Gina McCarthy has been approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to succeed Lisa Jackson as the next head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The vote came a week late after Republicans on the committee boycotted the hearing over concerns regarding transparency issues.  McCarthy’s confirmation will now proceed to a full Senate vote.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is seeking information on system concepts and innovative approaches for its Sustainable Land Imaging Architecture study which is examining how best to extend the Landsat data record. The Landsat program is the longest running continuous space-based record of earth observations, which is jointly managed by NASA and USGS. On September 18, NASA and the U.S.

Coral reefs are being degraded on a global scale, and a better understanding of the factors that affect coral growth could tell us why. To this end, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has pioneered a new weight-based method that allows for more accurate and precise measurements of coral growth.

Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Observations on States’ Role, Liabilities at DOD and Hardrock Mining Sites, and Litigation Issues – The Government Accountability Office (GAO) summarizes its most recent findings on the role and responsibilities of states and federal agencies in cleaning up hazardous waste sites.

The Mathematical Sciences in 2025 – The mathematical sciences are becoming increasingly important in all parts of society, including the geosciences. The National Science Foundation (NSF) requested that the National Research Council (NRC) examine how the mathematical sciences can improve their capabilities to properly maximize their contributions to the nation by 2025.

On June 6, 2013, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a full committee hearing to review programs and activities of the Department of the Interior (DOI).

Representative Randy Hultgren (R-IL) unveiled a discussion draft of the American High-End Computing Leadership Act that would modify the DOE High-End Computing Revitalization Act of 2004 to increase funding for the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. If enacted, this bill would provide $110 million each year for FY 2014 and 2015 to develop two or more exascale computing systems in national laboratories for use by industry, academia, and other labs.

On May 22, 2013 the House voted 241-175 to approve H.R. 3: The Northern Route Approval Act, which seeks to approve the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL Pipeline. If enacted, the bill would allow for the construction of the pipeline without a presidential permit, and would greatly streamline other permitting processes normally required by the Secretary of Interior and the Army. The bill still needs to be approved by the full Senate and the President before it can be enacted into law.

The House Subcommittee on Space held a hearing on May 21, 2013 on next steps in human space exploration. The primary goal of the hearing was to evaluate whether a human mission to the moon or to a near-earth asteroid would better prepare NASA to send humans to Mars and beyond.