On September 9, a majority of House Republicans united with 35 Democrats to successfully pass H.R. 5078, a bill blocking the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed changes to the Clean Water Act (CWA).

On September 20, NASA announced the Mars Balance Mass Challenge, a new contest seeking design ideas for spacecraft payloads entering the atmosphere on Mars.

On September 23, NASA announced that they have contracted two private companies, Boeing and SpaceX, to transport American astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).

On September 17, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held another hearing to discuss the Obama Administration’s Climate Action Plan.

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August 2014

Budget

A list of notices from the federal register for August 2014 from agencies including the Department of the Interior, EPA, FEMA, USGS and more.

Before the August recess, a bipartisan coalition of members from the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology released the Tsunami Warning, Education, and Research Act of 2014 (H.R. 5309), a bill which would reauthorize the Tsunami Warning and Education Act of 2006. The bill is intended to enhance coordination among coastal states to improve tsunami research and mitigation.

On August 7, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy announced the names of several new acting officials to fill vacancies in the agency’s administration. President Obama has nominated six officials, but the positions remain open while these individuals await hearings in the slow confirmation process.

Senator John Walsh (D-MT) introduced legislation on August 1 that calls for funding of CCS units across the country and follows recent regulations issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that mandate a reduction in carbon emissions.

On July 31, a group of Democrats from Western states introduced the Water in the 21st Century Act, which includes a number of programs intent on conserving and managing diminishing water supplies in drought-stricken states.