Category: Legislation

Lawmakers from both parties, in both houses of Congress, have proposed bills intended to speed up forest-management projects that reduce wildfire fuels, like brush and small trees, which can cause large-scale fires of the sort seen in Western states over the past few years.  The House has already passed the Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act (“WRDRA”), a package of 49 bills that, among other things, will provide investments to improve fire-adapted ecosystems, protect communities against catastrophic wildfires, and enhance drought resiliency.  The Senate, on …

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, electric vehicles (EVs) are not going anywhere.

While currently expected to account for only 5.4% of all new car sales in the U.S. in 2022, some analysts project this percentage will jump to almost 30% by 2030. Recent federal legislation aims to address this ever-expanding demand for a larger, more reliable EV network. On November 15, 2021, Congress enacted, and President Biden signed into law, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

While the $1.2 trillion IJJA certainly offers …

On Thursday, March 18, 2021, Congressional members who drafted the Environmental Justice for All Act (EJAA) reintroduced the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, co-chair and co-founder of the Senate’s first environmental justice caucus, is co-sponsoring a parallel bill moving through the Senate.

Similar to environmental justice legislation recently passed on the state level in New Jersey (covered by ELM here), the EJAA is a part of a larger effort to prioritize environmental justice in federal policy. Although …