E&E Daily http://www.eenews.net/eed The best way to track congress en-us Wed Jun 19 07:15:03 -0400 2013 The House this week will vote on a bipartisan provision that would require farmers to comply with basic conservation requirements in order to receive subsidies for crop insurance. If passed, the measure would represent a major win for rural conservation groups, which have identified it as their top priority in the reauthorization of the five-year farm bill. SPOTLIGHT Wed Jun 19 07:15:03 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983094/feed Twenty-one state attorneys general asked U.S. EPA yesterday to avoid settlement negotiations with litigants suing to force the agency to finalize its overdue rule for future power plants. Latest News Wed Jun 19 07:15:03 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983089/feed BURLINGTON, Wash. -- Less than a month after it collapsed into the Skagit River, the Interstate 5 bridge will reopen to limited traffic as early as this morning, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced yesterday. Latest News Wed Jun 19 07:15:03 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983088/feed Opponents of legislation to pre-empt U.S. EPA's rulemaking on coal ash are touting a new Congressional Research Service memo they say substantiates their concerns. IN THE HOUSE Wed Jun 19 07:15:03 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983092/feed The Energy Department will step up its focus on state and local needs to support a transition to a low-carbon economy, especially in developing the Quadrennial Energy Review, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said yesterday during a House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing. IN THE HOUSE Wed Jun 19 07:15:03 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983093/feed A House appropriations bill released yesterday would slash the Department of Transportation fiscal 2014 budget by $2.6 billion compared with fiscal 2013 enacted levels, with cuts hitting Amtrak and high-speed rail especially hard. IN THE HOUSE Wed Jun 19 07:15:04 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983085/feed A bill to approve a U.S.-Mexico agreement allowing joint development of oil straddling the countries' maritime border in the Gulf of Mexico will be taken up by the House next week, the bill's sponsor said yesterday. IN THE HOUSE Wed Jun 19 07:15:04 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983086/feed A House Republican yesterday introduced legislation that would expand federal energy regulations to protect the electric grid from an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that experts warn could cause lengthy blackouts across much of the United States. IN THE HOUSE Wed Jun 19 07:15:04 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983090/feed While a federal recreation fee program must be reauthorized before it expires next year, that doesn't mean the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act won't get a makeover, members of a House Natural Resources subcommittee acknowledged yesterday. IN THE HOUSE Wed Jun 19 07:15:04 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983081/feed Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) yesterday reintroduced a bill to allow the Department of Homeland Security swifter access to public lands along the U.S. border to bolster national security. IN THE HOUSE Wed Jun 19 07:15:04 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983083/feed Sen. Lamar Alexander accused Majority Leader Harry Reid yesterday of bluffing on threatened changes to Senate filibuster rules because the changes would let Republicans push through the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site in Reid's home state, Nevada. IN THE SENATE Wed Jun 19 07:15:04 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983082/feed A revised bill to promote vehicular access to a North Carolina seashore drew mixed reviews yesterday from stakeholders on both sides of the issue, hours after the controversial measure was passed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. IN THE SENATE Wed Jun 19 07:15:04 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983091/feed Even as they were critical of his agency, senators were full of praise for General Services Administration acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini during a hearing yesterday to consider removing the word "acting" from his title. IN THE SENATE Wed Jun 19 07:15:04 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983087/feed Democratic Rep. Ed Markey and Republican Gabriel Gomez continued to spar last night over now-familiar themes as the two confronted each other in their final debate ahead of next week's Massachusetts Senate special election. POLITICS Wed Jun 19 07:15:04 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983080/feed The nation's biodiesel trade group announced yesterday that it is tapping a former U.S. EPA staff member to oversee its regulatory affairs operation. POLITICS Wed Jun 19 07:15:04 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983084/feed How should U.S. EPA move past the political and policy issues surrounding pesticide registration and the impact of pesticides on endangered species? During today's OnPoint, Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CropLife America, explains why he believes an amended lawsuit against EPA, filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and Pesticide Action Network North America, is counterproductive to efforts to clarify the current process for registering pesticides. Today's OnPoint will air at 10 a.m. EDT. E&ETV's OnPoint Wed Jun 19 07:15:04 -0400 2013 http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1059983072/feed