Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works -- http://epw.senate.gov
Welcome to PMC!
This background paper should serve as the starting point for your individual research of a specific policy topic. Here you will find information on your committee's jurisdiction, subcommittees, and current hot topics. However, do not stop here - keep your eye on news events, check out government websites, search the internet for interesting topics that fall within this committee's scope, and above all -- think about important and relevant legislative issues that matter to you. We look forward to reading your bill and to hearing a thoughtful debate on its merits at the conference. Please remember to research the facts that drive your bill in order to solidify your arguments. Use the links on the Delegate Start Page to help you in this endeavor. After your bill is submitted, review some of the other topics your committee is currently tackling in order to form opinions on issues engaged by the bills of your fellow delegates.
We look forward to seeing you this year at the conference and good luck!
Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
JURISDICTION:
In 1837, the Senate created the Committee on Public Buildings and
Grounds to oversee the development of the Federal buildings in the young, but
growing Federal City of Washington, DC. In 1947, during a reorganization of
Senate committees, the panel was renamed the Committee on Public Works.
Following another major organizational revision in 1977, its name was changed to
the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Over the years the committee's public works jurisdiction has grown from oversight of new Federal building construction, additions to the U.S. Capitol building and grounds, and the White House and its grounds, to legislative responsibility for the development of the Nation's interstate highway system, flood control and navigation projects.
In 1963, the responsibility for creating new laws to achieve air
and water pollution control, rural and community economic development, and
relief from natural disasters was given to the committee. The passage of the
Clean Air Act in 1970, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972,
brought the committee recognition as the Senate's forum for protection of the
environment. In 1977, the committee was assigned the jurisdiction over
endangered species, fish and wildlife refuges and programs, and the regulation
of nonmilitary nuclear power.
More recent committee activities include the passage of landmark
Everglades restoration legislation, the protection of barrier islands and ground
water resources, investigation of the environmental effects of bioengineering,
review of new technologies and scientific standards in achieving infrastructural
growth and natural habitat renewal, and oversight of the Superfund program,
solid waste and recycled materials, stratospheric ozone depletion, global
climate change, private property rights, and Federal regulatory reform.
The committee's oversight extends to programs in five cabinet
level departments and seven independent agencies, including the Department of
the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of Transportation's
Federal Highway Administration and the Coast Guard, the Department of Commerce's
Economic Development Administration and National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, the Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation
Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the GSA's Public Buildings
Service, the Council on Environmental Quality, the civil works program of the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Appalachian
Regional Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, the Mississippi River Commission, and the nonperforming
functions of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
SUBCOMMITTEES:
Transportation and Infrastructure
Clean Air, Wetlands, and Climate Change
Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water
Superfund, Toxics, Risk and Waste Management
CURRENT LEGISLATION:
A resolution expressing support for the emergency first responders
and communities which are the front lines of the Nation's homeland
defense.
A resolution authorizing expenditures by the Committee on
Environment and Public Works.
A bill to initiate responsible Federal actions that will reduce
the risks from global warming and climate change to the economy, the
environment, and quality of life.
A bill to redesignate the Colonnade Center in Denver, Colorado, as
the "Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Building".
A bill to assist in the conservation of cranes by supporting and
providing, through projects of persons and organizations with expertise in crane
conservation, financial resources for the conservation programs of countries the
activities of which directly or indirectly affect
cranes.
A bill to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and the Energy
Reorganization Act of 1974 to strengthen security at sensitive nuclear
facilities.
A bill to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to reauthorize the
Price-Anderson provisions.
A bill to help protect the public against the threat of chemical
attacks.
A bill to reauthorize the United States Institute for
Environmental Conflict Resolution.
A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to
authorize appropriations for State water pollution control revolving funds.
A bill to amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for a
prohibition on use of mobile telephones while operating a motor vehicle.
A bill to amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for
criminal and civil liability for permitting an intoxicated arrestee to operate a
motor vehicle.
A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to establish an inventory,
registry, and information system of United States greenhouse gas emissions to
inform the public and private sector concerning, and encourage voluntary
reductions in, greenhouse gas emissions.
A bill to amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to bring underground
storage tanks into compliance with subtitle I of that Act, to promote cleanup of
leaking underground storage tanks, to provide sufficient resources for such
compliance and cleanup.
MEMBERS:
JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma, Chairman
JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia
JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma
CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri
GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
MICHAEL D. CRAPO, Idaho
LINCOLN CHAFEE, Rhode Island
JOHN CORNYN, Texas
LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska
CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming
WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado
JAMES M. JEFFORDS, Vermont
MAX BAUCUS, Montana
HARRY REID, Nevada
BOB GRAHAM, Florida
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut
BARBARA BOXER, California
RON WYDEN, Oregon
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York