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— All eyes are on the first skirmish among Democratic presidential contenders in a debate tonight that’s likely to dig into how the White House hopefuls would deal with climate change.
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— The Senate has lined up cloture votes on the chamber’s annual defense policy bill that includes a slew of amendments related to toxic PFAS contamination.
— EPA proposed a rulemaking Tuesday to codify a change to the “once in, always in” policy allowing industrial facilities to reduce their pollution regulations and cut their costs by millions.
GOOD MORNING! IT’S WEDNESDAY. I’m your host, Kelsey Tamborrino. Entergy’s Rob Hall was the first to identify Abraham Lincoln as the first to address a congressional investigating committee on Capitol Hill while president. For today: There are only two people who have been assigned personal ZIP codes in the U.S. One is the president. Who is the other? Send your tips, energy gossip and comments to ktamborrino@politico.com.
POLITICO’s 2020: The Issues is the most comprehensive guide anywhere to the issues shaping the Democratic presidential primary, driven by dozens of expert journalists in the nation’s most robust newsroom covering policy and politics.
WELCOME TO MIAMI: Presidential contenders lock horns tonight in Round One of the primary debates in Miami to prove they’re ready to take on President Donald Trump — and show Democratic voters they have a plan to fight climate change.
Democratic National Committee chief Tom Perez said earlier this month he was confident “climate change will be discussed early and often during our party’s primary debates,” an answer to the campaign from environmental groups and even some 2020 presidential contenders who pushed for a separate debate devoted to the issue.
Polls show climate change has become a top issue for Democratic voters. A recent POLITICO/Morning Consult poll found 42 percent of registered voters thought it was “very important” that Democratic candidates discuss climate change, followed by 23 percent who said it was “somewhat important.”
What remains an open question is how far questions tonight will go beyond the commonalities between Democratic hopefuls. As POLITICO’s David Siders notes, nearly all of the major Democratic presidential contenders have called for the U.S. to rejoin the Paris climate agreement and have voiced support for tenets of the Green New Deal. Instead, climate activists want debate moderators to ask substantive questions about, for example, how exactly they would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and their positions on hydraulic fracturing or carbon pricing.
— Who’s on stage tonight? (In order!) Bill de Blasio, Tim Ryan, Julián Castro, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, Tulsi Gabbard, Jay Inslee and John Delaney.
Catch up on the environmental plans: Inslee’s fossil fuels plan and climate change plan | Delaney’s plan on climate change | Warren’s clean energy economy plan and plan on federal lands | Castro’s green housing proposal | O’Rourke’s $5T climate change plan
Related: Dozens of youth activists from the Sunrise Movement, who protested outside of the DNC on Tuesday to call for an official climate-themed debate, pledged to stay put overnight.
MOVING FAST ON PFAS: The Senate will vote at noon on the motion to invoke cloture on a substitute amendment (#764) offered by Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) to S. 1790 (116), the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. The substitute amendment to the bill includes bipartisan language to tackle PFAS contamination that was approved by Environment and Public Works senators last week.
What’s inside? The manager’s amendment would require EPA to set an enforceable drinking water limit within two years for PFOA and PFOS — two of the best-studied PFAS chemicals. It would also require EPA to take concrete steps on other chemicals as more is learned about their health dangers and their presence in water. And it includes provisions requiring public reporting on emissions and data reporting under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
Outside of the EPW bill, the package includes language calling on the secretary of Defense to finalize a cooperative agreement with states to add testing, removal and remedial actions for PFAS contamination caused by the Defense Department, and it would require the DoD to provide blood testing for firefighters exposed to PFAS. It also includes a three-year phaseout of the military’s use of PFAS chemicals in firefighting foam.
What’s left out? The NDAA package does not include a “hazardous” designation for PFAS under the Superfund law that has been sought by environmental advocates and Democrats, like EPW ranking member Tom Carper. Carper told ME on Tuesday negotiations were still in motion to get the Superfund designation attached to the NDAA. Should that effort fail, Michigan Sen. Gary Peters said Tuesday senators would try to “move it on other avenues.”
How it could fall apart: Democrats, who could torpedo the entire NDAA package that requires 60 votes to pass, were uniformly opposed to an NDAA vote today absent a compromise on whether to hold a vote to bar funds for war with Iran without congressional authorization, POLITICO’s Burgess Everett, Marianne LeVine and Connor O’Brien report. However, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer did not explicitly say his caucus would vote the bill down should McConnell move to end debate on the measure today.
LET’S TRY THIS AGAIN: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will vote again this morning on Daniel Jorjani’s nomination to become Interior’s head solicitor and Mark Lee Greenblatt’s bid to lead Interior’s inspector general’s office. The panel last month approved Jorjani on a 11-9 vote and Greenblatt advanced unanimously. The committee is re-voting today to ensure no points of order on the floor after a senator’s late arrival during the committee’s May vote.
UTILITIES, SENATE CLIMATE DEMOCRATS TO MEET: Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis will hold its first stakeholder meeting today, ME is told. Members of the ad-hoc climate panel will be joined by utility leaders from Hawaiian Electric Company, Portland General Electric, PG&E Corporation, National Grid Rhode Island and Great River Energy to discuss the role of utilities as well as the challenges they face in transitioning toward clean energy.
FOR YOUR RADAR: New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall will introduce legislation today to create a national renewable electricity standard, with the aim of achieving 50 percent electricity from renewables by 2035. Starting in 2020, the standard would require retail electricity providers to increase their supply of renewable energy by a percentage of total retail sales each year. Udall offered similar legislation, S. 1264 (114), in 2015.
— Another one: Carper and Sen. Susan Collins are reintroducing the Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act. The bill would extend the wind investment tax credit at 30 percent for offshore wind projects that begin construction by Jan. 1, 2027, or the year after the U.S. hits 3,000MW of new offshore wind capacity. Bill text.
ONCE IN, NOT ALWAYS IN? EPA on Tuesday proposed a rulemaking to formally replace the agency’s “once in, always in” policy, Pro’s Alex Guillén reports. The move would allow thousands of major industrial facilities to reduce their pollution regulations, cutting their costs by hundreds of millions of dollars.
EPA air chief Bill Wehrum first revoked the so-called once in, always in policy via a guidance memo in 2018. The policy declares that once a facility is classified as a “major source” of hazardous air pollutants, it remains in that category permanently, even if its emissions drop below the threshold for a lesser designation called “area source.”
“Today’s proposal would remove a major regulatory burden and incentivize investments in technologies that improve air quality and public health,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler.
PRESS EXODUS OFFICIALS EXIT EPA: Two of EPA’s top press officials are leaving the agency, two sources familiar with the moves told Alex and Eric Wolff. John Konkus, deputy associate administrator for the Office of Public Affairs, and press secretary James Hewitt are both departing, the sources said.
Hewitt has started at the State Department as a senior adviser in the bureau of global public affairs, after two years as press secretary. It wasn’t immediately clear where Konkus — who last year had been slated to join the Small Business Administration — is headed, although one source said he is not joining President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign.
IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER: EPA’s final rule to consolidate all Freedom of Information Act requests into a central office will be published in the Federal Register today, Alex reports for Pros.
WITH REPUBLICANS GONE, OREGON BILL IS DEAD: Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney on Tuesday said the cap-and-trade bill state Democrats sought to pass this session did not have the votes after a walkout last week by Republican senators. But “after helping to knock off one of their most hated bills of the session, they didn’t immediately agree to return,” Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.
— “In lobbying battle for electric vehicle tax credit, it’s car makers vs. oil and gas industry,” via The Washington Post.
— “NV Energy announces ‘hulkingly big’ solar-plus-storage procurement,” via GreenTech Media.
— “Congress’ midyear environment grade: Middling, observers say,” via Bloomberg Environment.
— “Agriculture Secretary Perdue on climate crisis: ‘It rained yesterday, it’s a nice pretty day today,'” via CNN.
— “A plan to mine the Minnesota wilderness hit a dead end. Then Trump became president,” via The New York Times.
— “U.S. playgrounds beset as fears grow over health risks from rubber particles,” via The Guardian.
THAT’S ALL FOR ME!
