Recent Federal Bills

Below are summaries of Bills Introduced, Committee Reports, Chamber Actions, and Public Laws reported in the most recent issue of ELR's Weekly Update.

would extend the authorization of appropriations for allocation to carry out approved wetlands conservation projects under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act through fiscal year 2017.

would deny certain tax benefits to oil and gas companies and invest the savings in clean energy programs.

would amend the CAA to conform the definition of "renewable biomass" to the definition given the term in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.

would authorize the Secretary of the Interior, through the FWS, to conduct a Joint Venture Program to protect, restore, enhance, and manage migratory bird populations, their habitats, and the ecosystems they rely on, through voluntary actions on public and private lands.

would require the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a program to provide loans and loan guarantees to enable eligible public entities to acquire interests in real property that are in compliance with habitat conservation plans approved by the Secretary of the Interior under the ESA.

would designate as wilderness certain federal portions of the red rock canyons of the Colorado Plateau and the Great Basin Deserts in the state of Utah.

would facilitate the efficient extraction of mineral resources in southeast Arizona by authorizing and directing an exchange of federal and non-federal land.

would amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to require, as a condition and term of any exploration plan or development and production plan submitted under that Act, that the applicant for the plan must submit an oil spill containment and clean-up plan capable of handling a worst-case scenario oil spill.

would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to suspend the excise tax on highway motor fuels.

would make investments in cleaner vehicle technologies and infrastructure.