Climate Adaptation Science Centers Act or the CASC Act This bill provides statutory authority for the Department of the Interior's National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers. The centers must provide scientific expertise to managers of natural resources, cultural resources, and ecosystem services to inform decisions that aid adaptation to a changing climate and extreme weather events. The program shall include a National Climate Adaptation Science Center and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers. Among its activities, the National Center shall serve as the national office for the regional centers, develop and facilitate coordination among the regional centers, and conduct research on cross-regional and national science priorities. Regional centers shall develop research, education, training, and advisory service priorities regarding the impacts of climate trends and variability on natural and cultural resource management. Interior shall establish an Advisory Committee on Climate and Natural Resource Sciences to advise the National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers on specified matters, including (1) the contents of a national strategy identifying key climate adaptation science priorities to advance the management of natural and cultural resources in the face of climate change; and (2) the integration of equity, particularly for historically underserved communities, in the operation of the National Center and regional centers.
Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act This bill establishes the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States and sets forth its powers, duties, and membership. Among other duties, the commission must investigate the impacts and ongoing effects of the Indian Boarding School Policies (federal policies under which American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children were forcibly removed from their family homes and placed in boarding schools). Further, the commission must develop recommendations on ways to (1) protect unmarked graves and accompanying land protections; (2) support repatriation and identify the tribal nations from which children were taken; and (3) discontinue the removal of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children from their families and tribal communities by state social service departments, foster care agencies, and adoption agencies.
Save Oak Flat Act This bill repeals the requirement for the Department of Agriculture to convey the 2,422 acres of Forest System land located in Tonto National Forest in Pinal County, Arizona, known as Oak Flat, to Resolution Copper Mining, LLC, in exchange for various parcels of land owned by Resolution Copper. Oak Flat is withdrawn from (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws; (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and (3) disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials.
Continental Divide Trail Completion Act This bill directs the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to complete the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail as a contiguous route by November 10, 2028. The Forest Service and Interior must also establish a joint Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management trail completion team to work in coordination with the administrator of the trail to facilitate its completion and optimization. In addition, the Forest Service must submit to specified congressional committees a comprehensive development plan for the trail.
Fair Access to Financial Services Act of 2022 This bill prohibits financial institutions from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill also provides an aggrieved person with a private right of action for preventive relief.
Hydrogen for Industry Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish grant programs to support the use of hydrogen in energy. Specifically, DOE must establish a grant program for projects that demonstrate the uses of hydrogen in heavy industry (e.g., steel, cement, glass, and chemical manufacturing). It also directs DOE to establish a grant program for (1) carrying out projects that demonstrate the end uses of hydrogen; (2) constructing a new commercial-scale facility that will use hydrogen as a fuel or feedstock; or (3) retooling, retrofitting, or expanding an existing facility to enable the use of hydrogen as a fuel or feedstock in industrial end-use applications of hydrogen.
Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Amendments Act of 2022 This bill revises the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project (a water infrastructure project in New Mexico), including by extending through December 31, 2029, the deadline for constructing project facilities and allowing for additional project service areas.
Rural Internet Improvement Act of 2022 This bill merges the pilot ReConnect Loan and Grant Program with existing loans and grants provided by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to facilitate broadband access to rural areas that lack sufficient access to broadband. Unobligated amounts available for the pilot program must be transferred and made available, without further appropriations, to this merged program. The bill specifies eligibility criteria and other requirements that apply to the merged program. For example, the bill limits funds from the merged program to projects in areas where at least 90% of the households lack sufficient access to broadband services, which is currently required under the pilot program. Other changes in the bill address procedures for contesting the accuracy of broadband maps that are used to identify eligible areas. It also requires efforts to increase coordination concerning broadband initiatives between USDA, the Federal Communications Commission, and the National Telecommunications Information Administration.
This bill provides statutory authority for the Tribal HUD-VASH program, which provides rental assistance and supportive services to Indian veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and living in or near an area where a tribe or tribally designated housing entity provides assistance for affordable housing. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) must use at least 5% of rental assistance amounts under the HUD-VASH program, which provides housing assistance to homeless veterans, for the Tribal HUD-VASH program. The Tribal HUD-VASH program must be carried out by HUD in conjunction with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Under the program, grants must be made to entities eligible for housing assistance block grants. HUD may make renewal grants to entities that have received prior program grants.
United States Foundation for International Conservation Act of 2022 This bill requires the Department of State to establish a foundation to provide grants for projects to manage protected and conserved areas in low- and middle-income countries with high levels of biological diversity or species and ecosystems of significant importance. Recipients of grants from this foundation must secure outside funding to match, at minimum, the amount of the grant.
Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Amendments Act of 2022 This bill revises the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project (a water infrastructure project in New Mexico), including by extending through December 31, 2029, the deadline for constructing project facilities and allowing for additional project service areas.
Tribal Connect Act of 2022 This bill expands tribal access to the Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support (E-rate) program, which provides discounted broadband internet access and telecommunications services to certain schools and libraries. It also establishes a pilot program to provide broadband internet access service to essential community-serving institutions (e.g., community centers) located on tribal land.
