreme Court
agreed with 11 states and 13 environmental groups that the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) should regulate carbon dioxide emissions from
vehicles. In Massachusetts v. EPA, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote
the majority opinion for Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Kennedy and Souter,
while Justices Roberts, Alito, Scalia and Thomas dissented. The Department of Energy has estimated the amount of potential underground storage for greenhouse gas emissions in North America. The new Carbon Sequestration Atlas of the United States and Canada is posted on their web site. It shows that there is room for more than 3,500 billion tons of carbon dioxide in geologic formations consistent with similar estimates from an independent study by Battelle. This would mean more than 900 years of emissions could be sequestered, based on the department's estimate of 3.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year from electric utilities and other stationary industrial plants. Congress has recently introduced measures to estimate the amount
of carbon dioxide that can be sequestered and to initiate pilot programs
on sequestration. Policy makers note that the DOE study does not cover
all of North America, does not estimate the amount of oil and gas
that could be recovered, does not use uniform methods and was not
peer-reviewed. The House measure would require the U.S. Geological
Survey, DOE and EPA to complete a full inventory that addresses these
discrepancies and other issues. The Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership is one of seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships created by the Energy Department in 2002. The partnership program exists so that each partnership can assess the CO2 sequestration option best suited to its specific region. Currently, the seven regional partnerships include more than 300 organizations within 40 states, three Indian nations, and four Canadian provinces. Battelle of Columbus, Ohio, leads the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, which includes 38 partners in seven states: Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. More information about the Midwest
Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership is available online.
Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small has resigned as head of the
Smithsonian. Small, a banker, assumed his position as head of the
Smithsonian seven years ago. Questions about Small's leadership and
his personal expenditures have created a crisis for the Smithsonian,
one of the world's most venerable institutions that includes 18 museums
and research facilities as well as the National Zoo. In addition to
Small, David Evans, the head of Smithsonian science also resigned
and Ira Rubinoff, director of the Tropical Research Institute has
stepped up as his temporary replacement.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced earlier this year that
James M. Hughes will serve as the acting director for the Department's
Bureau of Land Management until a new BLM director is nominated by
the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Former Director Kathleen
Clarke, who has served as BLM's Deputy Director for Programs and Policy
since 2002, announced her resignation in December of last year.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the
second of four reports on April 6, 2007. The Working Group 2 Report
is entitled, "Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability"
and details the expected impacts of climate change based on scientific
observations and modeling. The major impacts were divided into sections
on freshwater resources, ecosystems, food and forest products, coastal
and low-lying areas, industry, settlement and society, and health.
Adaptability and vulnerability were discussed in the context of the
impacts.
Taking a landmark stride toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions,
European Union leaders have agreed to binding targets to reduce the
bloc's emissions and boost its renewable energy capacity by 2020.
At a meeting in Brussels on March 9, German Chancellor Angela Merkel,
who is also the current EU President, convinced the other EU leaders
to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by
2020. Leaders also agreed to require the bloc to generate 20 percent
of its power from renewable sources. Global Positioning System (GPS) and other communication technologies that use radio waves can be altered or disturbed by large solar flares that generate intense radio bursts according to Cornell and Boston College researchers. A December 6, 2006 solar flare caused a large number of GPS receivers to stop working and affected the Wide Area Augmentation System, which is used for civil air navigation. The Global GPS Network, which provides precise measurements for scientific and real-time applications was also affected. NASA, NOAA and other scientists and engineers are looking into this problem as the Sun moves toward its solar maximum. With the launch of the One World, One Geology mapping project, geological
mapping has taken on a new dimension. One Geology is an international,
multilateral attempt to create dynamic digital geological map data
for the world led by the Commission for the Geological Map of the
World (CGMW), the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), the International Union of Geological Sciences
(IUGS), and the International Steering Committee for Global Mapping
(ISCGM). For more information about the project, go to www.onegeology.com
AGI is seeking outstanding geoscience students and recent graduates
with a strong interest in federal science policy for a fourteen-week
geoscience and public policy internship in fall 2007. Interns will
gain a first-hand understanding of the legislative process and the
operation of executive branch agencies. They will also hone their
writing and web-publishing skills. Stipends for the summer interns
are made possible through the generous support of the AIPG Foundation.
Applications must be postmarked by April 15, 2007. For more information,
please visit http://www.agiweb.org/gap/interns/internse.html DOE-FERC: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is inviting comments
on its procedures with respect to the treatment of preliminary permits
under Part I of the Federal Power Act for wave, current, and instream
new technology hydropower projects. Comments on this Notice of Intent
are due on April 30, 2007 and may be submitted electronically at http://ferc.gov
or by mail to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of
the Secretary, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. For more
information, contact William Guey-Lee, Office of Energy Projects,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington,
DC 20426, (202) 502-6064. DOI-MMS: The Minerals Management Service proposes to amend the regulations
regarding oil and natural gas production. This is a complete rewrite
of these regulations, addressing issues such as production rates,
burning oil, and venting and flaring natural gas. The proposed rule
would eliminate most restrictions on production rates and clarify
flaring and venting limits. The proposed rule was written using plain
language, so it will be easier to read and understand. Submit comments
by June 4, 2007 electronically at rules.comments@mms.gov. Use RIN
1010-AD12 in the subject line. For more information, contact Amy C.
White, Regulations and Standards Branch, 703-787-1665. DOA, DOI - The U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management
announced the final revision of the Onshore Oil and Gas Order Number
1 rule, which was published in the October 21, 1983 edition of the
Federal Register. The Order provides the requirements necessary for
the approval of all proposed oil and gas exploratory, development,
or service wells on all Federal and Indian (other than those of the
Osage NSF- The National Science Foundation (NSF) is required to publish
notice of permit applications received to conduct activities regulated
under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978. NSF has published regulations
under the Antarctic Conservation Act at Title 45 Part 670 of the Code
of Federal Regulations. This is the required notice of permit applications
received. Interested parties are invited to submit written data, comments,
or views with respect to this permit application by April 6, 2007.
Comments should be addressed to Permit Office, Room 755, Office of
Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard,
Arlington, Virginia 22230. For further information, contact Nadene
G. Kennedy at the above address or (703) 292-7405. DOE- The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy
(DOE) gives notice of receipt of an application filed jointly on January
10, 2007 by ConocoPhillips Alaska Natural Gas Corporation (CPANGC)
and Marathon Oil Company (Marathon), requesting blanket authorization
to export on their own behalf or as agents for others on a short-term
or spot market basis from existing facilities near Kenai, Alaska up
to 99 Trillion British thermal units (TBtu's) (approximately 99 Billion
cubic feet (Bcf)) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Japan and/or one
or more countries on either side of the Pacific Rim over a two year
period commencing April 1, 2009 and terminating March 31, 2011. Protests,
motions to intervene or notices of intervention, as applicable, requests
for additional procedures, and written comments are to be filed at
the following address no later than 4:30 p.m. Eastern time, April
9, 2007. For further information, contact Larine Moore or Beverly
Howard, Office of Oil and Gas Global Security and Supply, Office of
Fossil Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal Building, Room
3E-042, FE-34, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585.
(202) 586-9478; (202) 586-9387. DOI- Minerals Management Service (MMS), in accordance with Federal
Regulations that implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),
announces the availability of NEPA-related Site-Specific Environmental
Assessments (SEA) and Findings of No Significant Impact (FONSI), prepared
by MMS for the following oil and gas activities NSF- The Mathematical and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee will
hold a meeting on April 6, 2007 to provide advice and recommendations
concerning NSF science and education activities within the Directorate
for Mathematical and Physical Sciences. The meeting will be held from
9 am to 12 pm at the National Science Foundation, Room 1235, 4201
Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22230. For more information, contact
Dr. Morris L. Aizenman, Senior Science Associate, at (703) 292-8807. DOI- The Secretary of the Interior has established the Wind Turbine
Guidelines Advisory Committee. The Committee will provide advice and
recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior on developing effective
measures to avoid or minimize impacts to wildlife and their habitats
related to land-based wind energy facilities. Requests to participate
on this Committee must be postmarked by April 12, 2007. For further
information, contact Susan L. Goodwin, 202/327-5346. DOI- The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement is
seeking comments on our intention to propose regulations pertaining
to permit application requirements and DOE- DOE is extending the EPAct 1992 goal of achieving a production
capacity for replacement fuels sufficient to replace 30 percent of
the projected U.S. motor fuel consumption to 2030. DOE determined
through its analysis that the 30 percent Replacement Fuel Goal cannot
be met by 2010 but can be achieved by 2030. This final rule is effective
June 1, 2007. For further information, contact Mr. Dana V. O'Hara
at (202) 586-9171; regulatory_info@afdc.nrel.gov; or Mr. Chris Calamita
at (202) 586-9507. Copies of this final rule and supporting documentation
for this rulemaking will be placed at the following Web site address:
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/epact/private/index.html. NSF- The NSF Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and DOL- The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announces the
final rule revising MHSA's existing civil penalty assessment regulations
and implements the civil penalty provision of the Mine Improvement
and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act of 2006. This final rule will
increase mine operator compliance with the Federal Mine Safety and
Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act), as amended by the MINER Act, and the
agency's safety and health standards and regulations, thereby improving
safety and health for miners. This final rule is effective April 23,
2007. For further information, contact Patricia W. Silvey by email
at silvey.patricia@dol.gov, by phone at 202-693-9440 (telephone),
or by fax at 202-693-9441.
The following updates and reports were added to the Government Affairs
portion of AGI's web site www.agiweb.org/gap
since the last monthly update: ********************************************************************* Sources: Associated Press, Washington Post, BBC News Online, Greenwire,
E&E Daily, Library of Congress, Congressional Quarterly, Department
of the Interior, Department of Energy, U.S. House of Representatives
and U.S. Senate. ********************************************************************** Please send any comments or requests for information to AGI Government Affairs Program. Posted April 9, 2007. |
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