Energy Communities Alliance ECA Update Novemer 11, 2020

 

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ECA UPDATE Nov 11, 2020

FEATURED ECA and ECOS: Post-Election Insights   November 12, 1:00PM -- 3:00PM EST   For insight on the transition, please join us on November 12, as the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) and Environmental  Council of the States (ECOS) will host a webinar with post-election analysis from experts.   How will the transition to a new Biden Administration impact DOE issues? What can we expect in future budgets and potential stimulus legislation? What is the outlook for state and local governments post-2020? Join the webinar to hear from our panel of Washington insiders!   Featuring: Jaime Shimek, Clerk, House Appropriations Committee Marty Schneider, Senior Vice President, Longenecker & Associates Bob DeGrasse, Vice President and Manager of Government Relations, Bechtel Colin Jones, Vice President and General Manager for North American Nuclear, Jacobs Ben Husch, National Conference of State Legislatures Tim Peckinpaugh, Partner, K&L Gates Moderated by: Carolyn Hanson, Deputy Executive Director, ECOS Seth Kirshenberg, Executive Director Registration is free here.   Follow the latest DOE budget updates with ECA's budget tracker Monitor DOE spending bills, detailed site budgets, and more. Find everything you need to know about the DOE budget here! TRANSITION   Biden sets agency transition teams Politico | 11/11/2020   Biden's transition team is preparing for the transfer of power even as President Donald Trump refuses to concede. The Biden-Harris transition on Tuesday unveiled its agency review teams, which will lay the groundwork within agencies for the new administration. The list provides a look at what a Biden administration might look like, since many of the same names could end up with jobs in the agencies and will influence who the administration ultimately hires.   The who's who: Patrice Simms, vice president of litigation at Earthjustice, will lead the EPA team. Arun Majumdar, the first head of the Energy Department's Advanced Research Projects-Energy arm, will lead the Energy Department team. The Interior Department team will be led by Kevin Washburn, a University of Iowa law professor and member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma who served in the Obama administration as assistant secretary of Indian Affairs. Cecilia Martinez, a veteran environmental justice advocate, will head the Council on Environmental Quality team.   Other notables: The DOE team includes several Obama-era alumni, including Kerry Duggan, a longtime ally of Biden, and Jon Elkind, now at Columbia University, who spent the entire Obama administration at DOE working on international issues. The EPA team includes Matt Fritz, who was chief of staff from 2015 to 2017 and now at firm Latham & Watkins; Cynthia Giles, a former EPA enforcement chief now at the Harvard Environmental and Energy Law Program; Joseph Goffman, a top air adviser who now runs that Harvard program; and Ken Kopocis, a top water official now at American University's law school.   A full list of the agency review teams can be viewed here.    Continue reading >> APPROPRIATIONS   Committee Releases FY21 Bills in Effort to Advance Process, Produce Bipartisan Results US Senate Committee on Appropriations | 11/10/2020   The Senate Committee on Appropriations today released all twelve of its Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) funding measures and the FY21 subcommittee allocations.  Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby issued the following statement regarding the legislation:   “By and large, these bills are the product of bipartisan cooperation among members of the committee.  As negotiations with the House begin in earnest, I look forward to working with Chairwoman Lowey, Vice Chairman Leahy, and Ranking Member Granger to resolve our differences in a bipartisan manner.  Time after time, we have demonstrated our willingness to work together and get the job done.  We have before us the opportunity to deliver for the American people once again.”   Continue reading >> STEM AND WORKFORCE   Collaboration, Communication Key To N3B Apprenticeship Programs Through UNM-LA And NNMC Los Alamos Reporter | 11/8/2020   Collaboration and communication are key to the success of workforce development programs involving educational institutions and employers in Northern New Mexico, panel members Mark Russell, Deputy Director of N3B Apprentice Programs, Rick Bailey, President of Northern New Mexico College and Cindy Rooney, Chancellor of the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos said during a virtual webinar last week hosted by the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA).   Continue reading >> NUCLEAR WASTE   Governor wants to stop spent nuclear fuel from coming to West Texas CW-39 | 11/6/2020   Governor Greg Abbott on Thursday announced that he opposes a plan to store spent nuclear waste in Andrews County. Abbott said he asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to deny a federal license for the proposed facility.   For more than a decade, Andrews County has hosted the storage of low-level nuclear waste. WCS (Waste Control Specialists) was first licensed in 2009. But the governor characterized spent nuclear fuel as a different risk.   A statement said, “The Governor urges the NRC to deny ISP’s license application, highlighting the unique environmental risk of a terrorist attack that could shut down the world’s largest producing oilfield through a major radioactive release.”   Continue reading >> UPCOMING EVENTS Nov. 12 ECA and ECOS: Post-Election Insights; Virtual Nov. 17-18 Annual Intergovernmental Meeting; Virtual [Closed to ECA Members Only] Dec. 16, 2020 New Nuclear Webinar; Virtual Feb. 4 Annual ECA Meeting; Virtual Sept. 8-10 National Cleanup Workshop 2021 ECA PUBLICATIONS Read about DOE's High Level Waste Interpretation   Have questions about DOE’s recent high-level waste (HLW) interpretation? Download ECA’s Key Points and FAQs on the issue to better understand what ECA believes are the potential benefits of implementation. ECA's Key Points on DOE HLW Interpretation ECA's FAQs on DOE HLW Interpretation Interested in learning more? Read the ECA report “Making Informed Decisions on DOE's Proposed High Level Waste Definition” at www.energyca.org/publications ECA BULLETIN Stay Current on Activities in the DOE World   Read the latest edition of the ECA Bulletin, a regular newsletter providing a detailed brief of ECA activities, legislative news, and major events from across the DOE complex. Have suggestions for future editions? Email bulletin@energyca.org.    View current and previous editions of the ECA Bulletin at www.energyca.org/bulletin DOE SITE PROFILES  Learn More about Cleanup Sites with ECA's DOE Site Profiles   ECA's new site profiles detail DOE's 13 active Environmental Management cleanup sites and national laboratories, highlighting their history, missions, and priorities. The profiles are a key source for media, stakeholders, and the public to learn more about DOE site activities, contractors, advisory boards, and their surrounding local governments.    Access your community's profile by visiting: www.energyca.org/site-profiles

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