4x4Voice

(Nov 9, 2009) - Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), joined by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) as an original co-sponsor, today introduced legislation (S. 2747) to fully fund the program which protects lands with significant natural, recreational and scenic attributes. The program, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LCWF), has been authorized at $900 million a year since 1977.  Over the years, the program has protected more than 5 million acres of land and water across the country, including such special places as Arizona’s Grand Canyon, California’s Redwood Forest, Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front and Alaska’s Denali National Park.

(Nov 2, 2009) - This has been a great week for national forests: the FY2010 Interior Appropriations bill is on its way to the President’s desk.  It includes a provision aimed at ensuring adequate Federal funding to fight large, complex wildland fires.  This will help the Forest Service avoid raiding other accounts to pay for fighting such expensive fires, thus preventing shortfalls in other necessary forest management programs.

“Our wildfire funding practices have been broken for a decade, and that has negatively impacted not only the Forest Service, but also the communities, businesses, and natural resources it serves,” said Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “The success of this legislation ultimately depends on the support of the Administration and Congress, but we have charted a new and clear course to that success, and that is a significantly accomplishment.”

The 111th Congress, the Administration, and the courts are considering many issues related to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public lands and the Forest Service (FS) national forests. Key issues include the following.

Energy Resources. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 has led to new regulations on leasing programs and application of environmental laws to certain actions. H.R. 6 was enacted as P.L. 110-140 on December 19, 2007, without many of the federal lands provisions considered earlier.

This report provides a brief overview of federal statutes and where to find them, both in print and on the Internet.

When Congress passes a law, it may amend or repeal earlier enactments or it may write on a clean slate. Newly enacted laws are published chronologically, first as separate statutes in ?slip law? form and later cumulatively in a series of volumes known as the Statutes at Large. Statutes are numbered by order of enactment either as public laws or, far less frequently, private laws, depending on their scope.

Most statutes are incorporated into the United States Code. The United States Code and its commercial counterparts arrange federal statutes, that are of a general and permanent nature, by subject into titles. As the statutes that underlie the Code are revised, superseded, or repealed, the provisions of the Code are updated to reflect these changes.

On the House Floor:

On Monday, the House of Representatives is expected to consider under suspension of the rules the following 4 bills under the jurisdiction of the House Natural Resources Committee:

o   H.R. 5350 (Bobby Scott): To authorize the Secretary of Commerce to sell or exchange certain National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration property located in Norfolk, Virginia, and for other purposes.

o   H.R. 3437 (Salazar): To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to carry out the Jackson Gulch rehabilitation project in the State of Colorado. “Jackson Gulch Rehabilitation Act of 2008”

o   H.R. 2535 (Nunes): To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility and suitability of constructing a storage reservoir, outlet works, and a delivery system for the Tule River Indian Tribe of California to provide a water supply for domestic, municipal, industrial, and agricultural purposes, and for other purposes. “Tule River Tribe Water Development Act”

o   H.R. 5293 (Heller): To approve the settlement of the water rights claims of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation in Nevada, to require the Secretary of the Interior to carry out the settlement, and for other purposes. “Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation Water Rights Settlement Act”

·         During the week, the House of Representatives is expected to consider the following bill, subject to a rule:

o   H.R. ____ (Rahall/Gene Green/George Miller): “Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act”

September 11th, 2008

In a business meeting, the Senate Energy Committee today unanimously voice voted its approval of 53 legislative measures and, on an 18-5 vote, agreed to report an original bill regarding the possession of firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges. Here are the bills: