The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the in the Senate section section on pages S1747-S1750 on May 18.
More than half of the Agency's employees are engineers, scientists and protection specialists. The Climate Reality Project, a global climate activist organization, accused Agency leadership in the last five years of undermining its main mission.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. THUNE (for himself and Mr. Moran):
S. 1682. A bill to amend subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, regarding prevalent wage determinations in order to expand access to affordable housing, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 1682
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Housing Supply Expansion Act''.
SEC. 2. UPDATES TO WAGE RATE CALCULATIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 3142(b) of title 40, United States Code, is amended by inserting ``or from geographic groupings other than civil subdivisions of the State (which may include metropolitan statistical areas or other groupings determined appropriate by the Secretary)'' after ``in which the work is to be performed''.
(b) Changes to Survey Methodology.--Section 3142 of title 40, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(f) Survey Information Collection.--By not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Housing Supply Expansion Act, the Secretary shall--
``(1) review the Secretary's method of collecting survey information for determining prevailing wages for purposes of subsection (a); and
``(2) revise how such survey information is collected, following a public notice and opportunity for public comment, by--
``(A) including surveys that allow for reliable and objective sources of data and a defendable methodology, which may include information collected through Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys; and
``(B) improving the percentage of businesses choosing to participate in prevailing wage determination surveys and ensuring proportional representation of businesses represented by labor organizations and businesses not represented by labor organizations in the prevailing wage determination surveys that are completed.''.
SEC. 3. MULTIPLE WAGE RATE DETERMINATIONS.
Section 3142 of title 40, United States Code, as amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Federal Housing Acts.--A determination of prevailing wages by the Secretary of Labor applicable under section 212(a) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715c(a)), section 104(b)(1) of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4114(b)(1)), section 12(a) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437j(a)), or section 811(j)(5) of the Cranston- Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013(j)(5)) shall be limited to 1 wage rate determination under subsection (b) of this section that corresponds to the overall residential character of the project.''.
SEC. 4. DAVIS-BACON MODERNIZATION WORKING GROUP.
(a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group'' means the working group established under subsection (b)(1).
(b) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, shall establish within the Department of Labor, a Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group to recommend the update and modernization of certain requirements under subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, as described in subsection (c).
(2) Date of establishment.--The Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group shall be considered established on the date on which a majority of the members of the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group have been appointed, consistent with subsection (d).
(c) Duties.--The Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group shall--
(1) recommend whether, and if so by how much, the residential classification can be applied to affordable housing units with 5 stories or more for purposes of prevailing wage determinations under subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code;
(2) develop administrative and legislative recommendations of ways, and for what specific circumstances in which, the prevailing wage rate requirements under subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, could be waived or streamlined for certain affordable rental Federal Housing Administration new construction projects; and
(3) review the potential positive and negative outcomes of directing the Bureau of Labor Statistics to determine prevailing wages (rather that the Secretary of Labor under section 3142(b) of title 40, United States Code), in a way that would not rely on the collection of voluntary surveys from businesses but rather on data that is already collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(d) Members.--
(1) In general.--The Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group shall be composed of the following representatives of Federal agencies and relevant non-Federal industry stakeholder organizations:
(A) A representative from the Department of Labor, appointed by the Secretary of Labor.
(B) A representative from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, appointed by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
(C) A representative of a housing construction industry association, appointed by the Secretary of Labor in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
(D) A representative of a financial services industry association, appointed by the Secretary of Labor in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
(E) A representative of an affordable housing industry association, appointed by the Secretary of Labor in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
(F) A representative of a State public housing agency, as defined in section 3 of the United States Housing Act of 1937
(42 U.S.C. 1437a), appointed by the Secretary of Labor in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
(G) A representative of a tribally designated housing entity, as defined in section 4 of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103), appointed by the Secretary of Labor in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
(H) A representative of a labor organization representing the housing construction workforce, appointed by the Secretary of Labor in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
(2) Chair.--The representative from the Department of Labor appointed under paragraph (1)(A) shall serve as the chair of the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group, and that representative shall be responsible for organizing the business of the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group.
(e) Other Matters.--
(1) No compensation.--A member of the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group shall serve without compensation.
(2) Support.--The Secretary of Labor may detail an employee of the Department of Labor to assist and support the work of the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group, though such a detailee shall not be considered to be a member of the Davis- Bacon Modernization Working Group.
(f) Report.--
(1) Reports.--Not later than 1 year after the date on which the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group is established, the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group shall submit a report containing its findings and recommendations under subsection (c), including recommendations resulting from the review under subsection (c)(3), to the Secretary of Labor, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives.
(2) Majority support.--Each recommendation made under paragraph (1) shall be agreed to by a majority of the members of the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group.
(g) Nonapplicability of FACA.--Chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group.
(h) Sunset.--The Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group shall terminate on the date the report is completed under subsection (f)(1).
SEC. 5. NATIONAL HOUSING ACT.
Section 212(a) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715c(a)) is amended by striking ``similar character, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act, as amended (40 U.S.C. 276a--276a-5)'' and inserting ``residential character, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, that is applicable at the time the application is filed''.
SEC. 6. HOUSING ACT OF 1959.
Section 202(j)(5)(A) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(j)(5)(A)) is amended by striking ``similar character, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the Act of March 3, 1931 (commonly known as the Davis-Bacon Act)'' and inserting ``residential character, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, that is applicable at the time the application is filed''.
SEC. 7. NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ASSISTANCE AND SELF-
DETERMINATION ACT OF 1996.
Section 104(b)(1) of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4114(b)(1)) is amended by striking ``, as predetermined by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to the Act of March 3, 1931 (commonly known as the Davis-Bacon Act; chapter 411; 46 Stat. 1494; 40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.),'' and inserting ``for corresponding classes of laborers and mechanics employed on construction of a residential character, as predetermined by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, that is applicable at the time the application is filed''.
SEC. 8. CRANSTON-GONZALEZ NATIONAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING ACT.
Section 811(j)(5)(A) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013(j)(5)(A)) is amended by striking ``similar character, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the Act of March 3, 1931 (commonly known as the Davis-Bacon Act)'' and inserting
``residential character, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, that is applicable at the time the application is filed''.
SEC. 9. UNITED STATES HOUSING ACT OF 1937.
Section 12(a) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437j(a)) is amended by striking ``, as predetermined by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to the Davis-Bacon Act (49 Stat. 1011)'' and inserting ``for corresponding classes of laborers and mechanics employed on construction of a residential character, as predetermined by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, that is applicable at the time the application is filed''.
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By Mr. PADILLA:
S. 1685. A bill to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a consortium relating to exposures to toxic substances and identifying chemicals that are safe to use; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the Supercomputing for Safer Chemicals Act or the SUPERSAFE Act. Through the use of supercomputing and artificial intelligence, we have an opportunity to transform our scientific understanding of the detrimental effects associated with certain industrial chemical uses and to shift American commerce towards safer and more sustainable products and manufacturing.
The legislation would establish a SUPERSAFE Consortium to be led by the Environmental Protection Agency in consultation with the heads of relevant Federal Agencies, the National Labs, academic and other research institutions, State agencies, and other entities as determined by the EPA. The purpose of the SUPERSAFE Consortium is to identify exposures to toxic substance and chemicals that are safer to use in commerce.
Specifically, the SUPERSAFE Consortium established by this bill would use supercomputing, machine learning, and other similar capabilities to establish rapid approaches for large-scale identification of toxic substances and the development of safer alternatives to toxic substances by developing and validating computational toxicology methods; address the need to identify safe chemicals for use in consumer and industrial products and in their manufacture to support the move away from toxic substances and toward safe-by-design alternatives; and make recommendations on how the information produced can be applied in risk assessments and other characterizations for use by the Environmental Protection Agency and other Agencies in regulatory decisions and by industry in identifying toxic and safer chemicals.
Importantly, establishing a SUPERSAFE Consortium would encourage interagency collaboration and leverage the best scientific ideas through inclusion of State agencies and public and academic research institutions.
Currently, tens of thousands of untested chemicals can be used in commercial products, resulting in consumer, community, and worker exposures to potentially toxic chemicals. Too often, there is insufficient scientific data for evaluating health effects or identifying safer chemicals, and existing approaches to generating this data are slow, costly, and rely on animal testing.
We are well poised to address this problem and discover safer chemicals by establishing a SUPERSAFE Consortium to use supercomputing, machine learning, and other similar capabilities. These technologies can be developed and applied to rapidly provide information to evaluate chemical safety to identify safe chemicals that avoid the chronic diseases and environmental harm caused by toxic chemicals.
Unfortunately, too many Americans are exposed to toxic chemicals such as PFAS and lead. Congress has stepped up and provided billions to remediate toxic exposures, including via the bipartisan infrastructure law, to address PFAS and lead pollution. Establishing a SUPERSAFE Consortium in Federal law could help avoid the widespread pollution that our communities face so we can address potential pollution challenges before they become widespread.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this bill as quickly as possible.
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By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Ms. Rosen):
S. 1705. A bill to amend the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant program to promote career awareness in accounting as part of a well-rounded STEM educational experience; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I rise today to introduce the STEM Education in Accounting Act, which would help address workforce shortages in the accounting profession by recognizing accounting as part of a STEM education and adding accounting education programs as an allowable use of K-12 Federal grant funding. I want to thank Senator Rosen for coleading this bill with me.
Accountants play a key role in today's economy. They serve as trusted advisers for companies large and small, assist in measuring business performance, help individuals and businesses file their taxes in an accurate and timely manner, and even investigate instances of financial fraud. Yet, the United States is facing a shortage of accountants willing and able to fill this important economic role. In Maine, for example, municipalities have struggled to find public accountants to conduct their annual audits.
Recent trends suggest this shortage will continue. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job openings for accountants and auditors are expected to grow by 6 percent from 2021 to 2031--about 136,400 openings each year. At the same time, fewer students are pursuing accounting degrees than in prior years.
The STEM Education in Accounting Act seeks to improve the accounting pipeline by expanding K-12 students' exposure to accounting programs. As with other areas of STEM education, this bill would qualify accounting instruction for Federal funds. This recognition aligns with the increasing need for accounting professionals to have high-level math and technology skills, including the ability to analyze big data, ensure data security, and manage cybersecurity risk.
In particular, this bill would allow States and school districts to use a portion of their Federal student support and academic enrichment grant funding to support accounting education, including accounting career awareness. The Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant Program was created as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act and aims to help States and school districts offer a well-rounded educational experience to all students. The STEM Education in Accounting Act would also allow school districts to use this flexible grant to strengthen accounting curricula, including increasing access to high-quality accounting courses for members of groups underrepresented in the accounting profession.
Businesses and individuals rely on accountants to help them develop and reach their financial goals. The STEM Education in Accounting Act would help address the shortage of accountants by promoting accounting education and improving the pipeline of future accountants. I encourage my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill.
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By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Ms. Collins, Mrs. Shaheen, and
Mr. Kelly):
S. 1735. A bill to amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to improve assistance to community wood facilities, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Madam President, I rise today to introduce the Community Wood Facilities Assistance Act of 2023 and thank my colleagues, Senators Collins, Shaheen, and Kelly, for joining me as original cosponsors of the bill.
This bill will assist with the construction of facilities that make sustainable use of small-diameter timber from forest-thinning projects and other needed treatments in eastern and western forests.
In doing so, the bill would also create jobs in rural and forest-
dependent communities while decreasing wildfire risk in our vulnerable forests.
The Forest Service reports that 80 million acres of Forest Service lands are at risk of catastrophic wildfire or abnormal levels of insect and disease infestations.
These impacts are only made worse by historic levels of drought. In California alone, 129 million trees have died across 8.9 million acres due to drought and bark beetles. Thirty-six million of those tree deaths were in 2022, triple the number from the previous year. This is clearly a crisis.
Removing select small trees and other hazardous fuels in our forests are critical for preserving our forests over the long term. Not only does this ease the competition large trees face for water, it also reduces the spread of bark beetles and makes the forest less susceptible to catastrophic wildfire.
Between the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act, Congress has provided billions of dollars for hazardous fuels reduction and forest thinning work. What is needed now is the economic infrastructure to support this work.
Unfortunately, the number of sawmills, bioenergy facilities, and other forest-product companies have been shrinking for decades. This is due in part to increased production efficiency, but in other instances, market instability forced the closure of many large mills.
One result of the decrease in sawmills is the inability for the market to react nimbly to supply and demand. In 2020, even though massive wildfires should have meant a boom in salvageable trees, the COVID-19 pandemic constrained mill capacity and throughput. This constraint, along with a surge in consumer demand, led to a near 400 percent increase in lumber prices, which are only now resolving.
An analysis by The Nature Conservancy and Bain and Company management consultants recommended incentives to ``bridge the gap between the cost of ecological thinning and the economic viability of wood-processing infrastructure.''
As the report explains, ``If more aggressive restoration targets can be met, there will be significant need for additional processing capacity to defray restoration costs and provide valuable end uses for thinned material.''
Our bill would make targeted changes to existing Forest Service grant programs to help the forest product industry grow and provide outlets for the billions of acres of wood that will result from the investments made in the bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act.
The two grant programs we target in this bill are the Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovations Grant Program and the Wood Innovations Program.
These programs would benefit from changes, particularly from higher Federal cost-shares and an increased ability to provide more funding for each project, in addition to a higher authorized funding.
The first of these, the Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovations Grant Program, provides grants for the capital cost of small wood products facilities. Our bill would first change the name to avoid confusion with the Wood Innovations Program.
Our bill would also double the authorization level to $50 million per year, allow the program to fund new facility construction in addition to improvements. The maximum grant amount would also increase from $1 to $5 million, and the Federal cost share would increase from 35 percent to 50 percent, making it easier for small companies to use.
Our bill will also revise the Forest Service's Wood Innovations Grant Program, which provides grants for innovative uses and applications of wood products and the expansion of related markets. It would similarly allow this program to be used for new facilities in addition to retrofits and improvements and lower the minimum non-Federal cost-share from 50 percent to 33.3 percent.
Congress has an opportunity this year to make these important changes to these grant programs and help stimulate a self-sustaining forest product economy and promote healthier forests. I thank Senators Collins, Shaheen, and Kelly for their partnership on this bill, and I urge the full Senate to promptly take up this bill and pass it as soon as possible.
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