Democratic and Republican leaders in the House of Representatives this month began to announce their committee and subcommittee rosters for the 116th Congress, as well as a new name for the subpanel with direct jurisdiction over the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
Democratic leaders have rebranded the Environment Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee as the Environment and Climate Change Committee, as a nod to its jurisdiction over the Clean Air Act and air emissions. However, despite the new name its legislative portfolio remains the same as previous years, and continues to include SDWA. Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), who was the top Democrat on the subcommittee last year, will chair the subpanel this year. The full Democratic rosters of each Energy and Commerce subcommittee were announced this month.
On the Republican side, Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), who chaired the Environment Committee last year, moves over to the ranking member slot for the 116th Congress. The rest of the subcommittee’s GOP roster was announced in January as well.
The Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee of the Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee oversees the Clean Water Act. Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), who was the top Democrat on the subcommittee last year, will serve as the chair this year.
Meanwhile, Republicans announced that Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) will take over as the top GOP member of the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee, replacing Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), who is moving over to the Aviation subpanel. The news came after Republicans made public their slate of picks for the full T&I Committe.
Over in the Senate, freshman Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) will take over as the chairman of the Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife Subcommittee of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) panel. Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife holds oversight of both SDWA and the Clean Water Act. Sen. Cramer’s Democratic counterpart on top of the subpanel has yet to be announced.