[Pages S5512-S5514]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-16. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Montana urging the United States Congress and 
     the President of the United States to undertake actions to 
     unleash American energy by reforming and streamlining 
     permitting obligations and repealing or revising 
     environmental regulations and environmental reviews that do 
     not align with national security interests; to the Committee 
     on Environment and Public Works.

                     House Joint Resolution No. 17

       Whereas, the United States should reduce its reliance on 
     foreign energy sources and prioritize domestic energy 
     production and independence; and
       Whereas, energy production and the infrastructure 
     supporting it are fundamental to the economic stability, 
     national security, and overall well-being of the American 
     people; and
       Whereas, the United States faces a growing demand for 
     reliable and efficient energy sources, particularly with the 
     rapid rise of artificial intelligence, which will place an 
     additional strain on existing energy production and 
     transmission networks; and
       Whereas, environmental stewardship that keeps our air and 
     water clean, protects public health, ensures biodiversity and 
     species protection, and conserves public lands is a worthy 
     goal that is important to achieve, but the current federal 
     permitting and environmental review processes and federal 
     regulations, including the power plant rules finalized by the 
     Environmental Protection Agency in May 2024, the National 
     Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the 
     Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Surface Mining 
     Control and Reclamation Act, Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
     regulations, and dozens of other regulations have become 
     excessively cumbersome and time-consuming, creating barriers 
     to the construction, development, and deployment of essential 
     new energy infrastructure, while not necessarily meaningfully 
     advancing the goals of these laws; and
       Whereas, not only do these overly restrictive permitting 
     and environmental review processes and regulations prevent 
     the expansion of critical energy projects that are needed to 
     meet the new demands of energy, but recently enacted 
     regulations under President Biden's Administration were 
     designed to materially harm existing, reliable generation 
     assets, such as Montana's Colstrip Steam Electric Station; 
     and
       Whereas, in order to support domestic manufacturing, 
     enhance grid reliability and prevent blackouts, lower costs 
     for consumers and businesses, meet the demands of emerging 
     technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and ensure the 
     national energy security goals announced by President Donald 
     J. Trump are met, the federal government should reform and 
     streamline its permitting and environmental review processes 
     and regulations to support the construction and modernization 
     of domestic energy generation and infrastructure necessary to 
     sustain economic growth and technological advancement; and
       Whereas, the United States' foreign adversaries are 
     leveraging their lack of similar environmental regulatory 
     paradigms to make large-scale investments in energy 
     production and artificial intelligence advancements in an 
     effort to gain technological and geopolitical dominance, 
     while destabilizing the West and neutralizing Americans' 
     global influence; and
       Whereas, both linear infrastructure, such as pipelines and 
     transmission lines, as well as energy generation 
     infrastructure and corresponding fuel sources for that 
     generation infrastructure face extraordinary and indefensible 
     delays due to overlitigation, inappropriate blocking of 
     nationally important projects by unrepresentative and often 
     radical groups that hold those projects hostage, and 
     excessive use of our court system to hinder worthy projects; 
     and
       Whereas, major delays in projects caused by inefficient 
     permitting or overlitigation can dramatically increase costs 
     and make projects less viable, harming national security 
     interests, costing consumers, businesses, and taxpayers 
     money, and making our energy system less reliable; and
       Whereas, unnecessary permitting and regulatory delays also 
     increase American dependence on energy produced by foreign 
     dictators and authoritarian regimes that do not care about 
     the United States' environmental laws; and
       Whereas, unnecessary permitting delays limit investments 
     made in modernizing our nation's infrastructure that would 
     result in a more efficient energy system with reduced 
     emissions and environmental impact; and
       Whereas, overlapping federal permitting requirements lack 
     the flexibility to allow for efforts that reflect the spirit 
     and intent of traditional environmental laws by protecting 
     human health and the environment instead of procedural 
     compliance with outdated regulations; and
       Whereas, failure to reform federal permitting laws is 
     already resulting in harm to our national security interests, 
     fewer jobs, and higher prices for Americans without providing 
     additional benefits for the environment; and
       Whereas, failing to reform these laws in the coming months 
     win result in even greater limitations on our energy 
     infrastructure, harming our ability to maintain artificial 
     intelligence superiority against our foreign adversaries, and 
     costing even more American jobs while raising costs for 
     consumers and businesses and leaving America vulnerable to 
     unreliability, blackouts, and the resulting severe harm to 
     the American people;
       Whereas, President Donald J. Trump has already announced 
     significant initiatives and is advancing policies that 
     strengthen American energy and innovation independence, 
     including the construction of data centers; and
       Whereas, Montana is rich in abundant energy resource 
     development and deployment opportunities, including coal, 
     oil, natural gas, hydropower, wind, geothermal, hydrogen, 
     solar, pumped storage hydropower, and nuclear capabilities; 
     and
       Whereas, Montana stands ready to support the United States' 
     energy independence and national security goals by leveraging 
     our natural resources, rich national defense heritage, work 
     ethic, and sheer grit. Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, by the Senate and the House of Representatives of 
     the State of Montana:
       Section 1. Policy. Orderly production and transmission of 
     the United States' vast energy resources, unencumbered by 
     unnecessary regulatory burdens, is essential to our nation's 
     security and the well-being of the American people. It is 
     further in the national interest to ensure that the United 
     States' electricity is affordable, reliable, safe, and 
     secure.
       Section 2. Immediate review of Environmental Protection 
     Agency actions taken on May 2024. The Environmental 
     Protection Agency should immediately review and, as 
     appropriate and consistent with applicable law, take swift 
     action to undo two federal power plant regulations that were 
     recently promulgated and conflict with the important national 
     objectives set forth in Section 1.
       (1) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
     Agency should immediately review all existing regulations, 
     orders, guidance documents, policies, and any other similar 
     agency actions promulgated,

[[Page S5513]]

     issued, or adopted in May 2024, that are or may be 
     inconsistent with, or present obstacles to, the policy set 
     forth in Section 1. For any of these identified actions, the 
     Administrator should, consistent with applicable law, 
     suspend, revise, or rescind the agency actions. This 
     recommendation applies specifically to:
       (a) the MATS RTR Rule, or ``National Emission Standards for 
     Hazardous Air Pollutants: Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric 
     Utility Steam Generating Units Review of the Residual Risk 
     and Technology Review'' 85 FR 38508, May 7, 2024, which 
     should be addressed by June 2025. A repeal of the rule is 
     recommended on the grounds that there have been no material 
     developments in control technologies, practices, or processes 
     since the prior technology review that would reduce 
     emissions, the regulation is not necessary to protect public 
     health, the costs of the regulation do not justify the 
     benefits, and the rule was not promulgated consistent with 
     the Clean Air Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. Of 
     the four new power plant rules published in May 2024, the 
     MATS RTR Rule has the earliest compliance dates and therefore 
     should be addressed first.
       (b) the GHG Rule, or ``New Source Performance Standards for 
     Greenhouse Gas Emissions From New, Modified, and 
     Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units; 
     Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from 
     Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units; and 
     Repeal of the Affordable Clean Energy Rule'' 89 FR 39798, May 
     9, 2024, which should be addressed by September 2025. This 
     rule should be repealed initially on the grounds that carbon 
     capture and storage and sequestration has not been adequately 
     demonstrated and is not achievable, it is unlawful to set an 
     emission standard based on generation-shifting, the costs of 
     the regulation do not justify the benefits, and the rule was 
     not promulgated consistent with the Clean Air Act and the 
     Administrative Procedure Act. Following a repeal of the GHG 
     Rule, the Environmental Protection Agency can issue a 
     replacement rule that corrects these deficiencies.
       (2) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
     Agency, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, 
     should consider whether to take any additional agency actions 
     to fully enforce the policy set forth in Section 1 of this 
     order. The Environmental Protection Agency should act swiftly 
     to repeal, rescind, or modify these rules in the name of 
     national security and economic prosperity. The rules should 
     not be allowed to stay in effect while replacement rules are 
     developed. The Environmental Protection Agency should use a 
     two-step rulemaking process to repeal, then replace, as 
     required. Additionally, administrative or judicial stay 
     pathways should be pursued. Emergency authorities to 
     effectuate change should be pursued to the fullest extent as 
     ordered by President Donald J. Trump.
       Section 3. Regulatory Permitting. (1) Members of the United 
     States Senate and the United States House of Representatives 
     are urged to work in good faith to enact legislation that 
     reforms federal permittIng and environmental review processes 
     within the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered 
     Species Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Surface Mining 
     Control and Reclamation Act, Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
     regulations, and other regulations to promote economic and 
     environmental stewardship by expediting the deployment of 
     modern energy infrastructure. These reforms should enable 
     faster construction of energy infrastructure of all kinds 
     without prejudice, including by:
       (a) considering steps to limit excessive use of judicial 
     processes to slow projects inappropriately;
       (b) preventing inappropriate usage of the federal Clean 
     Water Act and other laws to hinder the lawful building of 
     linear energy infrastructure, such as pipelines and 
     transmission lines;
       (c) enacting reforms to plan, permit, and financially 
     support the necessary build-out of electricity transmission 
     infrastructure to support a more reliable energy grid that 
     lowers costs for consumers and businesses;
       (d) in addition to more traditional energy sources like 
     coal, natural gas, hydropower, solar, and wind, enabling the 
     domestic build-out of the full array of modern energy 
     technologies, including nuclear, emissions management, 
     hydrogen, geothermal, pumped storage hydropower, battery and 
     storage systems, and all other needs for a modern energy 
     system; and
       (e) preempting state laws and regulations that are 
     inconsistent with national security priorities to develop 
     domestic energy production and related infrastructure.
       (2) This section should also be extended to the mining and 
     processing of rare earth elements and critical minerals. The 
     United States is highly reliant on China and other countries 
     that do not share our interests to mine and process rare 
     earth elements and critical minerals, with the demand for 
     some of these minerals potentially growing by more than 40 
     times by 2040. Moreover, China is now banning the importation 
     of rare earth elements and critical minerals that are 
     essential to the United States' energy generation, chip 
     manufacturing, and military defense technologies. Other 
     developed nations that share our goals to protect the 
     environment while producing abundant energy resources, such 
     as Canada and Australia, have shown that they can permit new 
     mines within 2 to 3 years instead of more than a decade, as 
     is often the case in the United States
       (3) The legislative reforms urged by this resolution should 
     also strive to ensure accountability for federal agencies 
     conducting permitting and environmental review processes, 
     including better data and more aggressive timelines. 
     Additionally, these legislative reforms should be accompanied 
     by a redoubting of efforts to streamline federal regulations 
     to support the efficient building of new energy 
     infrastructure. Failure to act to update our federal 
     permitting system to support building new energy 
     infrastructure will further harm consumers, workers, and 
     businesses, while making the United States less competitive 
     and more vulnerable to both foreign adversaries and domestic 
     outages. Congress should act with urgency in the coming 
     months to fix our broken permitting system.
       Section 4. Presidential national security powers. While 
     Members of Congress undertake actions under Section 3 to 
     reform and streamline permitting decisions and environmental 
     review, there are other mechanisms and statutes that 
     President Donald J. Trump has invoked and can continue to 
     expand in the context of national security to streamline 
     permitting, bypass environmental laws, or expedite energy 
     generation like President Donald J. Trump's ``Declaring a 
     National Energy Emergency'' Executive Order issued on January 
     20, 2025. Consistent with this Order, emergency authorities 
     should be pursued to the fullest to protect national 
     security, encourage American prosperity, and drive domestic 
     energy independence. To the extent any of these acts and laws 
     are time-sensitive, they should be modified to give broader 
     authority to the President of the United States, especially 
     to deal with our foreign adversaries.
       (1) National Emergencies Act--The President of the United 
     States can declare a national emergency under the National 
     Emergencies Act. This declaration could enable the 
     administration to invoke emergency powers that impact energy 
     generation and environmental regulations. For example, 
     certain statutes allow the President to waive or modify 
     requirements under federal laws during emergencies including 
     the Clean Air Act or Clean Water Act.
       (2) Defense Production Act--The Defense Production Act 
     grants the President of the United States authority to 
     prioritize and expand the production of materials and 
     services deemed critical for national defense. If energy 
     generation is framed as vital to national defense or 
     resilience, the Defense Production Act could be used to 
     streamline permitting and bypass environmental reviews under 
     laws like the National Environmental Policy Act.
       (3) Energy Policy and Conservation Act--The Energy Policy 
     and Conservation Act provides certain presidential 
     authorities to address energy shortages, particularly during 
     crises. If invoked, it could allow for streamlined permitting 
     processes for energy projects that enhance energy security.
       (4) Invoking National Security Exemptions in Environmental 
     Laws--Federal environmental laws, such as the Clean Air Act, 
     Endangered Species Act, or National Environmental Policy Act, 
     include provisions for national security exemptions. 
     President Donald J. Trump or federal agencies at his 
     direction could invoke these clauses to bypass environmental 
     review requirements for energy projects deemed critical to 
     national defense.
       Section 5. American Corporate Protections. Congress and 
     President Donald J. Trump should aggressively undertake 
     actions to protect American companies from corporate 
     espionage and theft of intellectual property by our foreign 
     adversaries when it comes to energy generation, artificial 
     intelligence, or other technological advancements that are in 
     the nation's security interests; and be it further
       Resolved, That the Secretary of State is directed to 
     transmit a copy of this resolution to the President of the 
     United States, the President and Secretary of the United 
     States Senate, the Speaker and Clerk of the United States 
     House of Representatives, the Administrator of the 
     Environmental Protection Agency, and each member of the 
     Montana Congressional Delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-17. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Montana urging the immediate modification of 
     ineffective and dangerous federal land management and 
     wildfire policies in order to protect the health, safety, and 
     welfare of Montana's communities; to the Committee on 
     Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

                     House Joint Resolution No. 35

       Whereas, over the last 2 decades, the United States Forest 
     Service has increasingly adopted a more relaxed approach to 
     wildfire suppression, often referred to as a ``let it burn'' 
     policy, rather than pursuing aggressive initial attacks on 
     wildfires; and
       Whereas, the contributing factors of drought, extensive 
     tree mortality due to insect infestation, the United States 
     Forest Service's relaxed approach to the suppression of 
     wildfire, and the ineffective federal forest management 
     policies that allow for extensive accumulation of biomass 
     make Montana's forest lands highly susceptible to 
     catastrophic and environmentally destructive wildfires that 
     put Montana's air quality at hazardous levels and its 
     communities in imminent danger; and
       Whereas, wildfire in areas labeled as full suppression 
     areas have had delayed initial attack from days to weeks. A 
     loophole has been exploited through which, by letting a 
     wildfire burn forest land, the United States Forest Service 
     can avoid going through the

[[Page S5514]]

     process of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
     environmental assessments required for controlled burns. 
     Using wildfire as a loophole has created a reverse in fire 
     suppression tactics whereby control lines meant to stop fire 
     are intentionally placed miles from the fire boundary, and 
     the fire is used to burn hundreds or thousands of additional 
     acres of forest land. Using and encouraging wildfire as a 
     means to document ``treated'' forest land is deceptive at 
     best and allows less pressure on the United States Forest 
     Service to actively manage forest land through timber 
     harvest; and
       Whereas, a lack of positive forest management by the United 
     States Forest Service by reduced timber harvest and relaxed 
     fire suppression has led to extremely large fires that 
     account for large releases of carbon into the atmosphere and 
     hazardous air quality in western states that directly impact 
     the health of citizens. Despite this, wildfire smoke is not 
     counted in the federal Environmental Protection Agency's air 
     quality standards attainment determinations, yet it is the 
     largest source of air pollution in Montana communities; and
       Whereas, the United States Forest Service's movement to 
     reclaim and close Forest Service roads and render them 
     undrivable not only reduces access to forest land, which 
     makes fire suppression more unattainable, but also supports 
     the movement or sentiment to reduce timber harvest on forest 
     lands and leads to a lack of forest management; and
       Whereas, the monetary costs to our taxpayers and the 
     federal government for wildfire suppression are astronomical 
     and add to the skyrocketing national debt; and
       Whereas, without aggressive initial attacks on wildfires on 
     federal land, the threat to private land, state land, the 
     wildland-urban interface, and the public health, safety, and 
     welfare will only increase. In addition, Montana's fire 
     suppression costs will substantially increase, and damage to 
     property and natural resources will continue to grow: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, by the Senate and the House of Representatives of 
     the State of Montana:
       That the 69th Legislature of the State of Montana urges the 
     President of the United States, the Secretary of Agriculture, 
     the Chief of the United States Forest Service, and the United 
     States Congress to immediately modify federal land management 
     and wildfire policies to ensure that:
       (1) there is aggressive initial attack of wildfires on all 
     federal lands, especially if there is potential for the fire 
     to expand onto private or state land, affect the wildland-
     urban interface, or cause hazardous air quality;
       (2) forest roads remain open and drivable, not only for 
     public access but for future forest management activities and 
     effective fire suppression activities;
       (3) EPA air-quality standards be modified to include 
     wildfire smoke, to the extent that there will be an increase 
     in concern among federal land management and fire suppression 
     agencies that wildfire smoke is unhealthy and harmful to our 
     populace and is a major contributor of carbon released into 
     the atmosphere;
       (4) all ``let it burn'' policies are identified and 
     reversed to ensure an aggressive initial attack by the United 
     States Forest Service and that all NEPA processes are 
     followed, preserving thousands of acres of prime timber and 
     preventing the release of carbon into the atmosphere, which 
     causes unhealthy air quality and excessive spending for added 
     suppression costs; and
       (5) state and local governments may actively engage in land 
     and wildfire management operations on federal land to protect 
     the public health, safety, and welfare and that stakeholder 
     groups have more involvement in fire management for the 
     creation of policies with the intention to better protect the 
     resources and property most at risk by wildfire; and be it 
     further
       Resolved, that the Secretary of State send a copy of this 
     resolution to the President of the United States, the Chief 
     of the United States Forest Service, the Secretary of 
     Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, each member of 
     the Montana Congressional Delegation, all 100 United States 
     Senators, the United States Speaker of the House, the 
     Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the United States 
     House of Representatives, and the governors of Arizona, 
     California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, 
     Washington, and Wyoming.
                                  ____

       POM-18. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Montana urging the United States Congress to 
     include Montanans in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act; 
     to the Committee on the Judiciary.

                        Senate Resolution No. 14

       Whereas, from 1945 to 1962, the United States government 
     conducted over 200 above-ground nuclear tests, exposing tens 
     of thousands of people in downwind areas to deadly radiation; 
     and
       Whereas, Montana is one of the most impacted ``downwind'' 
     states and home to 15 of the 25 most exposed counties in the 
     United States, including Meagher, Broadwater, Beaverhead, 
     Chouteau, Jefferson, Powell, Judith Basin, Madison, Fergus, 
     Gallatin, Petroleum, Lewis and Clark, Blaine, Silver Bow, and 
     Deer Lodge Counties; and
       Whereas, this issue is important to many Montanans who have 
     suffered and even died from radiation exposure and may not 
     even know their cancers were caused by our nation's nuclear 
     testing; and
       Whereas, the current compensation available for those 
     impacted by United States nuclear weapons development and 
     testing is still not available for impacted Montanans, even 
     though the 1997 study by the United States government 
     indicated that Montana should be included in the Radiation 
     Exposure Compensation Act. Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate of the State of Montana:
       That the United States Congress be urged to pass amendments 
     to include Montanans in the Radiation Exposure Compensation 
     Act; and be it further
       Resolved, That the Secretary of State send copies of this 
     resolution to the members of the United States House of 
     Representatives and the United States Senate.
                                  ____
                                  

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