Amendments to H.R. 6147: Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2019

Heritage Action will key vote the following amendments to the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2019 (H.R. 6147).

Key Vote Alert: "YES" on Palmer, Walker, Meadows D.C. Individual Mandate Amendment to Minibus (#40)

The House will vote on an amendment offered by Rep. Palmer (R-Ala.) to Interior, Environment, Financial Services, and General Government appropriations for fiscal year 2019 (H.R. 6147). The amendment would prohibit funding for the District of Columbia’s Health Insurance Requirement Amendment Act, essentially Obamacare’s individual mandate applied to the district. Congress should not be afraid to fulfill its Article I Constitutional duty to exercise oversight over the laws of Washington, D.C.

Heritage Action supports the Palmer Amendment and will include it as a key vote on our legislative scorecard.

Key Vote Alert: "YES" on Mullin, Gohmert, Gosar, Perry, Gianforte EPA ‘Social Cost of Carbon’ Amendment to Minibus (#139)

The House will vote on an amendment offered by Rep. Mullin (R-Okla.) to Interior, Environment, Financial Services, and General Government appropriations for fiscal year 2019 (H.R. 6147). The amendment would prohibit funding for regulation or guidance that utilizes the social cost of carbon.

The Heritage Foundation has noted that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses three statistical models to estimate the value of the social cost of carbon, i.e. the economic damage that one ton of carbon dioxide emitted today would cause over the next 300 years. These models arbitrarily derive a value for the social cost of carbon and are highly sensitive to reasonable alterations in inputs. By placing a significantly high arbitrary price on carbon dioxide emissions, agencies can inflate the benefits of regulation or inflate the costs of a new project. Congress should prohibit all federal agencies from using the social cost of carbon, including in regulatory rule-making.

Heritage Action supports the Mullin Amendment and will include it as a key vote on our legislative scorecard.

Key Vote Alert: "YES" on Hice EPA ‘Environmental Justice’ Amendment to Minibus (#163)

The House will vote on an amendment offered by Rep. Hice (R-Ga.) to Interior, Environment, Financial Services, and General Government appropriations for fiscal year 2019 (H.R. 6147). The amendment would eliminate funding for the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Environmental Justice Small Grants Program.

The Heritage Foundation’s Blueprint for Balance: A Federal Budget for Fiscal Year 2019 proposes elimination of EPA “environmental justice” programs, saving taxpayers an estimated $7.2 million in fiscal year 2019. These programs were originally designed to protect low-income communities from environmental harm. However, as The Heritage Foundation notes:

EPA too often goes beyond this purpose to prevent job-creating businesses from developing in low-income communities, thus blocking the economic opportunity that these communities need. [...] For example, the Environmental Justice Small Grants Program has funded neighborhood litter cleanups; education on urban gardening, composting, and the negative effects of urban sprawl and automobile dependence; and a pilot program to reach California’s nail salon community in order to increase “knowledge of healthy/green nail salon concepts and practices."

The House should utilize the appropriations process to push for critical environmental reforms and to block efforts to undermine those reforms. Legislators often talk about past EPA overreach. This current minibus bill is a way to go beyond words and take action.

Heritage Action supports the Hice Amendment and will include it as a key vote on our legislative scorecard.

Heritage Action will not key vote but strongly supports the following amendments to the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2019 (H.R. 6147).

Statement of Support:

Smith (Mo.), Gianforte (#3)—Prevents the payment of attorney's fees as part of any settlement the Federal Government enters into under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.

Meadows (#25)—Prohibits federal funds from being used by the Office of Personnel Management to administer the Multi-State Plan program.

McHenry (#76)—Prohibits any taxpayer funds from going to support the Postal Service's efforts to (1) expand or enhance financial services products, or (2) carry out any pilot programs or task forces pursuant to that end.

Mullin, Perry (#138)—Eliminates funding for the enforcement of a costly Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency’s methane rule that has driven up energy prices while having negligible, if any, climate benefits.

Grothman (#169)—Reduces funding for the National Endowment on the Arts and the Humanities by 15 percent. Elimination of both programs was proposed in Heritage’s latest budget blueprint, and would save taxpayers over $300 million in fiscal year 2019.