Book Description

Environmental protection concerns span a wide variety of issues, including clean air, water quality, chemical security, and environmental aspects of other major issue areas such as energy, transportation, and defense. This issue brief provides an overview of key environmental issues receiving attention in the 109th Congress. The attention to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita involved a number of environmental concerns, including legislative proposals on matters such as emergency waivers of environmental requirements. A number of environmental measures have been the subject of congressional activity, some of them as part of comprehensive bills and laws on broader subjects such as energy and transportation. On August 8, 2005, President Bush signed P.L. 109-58 (H.R. 6), the Energy Policy Act of 2005, an omnibus energy package that contains numerous environmentally related provisions. Perhaps the most controversial include a renewable fuel standard and streamlined environmental permitting. On August 10, 2005, the President signed the transportation reauthorization bill, P.L. 109-59. This law, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), contains various environmental provisions. Appropriations for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) affect many of the programs and issues discussed in this issue brief, and the adequacy of EPA's funding has ...