Volume 166, No. 120 covering the 2nd Session of the 116th Congress (2019 - 2020) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“House of Representatives” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Daily Digest section on pages D551-D556 on June 30, 2020.
More than half of the Agency's employees are engineers, scientists and protection specialists. The Climate Reality Project, a global climate activist organization, accused Agency leadership in the last five years of undermining its main mission.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
House of Representatives
Chamber Action
Public Bills and Resolutions Introduced: 22 public bills, H.R. 7415-
7436; and 5 resolutions, H.Res. 1031-1035 were introduced.
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Additional Cosponsors:
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Reports Filed: There were no reports filed today.
Speaker: Read a letter from the Speaker wherein she appointed Representative Cuellar to act as Speaker pro tempore for today.
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Recess: The House recessed at 9:47 a.m. and reconvened at 10 a.m.
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Communication from the Sergeant at Arms: The House received a communication from Paul D. Irving, Sergeant at Arms. Pursuant to section 1(b)(2) of House Resolution 965, following consultation with the Office of Attending Physician, Mr. Irving notified the House that the public health emergency due to the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 remains in effect.
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Recognizing June 19, 2020, as this year's observance of the historical significance of Juneteenth Independence Day: The House agreed to discharge from committee and agree to H. Res. 1001, recognizing June 19, 2020, as this year's observance of the historical significance of Juneteenth Independence Day.
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Recess: The House recessed at 12:58 p.m. and reconvened at 1:12 p.m.
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Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act: The House considered H.R. 2, to authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs. Consideration is expected to resume tomorrow, July 1st.
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Pursuant to the Rule, an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 116-54, modified by the amendment printed in part A of H. Rept. 116-438, shall be considered as adopted, in lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure now printed in the bill.
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Agreed to:
Lipinski en bloc amendment No. 2 consisting of the following amendments printed in part C of H. Rept. 116-438: Cuellar (No. 1) that directs new highway-rail grade crossing grant program to specifically address projects involving grade crossing separations at international borders; Garcia (IL) (No. 2) that expands COVID-19 protections to passenger and freight/cargo transportation workers across all modes; Gottheimer (No. 3) that requires DOT to publish a contingency plan for a shutdown of train travel in the North River Tunnel under the Hudson River; Jackson Lee (No. 4) that requires a report from the FAA on those areas of the airport system that have not received any COVID-19 related funding and requires prioritizing of funding to these areas; Jayapal
(No. 5) that increases set-aside from 4.5% to 5% for airport emission reduction projects, airplane noise mitigation and other airport projects that reduce the adverse effects of airport operations on the environment and surrounding communities; Kaptur (No. 6) that expresses the sense of Congress disapproving of Amtrak's recent announcement drastically limiting daily long-distance train service to hundreds of communities across the nation; Kilmer (No. 7) that amends Section 10103. Airport Resiliency Projects to include general aviation airports that are designated as a Federal staging area by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to accommodate critical emergency infrastructure in rural communities; Lamb (No. 8) that directs the Army Corps of Engineers to lead the development and implementation of an interagency plan to prepare for and respond to climate change within the Ohio River Basin, based on their previous report; Lawrence (No. 9) that requires a study on water affordability, including water rates, shutoffs, and the effectiveness of SRF funding for promoting affordable and equitable service; the study will also investigate any discriminatory practices of water and sewer service providers and any violations of civil rights and equal access to water and sewer services and will further assess the availability of data on water access and water shutoffs; Lewis (No. 10) that codifies existing FAA rules about changes in airport sponsorship; Lynch (No. 11) that requires the Secretaries of Transportation, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security to establish an expert Joint Task Force to develop uniform federal safety guidelines and protect passengers and aviation employees against the impact of the coronavirus pandemic; McNerney (No. 12) that requires Amtrak to develop ridership and station staffing projections as part of its now required capital and operating projections; Meng
(No. 13) that requires the Federal Railroad Administration to prescribe regulations requiring rail coverings; Morelle (No. 14) that adds ``Buy America'' provisions to the Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing (RRIF) title of HR 2 to cover rolling stock (trainsets); Morelle (No. 15) that authorizes GAO study on the accessibility of FEMA's Public Assistance, Individual Assistance, and other relevant flood disaster assistance programs, with a focus on identifying barriers to access based on race, ethnicity, language, and income level; Moulton (No. 16) that expands public benefits considered in cost-benefit analyses for Passenger Rail Improvement, Modernization, and Expansion (PRIME) Grants to include induced demand and regional and local economic gains, including increased competitiveness, productivity, efficiency, and economic development; Moulton (No. 17) that grants the Federal Railroad Administration advance acquisition authority for rail projects receiving federal funds, just as is given to the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration; advance acquisition will not allow development on acquired right-of-way or adjacent real property interests prior to completing review and planning requirements; Napolitano (No. 18) that overturns a 2014 FAA policy change and reestablishes previous FAA interpretation and enforcement that the restriction on the use of aviation fuel tax revenues for airport purposes applies to excise taxes and not general sales taxes; Neguse (No. 19) that requires the Federal Railroad Administration to report to Congress on the Supplementary Safety Measures and Alternative Safety Measures researched by the Railroad Research and Development Program that can be used by communities to qualify for a Quiet Zone; Neguse (No. 20) that authorizes a GAO study of the building codes and standards used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency--including an assessment of the status of building code adoption across states, tribes, and territories, the economic benefits to prioritizing resiliency, and an assessment of the building codes utilized by FEMA with recommendations for improvements to their utilization of codes and standards to prepare for climate change and impacts; Panetta (No. 21) that permits an EDA grant recipient to repurpose funding from a revolving loan fund (RLF) after it has been lent out and repaid; Perlmutter (No. 22) that authorizes funding for the US Geological Survey to support construction of a science facility conducting energy and minerals research; Pressley
(No. 23) that requires GAO to issue a report on the impact of transportation policies on marginalized communities, including fare evasion and speed enforcement camera policies, and make recommendations on ways to reduce any disproportionate impacts; Quigley (No. 24) that requires GSA to incorporate strategies, features, and practices to reduce bird fatality resulting from collisions with public buildings which GSA owns, acquires, or alters; Rouda (No. 25) that establishes the Aviation Industry Assistance for Cleaner and Quieter Skies Voucher Program to provide incentives to enhance our domestic airline fleets and reduce emissions and noise; Sherrill (No. 26) that authorizes a GAO study that would recommend specific safety measures to reduce exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus on mass transportation systems, as well as technologies that can assist with the implementation of these safety measures, i.e. technologies that facilitate large-scale sanitation/
decontamination and encourage social distancing; Sherrill (No. 27) that adds $50 million to the credit risk premium subsidy for the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program, using $50 million in funding originally authorized for the state-supported route subsidy; Slotkin (No. 28) that strengthens Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) reporting and transparency requirements related to pipeline leaks, damage, or disruption; Smith
(WA) (No. 29) that requires the FAA and the EPA to work with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a national study on the characteristics, distributions, sources, and potential health effects of airborne ultrafine particles in airport adjacent communities; Speier
(No. 30) that increases the authorized amount of the San Francisco Bay Restoration grant program from $25 million to $50 million; Torres Small
(NM) (No. 31) that authorizes $100 million for infrastructure improvement projects at land ports of entry with significant total trade percentage growth in 2019; Trone (No. 32) that establishes a pilot program to provide funding to states to incorporate wastewater testing for drugs at municipal wastewater treatment plants and to develop public health interventions to respond to the findings
(amendment updated to reflect funding is subject to appropriations); this would allow public health departments to monitor drug consumption and detect new drug use more quickly and in a more specific geographic region than methods currently in use while preserving individual privacy; Vargas (No. 33) that states that the California New River Restoration Act Authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator to support projects recommended by the California-Mexico Border Relations Council; additionally, the California New River Restoration Act of 2019 ensures that the EPA will consult with all the New River stakeholders on both sides of the border during the creation and implementation of the programs; and Waters (No. 34) that requires airport sponsors that receive supplemental funding for airports in FY 2021 to provide financial relief to airport concessionaires experiencing economic hardship and to show good faith efforts to provide relief to socially and economically disadvantaged businesses;
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DeFazio en bloc amendment No. 1 consisting of the following amendments printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-438: Adams (No. 1) that changes ``minority institutions'' to ``historically black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions'' and raises the minimum number of grants to those institutions from two to four; Aguilar (No. 2) that amends the Gridlock Reduction Grant Program to ensure eligibility for transportation authorities that are non-
traditional local governments or MPOs, yet are legally responsible for delivering transportation improvements; Aguilar (No. 3) that includes language to ``reduce the environmental impacts of freight movement on the National Highway Freight Network, including local pollution'' as a goal of the National Highway Freight Program; this language is intended to clarify that air pollution caused from vehicles idling at railway crossings is considered to be ``local pollution''; Brindisi (No. 4) that ensures that hybrid electric buses that make meaningful reductions to direct carbon emissions have a 90% cost share in the bus formula and bus competitive grant programs; Cicilline (No. 5) that creates a Task Force to assess existing standards and test methods for the use of innovative materials in infrastructure, identify key barriers in the standards area that inhibit broader market adoption, and develop new methods and protocols, as necessary, to better evaluate innovative materials; Crist (No. 6) that includes consultation with HHS in updating the national safety plan to include responses to pandemics and other public health crises; Crist (No. 7) that ensures that CDC guidelines are taken into account in adding infectious diseases to the required issues that must be addressed in safety plans; Cunningham (No. 8) that requires the vulnerability assessment done by Metropolitan Planning Organizations to include a review of how accessible health care and public health facilities are in an emergency situation and what improvements may be made to adequately facilitate safe passage and ensures that projects that reduce risks of disruption to critical infrastructure are given priority for Section 1202 funding; Escobar
(No. 9) that directs the Department of Transportation to conduct a study on the infrastructure state of colonias, including surface, transit, water, and broadband infrastructure of such colonias; Escobar
(No. 10) that creates a new $10 million grant program for colonias to maintain a state of good repair for surface infrastructure in these communities; Eshoo (No. 11) that adds charging speed and minimization of future upgrade costs as considerations for electric vehicle charging infrastructure grants; Finkenauer (No. 12) that authorizes additional appropriations for the Rebuild Rural grant program in FY23 and FY24; Garcia (IL) (No. 13) that requires that a study on how autonomous vehicles will impact transportation include secondary impacts on air quality and climate as well as energy consumption; Jayapal (No. 14) that adds requirements to Section 1621 to study workforce, training and equity considerations as related to job creation that would result from federal investments in climate-resilient transportation infrastructure; Jayapal (No. 15) that ensures that the national surface transportation system funding pilot promotes personal privacy for participants by (1) adding a consumer advocate to the advisory board to implement the program, (2) ensuring that the public awareness campaign to carry out the pilot includes information related to personal privacy, and (3) adding that the report to Congress should include an analysis of how privacy for volunteer participants was maintained; Keating (No. 16) that adds projects replacing, reconstructing or rehabilitating a high commuter corridor as a consideration for awarding a grant under H.R. 2; also clarifies that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation and Bureau of Land Management are eligible entities to receive funds; Keating (No. 17) that clarifies federal land transportation facilities as ``highways, bridges, or other transportation facilities'' for which the maintenance responsibility is vested in the Federal Government; Lamb (No. 18) that directs the Secretary to carry out a study on the operational and safety performance of small commercial vehicles used in interstate commerce; Larsen (WA) (No. 19) that directs GAO to study the capital investment needs of U.S. public ferries and whether federal funding programs are meeting those needs; the report would also examine the feasibility of including public ferries in DOT's Conditions and Performance Report (C&P) and provide recommendations to Congress; Levin (MI) (No. 20) that amends the EV Charging, Natural Gas Fueling, Propane Fueling and Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure Grants by
(1) Including environmental and environmental justice organizations on the list of relevant stakeholders; (2) Strengthening environmental justice protections and plans for renewable or zero emissions energy sources for charging and fueling infrastructure in the list of considerations for grant eligibility; (3) Directing the DOT to conduct a study on options for financing the placement of a national network of publicly available EV charging infrastructure along the National Highway System, and (4) Directing the DOT to conduct a study to determine the maximum distance allowable between publicly available EV charging infrastructure such that a driver can drive across the National Highway System without running out of charging power; Lewis
(GA) (No. 21) that authorizes the use of surface transportation funds to build noise barriers for older residential communities along major roads; Luria (No. 22) that incentivizes localities to build or expand transit to low-income areas or areas that do not have adequate access to public transportation; Meng (No. 23) that requires a report on accessibility to public transportation for pregnant women; Meng (No. 24) that requires as part of the National Transit Frontline Workforce Training Center training methods that would cater to the needs of diverse participants; Meng (No. 25) that requires the race and ethnicity of officers who stop motor vehicles on highways, as well as the race/ethnicity of the driver; Moore (No. 26) that requires the Office of Tribal Affairs to have and implement regular and meaningful consultation and collaboration with Tribes and Tribal officials as required by Executive Order 13175; Morelle (No. 27) that requires Secretary of Transportation to create best practices for application of National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to federally funded bus shelters to assist recipients of Federal funds in receiving exclusions permitted by law; Murphy (FL) (No. 28) that directs USDOT to take action to improve the risk-based stewardship and oversight of recipients of Federal funds; Napolitano (No. 29) that strikes Section 1604, the Balance Exchanges for Infrastructure Program title, from the bill; Norcross (No. 30) that amends Sec. 1614(B)(2) by adding labor organizations as a listed member of the working group on construction resources; Omar (No. 31) that requires a report on barriers to public transportation faced by residents of Areas of Concentrated Poverty; Peters (No. 32) that ensures that projects submitted to the FTA Capital Investment Grants program can use ridership data collected before the COVID-19 outbreak and projections based on that data, if requested; Porter (No. 33) that improves the health and safety of women drivers by identifying the impact that vehicle sizing, design, and safety measures have on women; Ruiz (No. 34) that requires NHTSA to study the safety implications of equipping school buses with air conditioning to prevent heat-related illness and over-heating among students; Schrier (No. 35) that waives FTA's spare ratio regulations for two years; the spare ratio regulations require that the number of spare buses in the active fleet for recipients operating 50 or more fixed-route revenue vehicles cannot exceed 20 percent of the number of vehicles operated in maximum fixed-route service; Scott (VA) (No. 36) that expresses a Sense of Congress that the Department of Transportation should utilize modeling and simulation technology to analyze federally funded highway and public transit projects to ensure that these projects will increase transportation capacity and safety, alleviate congestion, reduce travel time and environmental impact, and are as cost effective as practicable; Speier (No. 37) that adjusts the definition of low-income individuals to include Federal Pell grant recipients for demonstration grants to support reduced fare transit; Swalwell (CA) (No. 38) that strengthens limitations on financial assistance for state-owned enterprises by adding ``exercising an option on a previously awarded contract'' to section restricting the use of H.R. 2 funds; Titus (No. 39) that amends Sec. 405 of Title 23 to ensure funding to implement child passenger safety programs in low-income and underserved populations in lower seat belt use rate states as defined in Sec. 405(b)(3)(B); Titus (No. 40) that amends Sec. 405(h) of Title 23 to enhance NHTS nonmotorized safety grants for bike and pedestrian safety programs and campaigns; Tlaib (No. 41) that adds to the Climate Resilient Transportation Infrastructure Study a requirement to outline how Federal infrastructure planning, design, engineering, construction, operation, and maintenance impact the environment and public health of disproportionately exposed communities; a disproportionately exposed community is defined as a community in which climate change, pollution, or environmental destruction have exacerbated systemic racial, regional, social, environmental, and economic injustices by disproportionately affecting indigenous peoples, communities of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, people experiencing homelessness, people with disabilities, people who are incarcerated, or youth; Tlaib (No. 42) that requires an annual consultation between DOT and EPA to review all projects under the Community Climate program; the amendment also requires a one-time public comment solicitation prior to the first year of grants and before Charter Approval; Torres (CA) (No. 43) that requires GAO to conduct a study of the impacts of vehicle miles traveled fee pilot programs; Torres (CA) (No. 44) that reauthorizes the Transportation Equity Research program and requires other transportation equity studies; and Velazquez (No. 45) that requires that grantees applying for a demonstration grant under section 2503 plan for a public awareness campaign, and for such campaign to be available in languages other than English, to notify low-income individuals of the agency's ability to provide reduced fares; clarifies that jurisdictions already with a low-income program for reduced fares in place are still eligible to participate in the grant program (by a yea-and-nay vote of 229 yeas to 189 nays, Roll No. 132); and
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Pallone en bloc amendment No. 3 consisting of the following amendments printed in part D of H. Rept. 116-438: Blunt Rochester (No. 1) that authorizes $20 billion over 5 years, and $84 million per year over 10 years for the administration of the program, in funding for states, federal buildings, and tribes to upgrade public building infrastructure, like hospitals and schools, making them more energy efficient and resilient; funding will be delivered through three existing Department of Energy programs and will prioritize projects in environmental justice and low-income communities; Blunt Rochester (No. 2) that authorizes $250 million per year over 5 years for a competitive grant program at EPA that incentivizes ports to create and implement climate action plans to reduce GHG emissions and other air pollutants; the grants will be prioritized based on several factors: regional collaboration, engagement of EJ and near-port communities in developing the climate action plans, and utilizing zero emissions as a key strategy of the plan; Brindisi (No. 3) that instructs the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth to study the impact of monopolistic business practices by broadband service providers; Brindisi (No. 4) that requires the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth to study the extent to which broadband service providers utilizing federal programs are delivering the upload and download speeds required; Craig
(No. 5) that blocks the FCC from taking action on a dual Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and also annuls the FCC's Declaratory Rulemaking that seeks to block an ordinance that was adopted to give local residents more broadband competition; Cunningham (No. 6) that ensures that hospital infrastructure projects that are related to natural disaster preparedness and flood mitigation are given priority alongside projects dealing with public health emergency preparedness or cybersecurity; Cunningham (No. 7) that requires NOAA to conduct a study on wild fish in PFAS-contaminated waters and the risks of consuming such fish to humans and natural predators; Dingell (No. 8) that establishes a Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator to bolster and expand a robust clean energy workforce, deploy emissions reduction technologies, and invest in low-carbon infrastructure projects as an independent non-profit capitalized with $20 billion of federal funds spread over a six-year period; the Accelerator is also authorized to provide financial and technical support to state and local green banks in the United States; Foster (No. 9) that includes language in the Grid Security and Modernization section that would require the Secretary of Energy to provide goals and objectives, cost targets, a multi-year strategy, and testing and validation requirements for energy storage; the language also includes a limitation on the total number of demonstration projects to focus on the most promising technologies; Haaland (No. 10) that postpones the FCC's 2.5 GHz Tribal Priority filing window deadline by 180 days that is set to close on August 3, 2020; Hayes (No. 11) that doubles funding clean school bus programs under the Environmental Protection Agency and triple funding reserved for underserved and disadvantaged communities; Krishnamoorthi (No. 12) that requires booster seat labeling; Levin (MI) (No. 13) that amends the pilot program to improve laboratory infrastructure to prioritize the reduction of wait times for COVID-19 test results; Lipinski (No. 14) that requires NHTSA to issue a rule for motor vehicle bumpers and hoods to be designed to reduce the impact on vulnerable road users, including pedestrians and cyclists, in the event of a collision with a motor vehicle; Lujan (No. 15) that authorizes $6 billion to address the significant deferred maintenance needs and to accelerate the modernization of the Department of Energy?s national laboratory infrastructure; Matsui (No. 16) that raises the Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Rebate Program cap for eligible parties from $75,000 to
$100,000 and lowers the minimum voltage level for qualifying Level 2 Charging Equipment from 240 volts to 208 volts; Matsui (No. 17) that authorizes a program at the Department of Energy to deliver grants to utilities that partner with nonprofit tree-planting organizations to provide free or discounted trees with the goal of reducing energy costs, reducing neighborhood temperatures, and promote local workforce development and community engagement; Meng (No. 18) that creates a new $5 million grant program to replace water fountains at public playgrounds and parks; Moore (No. 19) that creates a research program at the EPA to support ongoing efforts to use wastewater surveillance to track trends and the prevalence of COVID-19; Norcross (No. 20) that creates a rebate program for energy efficiency upgrades; Phillips (No. 21) that directs the GAO to conduct a study on broadband deployment to cities and towns with populations between 2,500 and 50,000; Plaskett (No. 22) that provides for the equitable inclusion of the U.S. island territories within the meaning of the terms ``high-poverty area'' and ``persistent poverty county''; Plaskett (No. 23) that makes U.S. territories eligible for Safe Drinking Water Act assistance authorized for areas affected by natural disasters; Porter (No. 24) that requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a study on the effects of idling school buses and cars in school zones on children's health; Sablan (No. 25) that codifies the annual reservation of 1.5 percent of Safe Drinking Water Act SRF for the U.S. Territories included in annual appropriations legislation covering the DWSRF every year since FY2010; Slotkin (No. 26) that stipulates that receipt of a grant under the PFAS Infrastructure Grant Program in no way absolves the Department of Defense of their responsibilities relating to cleanup of PFAS; Spanberger (No. 27) that requires GAO to conduct an evaluation and write a report on the efficacy of the FCC's existing process for establishing, reviewing, and updating its speed thresholds for broadband service; and Takano (No. 28) that adds ``battery storage technologies'' for residential, industrial, and transportation applications (by a yea-and-nay vote of 234 yeas to 178 nays, Roll No. 133).
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H. Res. 1028, the rule providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2) was agreed to by a yea-and-nay vote of 222 yeas to 183 nays, Roll No. 131, after the previous question was ordered by a yea-and-nay vote of 230 yeas to 180 nays, Roll No. 130.
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Board of Trustees of the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development--Appointment: The Chair announced the Speaker's appointment of the following Member on the part of the House to the Board of Trustees of the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development: Representative Young.
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Quorum Calls--Votes: Four yea-and-nay votes developed during the proceedings of today and appear on pages H2692-93, H2693-94, H2977, and H2977-78.
Adjournment: The House met at 9 a.m. and adjourned at 7:19 p.m.
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