Nation

Jewell’s Nationwide Tour Underway Highlighting Progress On Conservation, Energy, Tribal Issues

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell

USDI News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, Deputy Secretary Mike Connor and other senior Interior Administration officials have embarked on a two-week nationwide tour to highlight progress the nation has made during the last eight years to: protect our nation’s lands, waters and wildlife; restore the nation-to-nation relationship with Native Americans and Alaska Natives; engage the next generation; and invest in sound science to inform decisions related to energy development, conservation
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USDA Announces New Conservation Opportunities To Improve Water Quality And Restore Wildlife Habitat

USDA News:
 
DES MOINES, IOWA  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will offer farmers and ranchers more opportunities to participate in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).
 
The announcement includes new CRP practices to protect water quality and adds an additional 1.1 million acres targeted to benefit wildlife, pollinators and wetlands.
 
“The Conservation Reserve Program is an extremely popular voluntary program that offers producers and landowners a wide variety
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Udall, Heinrich Welcome Critical Funding To Combat Opioid Epidemic In New Mexico

SENATE News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich joined the Senate in voting 94-5 for a bill that includes critically needed new resources for New Mexico and other states struggling to treat and prevent the growing prescription opioid abuse epidemic.
 
The funding was included in bipartisan health care legislation called the 21st Century Cures Act and now will be sent to the president’s desk to be signed into law.
 
The bill sets aside $1 billion for competitive grants to supplement ongoing efforts by states
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Proposed Joint Fossil Regulation Announced For Interior Department’s Managed Lands

USDI News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C.  The U.S. Department of the Interior announced a proposed rule to further facilitate implementation of the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act of 2009.
 
The proposed rule provides standards for a coordinated approach to the management of paleontological resources on lands managed by four Interior Department Bureaus: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and National Park Service (NPS). It will also clarify how these bureaus manage paleontological resources
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IRS, Security Summit Partners Remind Taxpayers To Recognize Phishing Scams

IRS News:
 
PHOENIX  The Internal Revenue Service and its Security Summit partners recently cautioned taxpayers to avoid identity theft by watching for phishing scams that can increase around the tax season.
 
The IRS, state tax agencies and the tax industry – all partners in the fight against identity theft- reminded taxpayers that the easiest way for an identity thief to steal taxpayer information is by simply asking for it.
 
As a result, each day people fall victim to phishing scams through emails, texts, or phone and mistakenly turn over important data. In
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Udall Votes For Short-Term Agreement To Keep Government Open

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined the full Senate Friday in voting 63-36 for a short-term agreement to keep the government running until April 28.
 
The bill also includes a measure that would expedite a bill to change the law requiring a Defense Secretary to have been out of military service for at least seven years. President-elect Donald Trump’s expected nominee for Defense Secretary, Marine Gen. James Mattis, retired in 2013.
 
The stop-gap budget, called a “continuing
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American Federation Of Teachers New Mexico React To Release Of 2015 PISA Report

AFT News:
 
ALBUQUERQUE  American Federation of Teachers New Mexico President Stephanie Ly released the following statement: 

“The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) annual Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report was released today and describes the performance of 15-year-old students across a variety of countries.

 
“This year’s report, while focused heavily on science proficiency, revealed among the 35 participating countries, the United States performed average in science and reading, but performed
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Thousands Of New Mexicans Stand To Gain Financial Help Buying 2017 Health Coverage, But May Not Know It

DHHS News:
 
Already, about 8.8 million Americans, and 32,703 New Mexicans, who buy health insurance through HealthCare.gov receive tax credits that help make coverage more affordable.
 
But about 12 million more Americans, including 45,700 New Mexicans, may also be eligible for help during this Open Enrollment, but not know it. This group includes:
  • Current HealthCare.gov consumers: 3,700 New Mexico consumers who didn’t get tax credits last year could be eligible for tax credits in 2017, even if their income remains the same, because financial assistance
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Udall On Trump’s Nominee For EPA Administrator

SENATE News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Sen. Tom Udall responded to President-elect Trump expected nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to serve as EPA Administrator:
 
“Global warming is one of the greatest threats to public health, our environment and our national security. And New Mexico is in the bull’s eye, as farmers and anyone who relies on water and weather know all too well. The American people accept that the science is real; the facts can’t be denied, and we need to take urgent action to stop the impacts from growing
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WIPP Update: DORR Team Provides Preliminary Report

WIPP News:
 
The DOE Operational Readiness Review (DORR) Team provided an initial briefing of their findings to the senior leadership from DOE and Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP) Dec. 2.
 
The DOE ORR team concluded that upon satisfactory closure of the pre-start findings and approval of corrective action plans for the post-start findings, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) can be authorized to safely restart waste emplacement in accordance with DOE standards.
 
The ORR identified 21 pre-start findings, those issues that will have to be resolved
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