Health-care reform | House budget resolution | Transportation funding cut | WOTUS | Biodiesel | Emergency haying on CRP land
— Senate GOP aims to hold health-care reform vote next week. Senate Republicans expect to release a revised version of a bill to roll back the 2010 health care law this week and vote on it the following week, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said.
— House Budget markup again delayed as no consensus on mandatory spending cuts. The House Budget Committee has put off a markup of a fiscal 2018 budget resolution until at least next week, the third delay over the past three weeks. The panel now is tentatively looking at July 19 for the markup. If the budget is marked up next week, the House could take it up the following week during its last week in session before the August recess. If not, plans to introduce a budget resolution are likely to be shelved until September.
Disagreement over the minimum amount of spending that would be cut through budget reconciliation is the main hurdle. The panel had tentatively settled on a plan to issue reconciliation instructions to 12 authorizing committees, charging them with writing legislation to reduce the deficit by $200 billion over a decade. But that could now be changing. Some conservatives consider $200 billion too low, while moderates are objecting that it is too high. A $200 billion cut in mandatory spending over 10 years would be less than 1% of projected spending on mandatory program over the next decade.
— Transportation spending cut in House appropriations measure. The $56.5 billion fiscal 2018 transportation-housing draft spending bill released by House appropriators would cut spending and block states from requiring more frequent breaks for commercial truck drivers and other workers than required under federal law. The bill would provide $17.8 billion for the Transportation Department, a nearly 8% decrease from current spending levels, but higher than President Donald Trump’s request of $16.2 billion for Transportation.
TIGER grants would be eliminated. The proposed appropriations legislation would eliminate national infrastructure grants known as TIGER grants (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) which were funded at $500 million in fiscal year 2017. Trump’s FY18 budget proposal called for the Obama-era grants to be eliminated. The House Appropriations transportation-housing subcommittee will mark up the bill this evening.
The Federal Railroad Administration would receive $2.2 billion in fiscal 2018, up $360 million from fiscal 2017 and $1.1 billion more than the request. Rail safety and research programs would receive $258.3 million, unchanged from the fiscal 2017 enacted level, to pay for inspectors and training, maintenance and safety spending on the rail infrastructure. Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Grants would receive $25 million, a reduction of $43 million from the fiscal year 2017 enacted level.
— House tries to speed up WOTUS rule rollback but Senate hurdles likely. Speeding up the rollback of the Obama-era Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule by circumventing the normal rulemaking process is the goal of a provision in the energy and water spending bill the House Appropriations Committee will consider Wednesday. The provision in the energy and water spending bill for fiscal 2018 would allow the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw the 2015 stayed WOTUS rule “without regard to any provision of statute or regulation that establishes a requirement for such withdrawal.” The rule is facing dozens of lawsuits. The language in essence would shorten the rulemaking process by getting rid of the public comment process.
But hurdles remain as Senate Democrats are expected to oppose the measure when it reaches that chamber. Also, any such change would likely face court challenges. EPA and the corps are under an executive order to withdraw and rewrite the rule, and both have already started the process of withdrawing the rule. They released the proposal to reinstate a prior regulation, but have not formally sought public comment.
— U.S. biodiesel fair trade coalition files new claim in imports case. The National Biodiesel Board Fair Trade Coalition has filed a new allegation with the U.S. Dept. of Commerce claiming that critical circumstances exist with respect to imports of biodiesel from Argentina. The “critical circumstances” provision allows for the imposition of duties on imports that enter the U.S. prior to preliminary determinations of subsidization and dumping. The coalition found that imports of biodiesel from Argentina jumped 144.5% since the filing of the antidumping and countervailing duty petitions, as compared to the period prior to the filings. To determine critical circumstances, the Commerce Department must find that there are “massive” imports over a relatively short period of time, and that other statutory criteria are met, including whether the imports benefit from illegal subsidies. The NBB Fair Trade Coalition’s petition alleges that each condition has been met.
On May 5, the International Trade Commission (ITC) made a unanimous preliminary decision that biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia injured U.S. producers. The Commerce Dept. will announce its preliminary determinations regarding the estimated rates of subsidization no later than Aug. 21 unless postponed at a later date, and dumping on or about Oct. 20, according to the NBB.
— USDA expands emergency drought help by allowing haying on CRP land. The USDA announced it will further aid drought-impacted ranchers by letting them hay land normally protected under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). In June, USDA opened up CRP land in much of Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota to grazing for ranchers suffering severe, extreme or exceptional drought conditions. The new announcement will allow ranchers on July 16 to begin haying the land. CRP land owners can hay the land themselves or allow livestock owners to do it. The landowners will not be penalized with lower CRP payments because of the emergency.
