Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the new Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has established a new subcommittee to oversee the Department of the Interior (Interior), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Departments of Energy and Agriculture. Public lands issues and the President’s ability to designate national monuments under the 1906 Antiquities will be scrutinized. Chairman Chaffetz also expressed interest in management problems at EPA and the close relationships that the Agency purportedly has with environmental organizations. Likewise, the returning chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee announced his intention to target EPA rules on waters of the U.S. and greenhouse gas emissions. Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) served as Chairman of the committee until Democrats gained the majority in 2007. His committee recently announced that it will hold a joint hearing with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on February 4, 2015 regarding the proposed water rule. RCRC expressed its concerns about the proposed rule late last year when the Agency received more than 800,000 public comments. NACo is expected to testify at the hearing. Other priorities mentioned by Chairman Inhofe were reauthorization of the surface transportation bill and reform of the Endangered Species Act.
