ALASKA WILDERNESS LEAGUE * AMERICAN FORESTS * AMERICAN RIVERS * CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL

DIVERSITY * CLEAN WATER ACTION * DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE * EARTHJUSTICE * EARTHWORKS *

ENVIRONMENT AMERICA * ENDANGERED SPECIES COALITION * ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND *
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH * GREENPEACE * LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS * NATIONAL
AUDUBON SOCIETY * NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL * OCEANA * OCEAN CONSERVANCY *
SIERRA CLUB * SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER * SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS
ALLIANCE * THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY
March 26, 2015

OPPOSE THE ENZI BUDGET (S. CON. RES. 11) & POSITION ON KEY
ENVIRONMENTAL AMENDMENTS
Dear Senator:
On behalf of our millions of members and supporters across the country, we urge you to oppose the
damaging Enzi Budget Resolution (S. Con. Res. 11). The drastic spending cuts proposed in this budget
are irresponsible and threaten the health of our nations environment and communities. Dirty water,
polluted air, climate change, threatened wildlife, degraded lands and crumbling infrastructure wont
create jobs or strengthen the economy, but it will put our childrens economic and environmental
security at risk.
We urge you to oppose S. Con. Res. 11 and all anti-environment amendments and support those
amendments that would protect our air, water, lands, wildlife, and climate.
Please review the list of amendments below. All organizations listed above may not work on or have
expertise in every amendment included.
We strongly encourage you to OPPOSE the following amendments:
Cassidy #341: This amendment would promote offshore energy development, in particular oil and gas
production, above all other considerations including risk to coastal communities, fishing interests and
other offshore uses. This amendment would allow the Chairman of the Committee of the Budget to
make any allocations to promote this risky practice. It will also lock the nation into decades of carbon
pollution, worsening climate change impacts.
Blunt #351: This amendment would encourage dredging harbors without requiring a clear economic
justification for doing so and without determining whether such dredging is needed to address current
or anticipated future national transportation needs. Dredging can have negative environmental
impacts from sediment disposal and habitat destruction and, as such, should only be done when
necessary.

Page 1 of 13

Fischer #361: This amendment would prevent any consideration of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs)
or climate change in environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). It
would institutionalize climate denial into all major federal projects and force agencies to make
decisions without vital information, thereby preventing the development of projects and use of
taxpayer dollars in a responsible and resilient way and putting the safety, security, and economic wellbeing of local communities at severe risk.
Daines #388: This amendment would block the creation of new parks by undermining the Antiquities
Act and subjecting national monument designations on public land to approval by state lawmakers and
local officials. This tool has been used to protect some of our most important places from the Statue of
Liberty to the Grand Canyon and this amendment would only serve to make it harder to protect our
special places.
Daines #390: This amendment would require agencies to review every regulation they have
implemented over the course of the past ten years. This redundant and wasteful requirement would
undermine regulatory efficiency and delay the adoption of important public health protections.
Portman #396: This amendment strikes at the heart of the federal Clean Air Act by letting each state
simply walk away from national clean air requirements, giving polluters free rein to continue to dump
unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into our air. It sets a dangerous precedent by allowing any state
to decide that a national clean air law is merely optional, threatening public health in states downwind.
Rounds-Inhofe #412: This amendment would make it more difficult for citizens to hold federal
government agencies accountable for their statutory obligations under bedrock environmental laws. It
would also create obstacles for parties entering into settlement agreements, needlessly burdening our
courts and draining limited judicial resources.
Blunt #413: This amendment would block our nations ability to secure a global agreement to curb
dangerous carbon pollution. This amendment would have the same effect as Sen. Blunts amendment
to the Keystone XL bill from January (SA 78, roll call 20), which was defeated with bipartisan support.
Hatch-Inhofe #414: This amendment seeks to prevent the Department of Interior from implementing
its newly updated regulations governing hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands. The
technology used to extract oil and gas from the ground has evolved rapidly and presents risks to clean
air, clean water and wildlife. Consistent, uniform regulations are sorely needed to keep up with and
properly address the risks associated with these new techniques.
Capito #415: This amendment falsely asserts that international environmental agreements harm the
economy. In fact, the United States has entered into numerous international environmental
agreements, while the economy has continued to grow. Between 1970 and 2011, aggregate emissions
of common air pollutants dropped 68 percent, while the U.S. gross domestic product grew by more
than 200 percent.

Page 2 of 13

Capito #416: This vaguely-worded amendment proposes blocking any Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) regulation that would reduce the reliability of the electric grid, with no details of who
would make this determination and how. This detail-free amendment would serve as a Trojan Horse
for even worse things to come.
Thune #422: This amendment would block, perhaps permanently, a final U.S. Fish and Wildlife (FWS)
decision due April 2, 2015, about whether to list the northern long-eared bat under the Endangered
Species Act (ESA), in deference to vague and undefined state conservation plans. There is no
requirement that the state conservation plans adequately or actually protect the bat.
Barrasso #424: This amendment would block our countrys ability to make contributions to the Green
Climate Fund, as well as defunding several other international climate funds. The Green Climate Fund
is intended to help the worlds poorest nations cope with devastating health and economic impacts
from climate change, and help them reduce their carbon pollution even though they have put the least
amount of pollution into the atmosphere.
Gardner #443: This amendment would greatly undermine the United States ability to protect rivers
and streams on federal lands. This legislation would prohibit any federal land management agency
from placing any limit on the exercise of water rights as a condition for issuing a permit or other
approval to use public lands or a waterway.
Gardner #448: This amendment would expedite the approval process for terminals that would export
liquefied natural gas (LNG). Liquefied natural gas can have more emissions than even coal. This
amendment interferes with the Department of Energys ability to consider LNG exports wide range of
potential impacts, including negative impacts to consumers, health, and the environment. It would also
lead to increased hydraulic fracturing also known as fracking and a surge in methane emissions,
which is 87 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat over 20 years.
Heller #452: This amendment would indefinitely delay a listing decision on the greater sage-grouse by
requiring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to complete candidate conservation agreements
(CCAs) - voluntary conservation agreements that address threats to species and help conserve species with western states before making a listing determination under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Coats #459: This amendment would increase logging, mining, oil and gas drilling and livestock grazing
on federal lands to offset the costs of maintaining roads, facilities and other infrastructure. It would
prioritize resource extraction over other multiple uses on public lands, potentially overriding federal
protections for land, air, water, wildlife, antiquities, archaeological and historical sites, and other public
values.
Coats #460: This amendment seeks to block the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) ability to
curb dangerous pollution from power plants. The Clean Air Act already requires EPA to consider costs,
benefits, and technological feasibility in setting emission guidelines. This amendment threatens public
health by blocking the Clean Power Plan, which experts estimate will deliver public health and climate
benefits worth up to $93 billion per year in 2030, far outweighing projected costs.
Page 3 of 13

Coats #464: This amendment seeks to block action on climate change by requiring an enforceable
international treaty among the top ten greenhouse gas (GHGs) emitters before the Obama
Administration's Clean Power Plan can be implemented. By stopping the administration from finalizing
standards that will reduce carbon pollution from the nations single largest source power plants this
amendment undercuts the United States ability to both lead by example and create the momentum
necessary to secure commitments to reduce carbon pollution from all major emitters, including China,
India, Mexico, South Korea, Canada, Japan, the EU, and others . In the run up to international climate
negotiations in Paris at the end of 2015, countries are already committing to act on climate change and
this amendment seeks to stop that critical progress.
Thune #480: This amendment sets up a false choice between funding programs that protect our
nation's wildlife and those that support public safety in Indian Country. The real problem is the overall
reduction of funding in the underlying Budget Resolution that cuts non-war, non-defense programs by
$4.8 trillion and all federal funding by $5.8 trillion over the next decade.
Ayotte #487: This amendment would undermine the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, which is working to protect and rebuild Americas ocean fish populations.
Rebounding fish populations create jobs, support coastal economies, provide increased recreational
fishing opportunities and supply fresh, local seafood. Fishery Disaster Assistance funding is appropriate
where such disasters have been declared by the Department of Commerce (and funding was
appropriated for this purpose in fiscal year 2014), but undermining efforts to rebuild Americas
fisheries will only lead to more disasters in the future.
Inhofe #494: This amendment doubles down on fossil fuels at a time when countries are working
towards an international climate agreement in Paris at the end of 2015. All countries are looking to
deal with climate change in ways that improve their economic development. This is Congress once
again interfering with executive authority.
Inhofe #495: This amendment would increase the production of domestic oil, gas, and coal through
legislative reforms, which could include everything from new lease sales on public lands and waters,
royalty reductions, and even looser safety and environment regulations. Instead of extending our
dependence on fossil fuels, we should be increasing clean energy sources, which will help reduce
pollution, increase jobs, grow the economy, and address climate change.
Inhofe #497: This amendment would defer conservation planning and implementation from the
federal government to states and local governments. This framework would lead to an irregular
patchwork of inadequate protection for imperiled species across the nation. All state wildlife agencies
combined spend less than one-fifth of what the federal government spends on endangered species
conservation.
Sullivan #503: This amendment would eliminate the regulatory certainty already provided under the
Clean Water Act (CWA). The CWA already has an exemption that applies to these kinds of discharges,

Page 4 of 13

except where they are so extensive that Congress required them to be permitted. The amendment
would create unnecessary confusion and would weaken the effectiveness of the CWA.
Sullivan #506: This amendment would waste agency resources by requiring redundant, uncertain, and
potentially limitless analytic tasks associated with new public protections. The amendment attempts
to cheat the public by requiring agencies to calculate costs without also calculating benefits.
Rubio #564: This amendment would erect barriers to agencies issuing important environmental and
public health protections by limiting their abilities with congressionally imposed regulatory budgets
and arbitrary ceilings. As new environmental risks to public health emerge, agencies should have
whatever resources they need to quickly and effectively protect the public.
Manchin #574: This vaguely-worded amendment proposes to address any regulation that would
affect the reliability of the grid, with no details of who would make this determination, how, and to
what end. This detail-free amendment would serve as a Trojan Horse for even worse things to come.
Daines #606: This amendment would undermine efforts to curtail the illegal trade in ivory (and thereby
discourage poachers of many protected species, particularly elephants and rhinos) by exempting
objects containing antique ivory from anti-wildlife trafficking regulations. Of particular concern, the
amendment authorizes amending the African Elephant Conservation Act or the Endangered Species
Act (ESA).
Coats #653: This amendment would limit the Environmental Protection Agencys ability to use the
most cost-effective pollution control techniques. Whats more, this amendment would rewrite section
111 of the Clean Air Act to prohibit market-based regulatory approaches that have already been used
by the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations in section 111(d) standards for municipal waste
combustors and power plants.
Cotton #659: This amendment requires the FWS to examine the cumulative economic effects of a
critical habitat designation, meaning that the FWS could have to consider the economic impacts of
both listing and designating critical habitat. Congress rejected this approach decades ago as dangerous
to the protection of imperiled species. The FWS already fully analyzes the costs and benefits of
designating critical habitat, and solicits public comment and review of this analysis. Moreover, the
amendment would drain agency resources that could otherwise be spent on protecting and conserving
species.
Portman #679: This amendment strikes at the heart of the federal Clean Air Act by letting each state
simply walk away from national clean air requirements, giving polluters free rein to continue to dump
unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into our air. Amendment #396 sets a dangerous precedent by
allowing any state to decide that a national clean air law is merely optional, threatening public health
in states downwind.
Thune #743: This amendment would cut funding from GSA by $1 million per year and redirect it to EPA
for the express purpose of helping communities achieve attainment with outdated ozone standards. It
Page 5 of 13

also says that EPA should focus on the areas currently in nonattainment, and claims that tightening the
ozone standard would impose undue costs on the economy and workforce. The Clean Air Act requires
EPA to review and the health and medical studies on ozone pollution every 5 years and to evaluate
whether the scientific evidence shows updated standards are needed. The law requires that EPA set
standards to protect public health with a margin of safety. Refusing to update the standard, when the
science shows it is too weak to protect our health, misleads the American people and leaves millions of
children and families at risk.
Daines #744: This amendment seeks to undermine the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) which
is crucial to ensure smart, well-informed, and collaborative federal decisions. NEPA establishes a
consistent roadmap for the development of federal resources. However, by manipulating the NEPA
process, this amendment will destroy the predictable and consistent roadmap, causing delays,
litigation, and further expenses.
Lee #745: This amendment attempts to jumpstart oil shale development on public lands, one of the
dirtiest known fuels. For more than 100 years industry has attempted, and failed, to produce
commercial quantities of oil from oil shale despite billions spent in taxpayer subsidies. A headlong rush
to allow unproven oil shale speculation threatens to overtax already dwindling water supplies in the
arid West and undermine the protections that DOI has already put in place to protect important public
land resources, like fish, wildlife, and their habitats.
Lee #746: This amendment seeks to establish arbitrary deadlines on the environmental review and
public input process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which is crucial to ensure
smart, well-informed, and collaborative federal decisions. Arbitrary deadlines promote rushed
government decisions which waste taxpayer dollars and put communities at risk of environmental,
economic, and health tragedies.
Lee #747: This amendment proposes to sell federal lands to reduce the Federal deficit. This radical
notion of selling off our nations common natural heritage is penny wise and pound foolish because
our federal public lands return billions of dollars each year to American taxpayers through revenues
derived from those lands, and the economic activities that occur on them.
Lee #759: This amendment would limit the Federal regulation of species found entirely within the
borders of a single State. If passed, it would devastate endangered species conservation and lead to
more extinctions. As of 2010, roughly 50% of listed species were intrastate species. It could, for
example, exclude from ESA protection every listed plant or animal on Hawaii. Declining resident
species are only listed under the ESA because states have already failed to stop their decline.
Moreover, extremely rare and declining species may have economic value in illegal trade markets,
generating interstate commerce beyond a range states borders.
Cassidy #795: This amendment would gut EPAs ability to help clean up ozone pollution in states with
nonattainment areas. The amendment would prohibit EPA from withholding federal pollution permits
for manufacturing and energy construction projects in places that are not in attainment with the most
recent ozone standard. (The amendment actually would prohibit withholding permits in entire states,
Page 6 of 13

so presumably if any part of a state is in nonattainment, EPA would not be able to withhold permits
anywhere in that state.) EPAs ability to deny permits to construct new polluting facilities is central to
its enforcement of standards under the Clean Air Act.
Flake #821: This amendment would block the Forest Service from protecting and sustainably managing
groundwater resources. Doing so could alter the core value created by National Forests access to
clean, abundant supplies of water for more than 60 million Americans and coveted recreational
fisheries.
Flake #822: This amendment would eliminate critical federal programs aimed at reducing energy and
water waste in buildings. This is a complicated problem that requires a number of Federal programs
which target different segments of the diverse building sector. The Federal government is successfully
using a variety of program approaches to overcome this complex challenge of reducing energy and
water waste which ultimately saves U.S. families and businesses energy and money.
Hatch #827: This amendment would introduce further redundancy into an already inefficient
rulemaking process. In addition to requiring redundant analyses, it would also compel agencies to use
the least costly rules. In practice, the least costly standard has proved disastrous for public health,
notably under the Toxic Substances Control Act where such language has prevented our government
from effectively regulating even obviously toxic material like asbestos.
McConnell #836: The so-called highway sanction has been part of the Clean Air Act for more than
three decades. Withholding funding for highway expansions is an important tool for getting states to
do their job to meet the health-based national ambient air quality standards standards that protect
millions of Americans from dangerous pollutants that create soot and smog. It is a tool rarely
used. But the knowledge that it is there has been a major factor motivating states to act in a timely
way on dangerous soot and smog. Senators should oppose this stealth attack on future efforts to meet
the national public health standards.
Murkowski #838: This amendment would authorize the sale, transfer or exchange of federal lands,
including wildlife refuges, wilderness areas, national forests, conservation lands, historic sites, and
national memorials to state and local governments. It would allow the states to take control of some
of our most treasured places and sell them off to private interests for oil and gas drilling, mining,
logging and other development. It would forfeit our natural heritage to localized special interests,
resulting in the loss of recreational access to all Americans, potential development of prized wildlands,
burdens for state taxpayers, and potential damage to other state programs. This amendment could
additionally apply to lands managed by the Department of Energy, Bureau of Reclamation, Corps of
Engineers, and Department of Defense.
Ayotte #851: This amendment would undermine the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, which is working to protect and rebuild Americas ocean fish populations.
Rebounding fish populations create jobs, support coastal economies, provide increased recreational
fishing opportunities and supply fresh, local seafood. Fishery Disaster Assistance funding is appropriate
where such disasters have been declared by the Department of Commerce (and funding was
Page 7 of 13

appropriated for this purpose in fiscal year 2014), but undermining efforts to rebuild Americas
fisheries will only lead to more disasters in the future.
Lee #858: This amendment would limit funds for institutions and organizations established by the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This amendment is unnecessary
considering that the United States has failed to ratify UNCLOS, despite support from multiple
Democratic and Republican Administrations, the Department of Defense, the Department of State, top
military leaders, and industries including oil, gas, mining, shipping, fishing, and telecommunications.
Lee #859: This amendment undermines EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers Clean Water Act
Waters of the United States rulemaking process. The Clean Water Rule, which is based on Supreme
Court rulings and thousands of pages of peer-reviewed scientific analysis, would clarify and restore
longstanding Clean Water Act protections for headwater streams and wetlands across the country.
Lee #861: This amendment would undermine citizens ability to enforce the Endangered Species Act
one of our nations bedrock environmental protection laws by restricting citizens ability to recover
litigation costs when they prevail in court. Under this amendment, a prevailing citizens request for
reimbursement under the Endangered Species Act would be subject to the restrictions of the Equal
Access to Justice Act (EAJA). In subjecting ESA cases to EAJAs below-market cap on reimbursement,
this amendment would make it more difficult for citizens from across the political spectrum to obtain
counsel and challenge illegal government actions.
Lee #862: This amendment would repeal the wind production tax credit (PTC), a critical driver in new
wind energy generation that expired last year. Today the wind industry supports more than 50,500
American jobs and with a long term extension, the wind industry predicts it could support 500,000 jobs
by 2030. Furthermore, the Department of Energy estimates we can get more than a third of our energy
from wind with stable tax policy.
Hoeven #887: This amendment would rush and weaken environmental review and public input under
the National Environmental Policy Act, making it far more difficult for the public to raise legitimate
economic, environmental, and safety concerns about thousands of energy development projects. This
amendment promotes rushed, ill-informed decisions which waste taxpayer dollars and put
communities at risk of environmental, economic, and health tragedies.
Paul #935: This amendment changes funding levels based on the presumption that the Clean Water
Rule is rejected and the scope of the Clean Water Act is limited beyond the traditional interpretation of
the waters protected by the Clean Water Act. In addition to undermining the historic scope of the
Clean Water Act, this amendment would undermine the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers Clean
Water Act Clean Water Rule rulemaking process, negatively impacting water quality across the country.
Coats #949: This amendment would allow states to circumvent federal environmental review and
public input under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), making it far more difficult for the
public to raise legitimate concerns about thousands of Federal projects that could potentially have
significant environmental, public health, economic and other impacts. Since most states have weaker
Page 8 of 13

review standards than those required by NEPA, this amendment could leave entire communities and
the environment vulnerable to deficient, irresponsible, and ill-advised development.
Scott #1016: This amendment opens vast areas off of the Atlantic coast to energy development,
including risky oil and gas exploration and drilling, while introducing an irresponsible revenue-sharing
scheme. This amendment puts coastal communities, fishing interests, recreational and environmental
health at risk. It will also lock the nation into decades of carbon pollution, worsening climate change
impacts.
Inhofe #1087: This amendment would increase the production of domestic energy without regard to
source. Efforts to massively expand fossil fuel production are irresponsible at a time when the science
tells us that 80 percent of known fossil fuels must be left in the ground and we must rapidly transition
to clean energy sources to avoid the worst of climate disruption.
Inhofe 1088: This amendment would tie fracking chemical disclosure to FracFocus and BLM's recently
finalized rulemaking. FracFocus and the new rulemaking don't go far enough to ensure impacted
communities and the public have a full understanding of the toxic chemicals used in fracking.
Inhofe #1089: We agree that it makes no sense that certain types of oil, like tar-sands, that have
increased risks of spills and are much more difficult to clean up in the event of a spill, are somehow
exempt from paying into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. But the amendment also allows the repeal of
Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which simply requires high carbon
fuels to achieve emissions parity with conventional fuels if they benefit from public procurement
awards. The Department of Defense strongly supports this provision, and the requirements of Section
526 have never prevented DOD from purchasing the fuels necessary to meet its current mission needs.
We strongly encourage you to SUPPORT the following amendments:
Coons #343: This amendment would preserve mandatory spending for agricultural conservation
programs. These programsincluding the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Regional
Conservation Partnership Program, and the Conservation Stewardship Programplay a critical role in
protecting water quality and wildlife habitat and should not be cut below the 2014 Farm Bill levels.
Wyden-Crapo #434: This bipartisan amendment is an important step to solving the wildfire
suppression funding problem by stabilizing the budget, ensuring that wildfires and first responders
have the necessary resources, and restoring agencies abilities to manage public lands efficiently.
Stabenow #441: This amendment would close a tax loophole that benefits tar sands importers.
Because of a 2011 IRS ruling, tar sands oil is not classified as crude oil, exempting it from the per barrel
excise tax that is the main source of funding for the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fust (OSLTF). The OSLTF is a
crucial source of funding that goes towards oil spill first responders, restoration costs, and
uncompensated damage claims.

Page 9 of 13

Gardner #482: This amendment would encourage the use of performance contracting at federal
buildings. The federal government spends billions of dollars each year on energy at their facilities.
Performance contracting, whereby buildings undergo robust retrofits and are then able to pay the cost
of retrofits on their energy bills, offers a tremendous opportunity to save taxpayers money and energy
usage, while creating jobs in the process.
Peters #521: This amendment would encourage investment in science, technology and basic research
in the US, including educational or research and development initiatives, public-private partnerships,
or other programs. Investments in science and technology support fundamental as well as
transformational energy-related research and development projects. Federal clean energy spending
has consistently proven its worth by driving job creation, economic growth and reducing health and
environmental costs.
King #522: This amendment reaffirms that renewable sources of energy have every right to our
electricity grid and that customers have every right to choose their energy. Many utilities are currently
trying to stop the growth of renewable energy by prohibiting them from using our electricity grid and
levying heavy fines on customers who choose more resilient types of energy, like rooftop solar.
Tester #569: This amendment would ensure that Tribes have adequate funds to upgrade and maintain
water infrastructure. Wastewater treatment plants play an integral part in reducing nutrient pollution
to rivers, lakes and streams. Unchecked, nutrient pollution can contribute to algal blooms and hypoxic
dead zones that hurt water quality and wildlife.
Heinrich #571: This amendment aims to prevent the sell-off of our public lands for deficit reduction.
Our public lands are wildly popular, as numerous polls have shown. Selling off our public lands would
mean a loss of recreational access for all Americans, including hunters, anglers and outdoor recreation
enthusiasts, increased burden on state and local tax payers for management costs, reduction of other
state services, and increased development on some of America's most beloved landscapes.
Markey #573: This amendment would promote the repair and replacement of leaky natural gas
distribution pipes to stop methane leaks. Methane is a highly potent heat trapping pollutant that
contributes to dangerous climate change.
Shaheen #630: This amendment encourages the use of energy efficiency. The cleanest, cheapest, and
safest way to meet our electricity needs is by getting the most out of the energy we already use. Using
todays off-the-shelf technologies, we can shield residential customers from high utility bills, help
businesses keep expenses low, and create thousands of good jobs in construction, manufacturing,
research, and design.
Cotton #658: This amendment would extend the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) county payments program
for another 4 to 10 years. The SRS program provides important funding for schools, community
services, and roads in more than 1,900 counties with federal forest land. SRS has received broad
support ever since its original bipartisan passage in 2000 because it helps the economic stability and

Page 10 of 13

sustainability of rural communities without returning to the discredited, volatile, and unsustainable
system of linking logging and other resource extraction to county revenue payments.
Whitehouse #699: This amendment aims to protect oceans and coasts from human-induced climate
change. We are already seeing the negative impacts climate change is having on our oceans and
coastal economies, including ocean acidification, sea level rise, and shifting marine habitats.
Bennet #715: This amendment would extend critical clean energy tax credits. These tax credits are
critical to clean energy development in the U.S. and Congress must extend them immediately. Over the
past five years, 44 percent of all new domestic power generation has come from renewable energy
generation, including 56 percent in 2014 alone, surpassing all other sources.
Murkowski #770: The Coast Guards essential duties include enforcing fishing and maritime safety
laws, maintaining defense readiness, conducting search and rescue for mariners in distress, and
emergency response to offshore oil spills. To safely and effectively carry out its diverse missions in the
Arctic year round, the Coast Guard must be properly equipped with specialized ships that can
withstand and break through even the thickest sea ice during the heart of the polar winter. Today,
however, the United States only has one functional heavy icebreaker remaining, and its on its last
legs.
Cantwell #800: This amendment seeks to rapidly phase out the use of hazardous oil tank cars and
strengthen the crude-by-rail tank car rulemaking being promulgated by the Department of
Transportation.
Boxer #833: This amendment would help state and local governments respond to climate change
impacts. According to the 2014 National Climate Assessment, the U.S. is already experiencing more
severe storms, floods, and droughts, and increased illness and death from more severe heat waves and
worsened pollution. Emergency financial assistance is critical to help states grapple with the extreme
weather events being made worse by climate change.
Boxer #834: This amendment would help state and local governments address the public health
impacts associated with climate. Climate Change is already having major impacts on the health of the
US people and in particular hurting children, elderly, low-income and minority populations the most.
Murray #866: This amendment would create a reserve fund in case funding for the TIGER program is
increased. The TIGER program leverages virtuous competition between hundreds of prospective
agency grantees. Competitive approaches to funding our infrastructure needs helps assure that scarce
federal taxpayer dollars are allocated effectively by awarding grants only to meritorious proposals.
Wyden #870: This amendment would extend for two years a package of expired tax credits, including
several related to clean energy and energy efficiency. These tax incentives should be extended as soon
as possible and will help create jobs, reduce pollution, save consumers and businesses money, and
help address climate change.

Page 11 of 13

Hirono #878: This amendment creates a deficit neutral reserve fund focused on financing renewable
energy projects, a critical step in bringing renewable energy technologies from the laboratory to the
marketplace. This amendment also recognizes our need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and
confront climate change.
Coons #891: This amendment would create a reserve fund in case of need to make critical rail
infrastructure more resilient to climate change. Infrastructure assets deserve protection, with their
trillions of dollars in value and projections for increasing goods and people movement over our rail
system particularly.
Coons #892: This amendment creates a deficit neutral reserve fund acknowledging that climate change
impacts the safety and reliability of the critical infrastructure systems of the United States. These
impacts cause tangible economic costs that are likely to increase over time, but can be mitigated by
planning and actions taken now. It is estimated that every dollar spent on mitigation saves $4 in
disaster relief. Taking action now to prepare is fiscally responsible and will reduce the costs on our
nations infrastructure down the line.
Markey #896: This amendment seeks to improve the safety of offshore oil drilling and increase the
liability cap on offshore oil spills. Currently, in the event of an oil spill, the liability of the responsible
company for economic and environmental damages is far too low at just $134 million dollars, with
taxpayers on the hook for expenses beyond that. This amendment would help to hold industry
responsible for oil spills that cause serious economic and environmental harm.
Klobuchar #911: This amendment would promote the growing outdoor recreation economy and
encourage the accurate measurement of the economic benefits of public lands and waters. Americas
public lands and the outdoor recreation industry that they support are critical components of local and
regional economies. Americas outdoor economy and its millions of jobs deserve to be counted, like
every other major sector of the U.S. economy.
Nelson #944: This amendment establishes a budget point of order against any legislation that would
censor or otherwise limit the ability of a federal agency or a federal employee to describe scientific
processes related to climate changeincluding the impacts to human health, the environment, or the
economy.
Franken #988: This amendment seeks to bolster the resilience of communities and industries in the
U.S. against the impacts of climate change.
Coons #990: This amendment creates a deficit neutral reserve fund supporting measures to increase
the resilience of new and existing U.S. infrastructure to climate change. Initiatives to increase resilience
will reduce the long-term economic costs from impacts of a changing climate and associated events,
which include sea-level rise, flooding, erosion, subsidence, loss of sea ice, and changes in the
distribution of permafrost.

Page 12 of 13

Cantwell-Portman #1002: This bipartisan amendment is an important step in restoring our national
parks for their next 100 years of service. Over the last century, the park system has grown and aged,
but funding has not kept pace to provide the level of service necessary for visitors to have
unforgettable experiences. The result is a mounting list of needs and reduced park visitor experiences,
just as the parks are expecting a significant increase in visitors for the 2016 centennial. This
amendment is an important step in setting aside mandatory funding to support projects and programs
that protect, preserve or restore our national parks.
Heinrich #1013: Many of our advancements in clean energy technology come from government
laboratories. This amendment would ensure that they can benefit all Americans by making it quickly to
the marketplace.
Bennet #1014: This amendment recognizes the economic and national security threats posed by
human-induced climate change. It proposes addressing climate change through increased use of clean
energy, energy efficiency, and reductions in carbon pollution.
Schatz #1021: This amendment aims to take action to solve human-caused climate change which is
real, urgent, and happening now.
Schatz #1022: As the world's largest economy, the U.S. has an obligation to lead the world and assist
developing nations lower their carbon pollution. The amendment recognizes the significant economic
opportunity U.S. businesses have in developing and exporting technologies to help reduce carbon
pollution and expand clean energy overseas.
Heinrich #1024: This amendment aims to prevent the sell-off our public lands for deficit reduction. Our
public lands are wildly popular, as numerous polls have shown. Selling off our public lands would mean
a loss of recreational access for all Americans, including hunters, anglers and outdoor recreation
enthusiasts, increased burden on state and local tax payers for management costs, reduction of other
state services, and increased development on some of America's most loved landscapes.

Page 13 of 13