The House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on July 22 to assess a proposed standard from the Environmental Protection Agency known as the social cost of carbon (SCC).

On July 22, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment heard testimony on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Brownfields and Land Revitalization Program and discussed potential improvements to the initiative.

On June 24, the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittees on Energy and the Environment held a joint hearing on the impacts of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan (CPP) on the energy sector. The hearing focused on a new Energy Information Administration (EIA) report on the effectiveness of the CPP.

On June 16, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $30 billion spending bill for Interior, Environment, and related agencies, which contains cuts to EPA funding.

On June 16, the House Appropriations committee approved the fiscal year (FY) 2016 appropriations bill setting funding for the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Bureau of Land Management, and others by a 30-21 vote.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the Secret Science Reform Act (S.544).

The House passed Representative Lamar Smith’s (R-TX) Secret Science Reform Act of 2015 which impacts science used in Environmental Protection Agency rulemaking.

The House passed three bills the week of November 17 regarding the science that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses to issue environmental regulations. The bills attempt to change to how EPA reviews scientific data and how it issues permits.