House, Senate approve natural resources bills

December 10, 2020

The House approved legislation yesterday to study the effects of drones on wildfire suppression, among other natural resource bills.

The chamber cleared H.R. 5040, the "AIR Safety Act," from Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), on a 382-6 vote.

The bill would direct the Bureau of Land Management to study the effects of drone incursions on wildfire suppression on public lands.

The measure would task BLM with releasing a report within 18 months detailing how drones have affected wildfire suppression. The report would include ways of dealing with the drones, including destroying them.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) is a co-sponsor. Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) have a companion in the Senate.

Curtis said, "In the last few years, Utah and the rest of the West have been battling extreme wildfires. Our federal land managers, and state and local partners, need every tool available to put these fires out."

Drift net bill

The House also passed S. 906, the "Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act," by a vote of 283-105, with 56 Republicans breaking with their party to join Democrats in supporting the legislation.

The bill, first introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), would place new restrictions on the use of gill nets after five years.

It would also direct the Department of Commerce to conduct a transition program to help phase out large-scale drift net fishing and develop alternative fishing practices to reduce marine bycatch.

In a statement, Feinstein said the U.S. waters off the California coast are the last place where commercial fishers still use the large mesh drift gill nets banned by the bill.

"We're finally close to removing deadly large mesh drift gillnets from California's waters," Feinstein said. "I'm hopeful the president will now sign our bipartisan bill to phase out these harmful nets and help the industry transition to more efficient, sustainable and profitable methods."

Other bills

The House also approved a series of other bills yesterday:

  • H.R. 970, the "Robert E. Lee Statue Removal Act," would direct the removal and disposal of a monument to Gen. Robert E. Lee from the Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland.
  • H.R. 1240, the "Young Fishermen's Development Act," would direct the National Sea Grant Office at NOAA to award grants supporting training, education and outreach to recruit young fishermen.
  • H.R. 5458, the "Rocky Mountain National Park Boundary Modification Act," would permit the Department of the Interior to expand the park by 40 acres thanks to a land donation.
  • H.R. 7098, the "Saguaro National Park Boundary Expansion and Study Act," would expand the park by 1,232 acres while instructing the Interior Department to study additional expansion opportunities.
  • H.R. 7489, the "Long Bridge Act," would instruct the secretary of the Interior to cede land to Virginia and the District of Columbia in order to expand rail capacity.

Senate

In the Senate, lawmakers approved S. 1342, the "Great Lakes Environmental Sensitivity Index Act," from Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), by voice vote yesterday.

The bill, which would update environmental sensitivity maps for the Great Lakes for the first time in more than 20 years, had already passed the Senate, but the House amended it earlier this month.


By:  Jacob Wallace
Source: E&E News