Senate Panel Seeks Hikes for Corps, DOE cleanup, House Committee Votes for Cuts

The House version has no such provision.

Two amendments added by the House Appropriations Committee drew criticism.

The American Institute of Architects objected to a committee-approved amendment that would block DOE from carrying out a 2007 statutory requirement that new and renovated federal buildings phase down their use of energy from fossil fuels.

Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.), who proposed the amendment, said the mandate, part of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, would hamper the use of natural gas.

Another amendment that the panel adopted would prevent the Corps from issuing new regulatory guidance to clarify the definition of federally regulated waters under the Clean Water Act. That amendment, offered by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) passed on a 29-20 vote.

The Sierra Club and Earthjustice criticized the rider, contending that it would harm federal agencies’ efforts to guard against water pollution.

Tom Ichniowski has been writing about the federal government as ENR’s Washington Bureau Chief since the George H.W. Bush administration, and he has covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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