(Washington, DC) – The U.S. House of Representatives passed six bipartisan Science Committee bills, covering a range of issues from energy and environment to research and technology.
“The bills passed on the House Floor represent our committee’s continuous commitment to advancing and strengthening our country’s research and science enterprise,” Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) said. “From improving our weather forecasting and modeling to developing cleaner energy production methods, these practical and smart pieces of legislation will greatly benefit communities nationwide, both now and for future generations. Many thanks to Ranking Member Lofgren and our committee members for their hard work bringing these important bills to the table. I look forward to continuing to advance our legislative agenda and ensure that America remains at the forefront of science and technology.”
“The six bills that passed the House this week are another shining example of the Science Committee’s commitment to delivering bipartisan solutions to the American people,” Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) said. “From addressing abandoned oil and gas wells to advancing data privacy, these bills will help us to bolster research and development efforts in several areas of the Committee’s jurisdiction. Five of these bills aim to address the impacts of the climate crisis and will help enable a more climate-resilient future. Chairman Lucas and my Weather Act Reauthorization will do just that by improving the critical services NOAA provides as the agency carries out its mission of protecting life and property. This Reauthorization is more important than ever as we face what will likely be another year of record high temperatures. As a Representative of California, where we are no stranger to the threat of fires, I’m glad to see legislation to improve wildfire forecasting advance through the House. I thank my colleagues for their work on all six of these bills and look forward to seeing them taken up by the Senate.”
The House passed the following measures:
H.R. 4866, the Fire Weather Development Act of 2023
Enhances our ability to protect lives and property by directing the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a program to improve fire weather and fire environment forecasting, detection, and local collaboration.
H.R. 1069, the Clean Energy Demonstration Transparency Act of 2023
Increases accountability and transparency in the Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations by expanding reporting requirements.
H.R. 4755, the Privacy Enhancing Technology Research Act
Ensures responsible data use and data privacy by authorizing research, workforce development, and standards-setting activities at the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology for privacy-enhancing technologies.
H.R. 4824, the Carbon Sequestration Collaboration Act
Directs a coordinated research effort across the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of the Interior to improve our ability to sequester carbon through land use.
H.R. 4877, the Abandoned Well Remediation Research and Development Act
Directs research, development, and demonstration activities at the Department of Energy to support and accelerate the remediation of abandoned or orphaned oil and gas wells.
H.R. 6093, the Weather Act Reauthorization
Improves the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s weather research, supports improvements in weather forecasting and prediction, and expands commercial opportunities for the provision of weather data.