Two congressional committees with oversight of drinking water issues saw their membership rosters adjust slightly this month.
California Republican Rep. Ken Calvert has been named the new chairman of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees EPA’s annual budget. Rep. Calvert takes the place for former chair Mike Simpson (R-Id.), who is claiming the gavel of the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee. The reshuffling follows the October death of former Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla), and the promotion New Jersey Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen to fill that slot. Rep. Frelinghuysen previously led the Energy and Water Development subpanel.
The ascension of Rep. Calvert, who previously served as vice chair of the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, is unlikely to have any immediate impact on FY14 funding levels for EPA. Lawmakers are hoping to finalize a FY14 federal spending plan by mid-January, but that depends on House-Senate negotiators first reaching a deal on a long-tem budget framework.
Change also came this month to the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, which holds jurisdiction over the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act. Senator Corey Booker (D-N.J.) – elected in an October special election to fill the seat of deceased former Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) – was chosen to fill Lautenberg’s seat on the EPW Committee.
The late Sen. Lautenberg was an active member of EPW during his time in the Senate, paying a particular focus to chemical safety issues and advocating for government authority to require the use of so-called “inherently safer technologies” at water treatment plants and chemical facilities. At this point it is too early to say whether Sen. Booker will actively take up this cause as well.