The
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
Committee on Environment and Public Works is responsible for legislation and oversight of the natural and built environment and for studying matters concerning
environmental protection
Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair dam ...
and
resource conservation
Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their ...
and
utilitization.
Jurisdiction
In accordance of Rule XXV of the United States Senate, all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters relating to the following subjects is referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works:
#
Air pollution
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...
;
#
Construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
and
maintenance
Maintenance may refer to:
Biological science
* Maintenance of an organism
* Maintenance respiration
Non-technical maintenance
* Alimony, also called ''maintenance'' in British English
* Champerty and maintenance, two related legal doct ...
of
highways
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...
;
# Environmental aspects of
Outer Continental Shelf
The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is a feature of the geography of the United States. The OCS is the part of the internationally recognized continental shelf of the United States which does not fall under the jurisdictions of the individual U. ...
lands;
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Environmental effects of toxic substances, other than pesticides;
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Environmental policy
Environmental policy is the commitment of an organization or government to the laws, regulations, and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues. These issues generally include air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem mana ...
;
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Environmental research and development;
#
Fisheries
Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...
and
wildlife
Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...
;
#
Flood control
Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...
and
improvements of rivers and harbors, including environmental aspects of
deepwater ports;
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Noise pollution
Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of them are harmful to a degree. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is main ...
;
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Nonmilitary environmental regulation and control of nuclear energy;
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Ocean dumping
The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the worl ...
;
#
Public buildings
A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fu ...
and
improved grounds of the United States generally, including
Federal buildings in the
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
;
#
Public works
Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...
,
bridges
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...
, and
dams
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...
;
#
Regional economic development;
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Solid waste disposal
Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal.
This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitorin ...
and
recycling
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
;
#
Water pollution
Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water ...
; and,
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Water resources
Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slight ...
.
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is also charged to "study and review, on a comprehensive basis, matters relating to
environmental protection
Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair dam ...
and
resource utilization and
conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...
, and report thereon from time to time."
Members, 117th Congress
Subcommittees
Chairmen
Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Public Buildings, 1838–1857
*
William S. Fulton
William Savin Fulton (June 2, 1795 – August 15, 1844) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Arkansas from 1836 until his death in 1844. He had previously served as the fourth governor of Arkansas Te ...
(D-AR) 1838–1841
*
John Leeds Kerr
John Leeds Kerr (January 15, 1780February 21, 1844) was an American politician.
Early years
Kerr was born in 1780 at Greenbury Point near Annapolis, Maryland, and graduated from St. John's College of Annapolis in 1799. He studied law, was a ...
(W-MD) 1841–1842
*
William L. Dayton
William Lewis Dayton (February 17, 1807 – December 1, 1864) was an American politician, active first in the Whig Party and later in the Republican Party. In the 1856 presidential election, he became the first Republican vice-presidential ...
(W-NJ) 1842–1845
*
Simon Cameron
Simon Cameron (March 8, 1799June 26, 1889) was an American businessman and politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate and served as United States Secretary of War under President Abraham Lincoln at the start of the Americ ...
(D-PA) 1845–1846
*
Jesse D. Bright
Jesse David Bright (December 18, 1812 – May 20, 1875) was the ninth Lieutenant Governor of Indiana and U.S. Senator from Indiana who served as President pro tempore of the Senate on three occasions. He was the only senator from a Northern sta ...
(D-IN) 1846–1847
*
Robert M. T. Hunter
Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter (April 21, 1809 – July 18, 1887) was an American lawyer, politician and planter. He was a U.S. representative (1837–1843, 1845–1847), speaker of the House (1839–1841), and U.S. senator (184 ...
(D-VA) 1847–1851
*
James Whitcomb
James Whitcomb (December 1, 1795 – October 4, 1852) was a Democratic United States senator and the eighth governor of Indiana. As governor during the Mexican–American War, he oversaw the formation and deployment of the state's levies. He l ...
(D-IN) 1851–1852
*
Charles James Charles James may refer to:
* Charles James (British Army officer) (1757/8–1821), English army officer and writer
* Charles James (attorney) (born 1954), former U.S. assistant attorney general
* Charles James (American football) (born 1990), Amer ...
(D-RI) 1852–1853
*
James Bayard (D-DE) 1853–1857
Chairmen of the Joint Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, 1857–1883
*
Jesse D. Bright
Jesse David Bright (December 18, 1812 – May 20, 1875) was the ninth Lieutenant Governor of Indiana and U.S. Senator from Indiana who served as President pro tempore of the Senate on three occasions. He was the only senator from a Northern sta ...
(D-IN) 1857–1861
*
Solomon Foot
Solomon Foot (November 19, 1802March 28, 1866) was an American politician and attorney. He held numerous offices during his career, including Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives, State's Attorney for Rutland County, member of the Un ...
(R-VT) 1861–1866
*
B. Gratz Brown
Benjamin Gratz Brown (May 28, 1826December 13, 1885) was an American politician. He was a U.S. Senator, the 20th Governor of Missouri, and the Liberal Republican and Democratic Party vice presidential candidate in the presidential election of ...
(R-MO) 1866–1867
*
William P. Fessenden (R-ME) 1867–1869
*
Justin S. Morrill (R-VT) 1869–1878
*
Henry Dawes (R-MA) 1878–1879
*
Charles W. Jones
Charles William Jones (December 24, 1834October 11, 1897) was a United States Senator from Florida. He abandoned the seat after an apparent onset of mental illness.
Early life, travel and career
Jones was born in Balbriggan, Ireland. His father ...
(D-FL) 1879–1881
*
Edward H. Rollins
Edward Henry Rollins (October 3, 1824July 31, 1889) was a United States representative and Senator from New Hampshire.
Biography
Born in a part of Somersworth, New Hampshire which is now Rollinsford, he attended the common schools and academ ...
(R-NH) 1881–1883
Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, 1883–1947
*
William Mahone
William Mahone (December 1, 1826October 8, 1895) was an American civil engineer, railroad executive, Confederate States Army general, and Virginia politician.
As a young man, Mahone was prominent in the building of Virginia's roads and railroa ...
(R-VA) 1883–1887
*
Leland Stanford
Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American industrialist and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 8th governor of California from 1862 to 1863 and represented California in the United States Se ...
(R-CA) 1887–1893
*
George Vest (D-MO) 1893–1895
*
Matthew S. Quay
Matthew Stanley "Matt" Quay (September 30, 1833May 28, 1904) was an American politician of the Republican Party who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1887 until 1899 and from 1901 until his death in 1904. Quay's control o ...
(R-PA) 1895–1899
*
Charles W. Fairbanks
Charles Warren Fairbanks (May 11, 1852 – June 4, 1918) was an American politician who served as a senator from Indiana from 1897 to 1905 and the 26th vice president of the United States from 1905 to 1909. He was also the Republican vice pre ...
(R-IN) 1899–1905
*
Francis E. Warren (R-WY) 1905
*
Nathan B. Scott
Nathan Bay Scott (December 18, 1842January 2, 1924) was a United States senator from West Virginia.
Biography
Born near Quaker City, Ohio, he attended the common schools and engaged in mining near Colorado Springs, Colorado from 1859 to 1862. ...
(R-WV) 1905–1911
*
George Sutherland
George Alexander Sutherland (March 25, 1862July 18, 1942) was an English-born American jurist and politician. He served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court between 1922 and 1938. As a member of the Republican Party, he also repre ...
(R-UT) 1911–1913
*
Claude A. Swanson (D-VA) 1913–1918
*
James A. Reed (D-MO) 1918–1919
*
Bert M. Fernald
Bert Manfred Fernald (April 3, 1858August 23, 1926) was an American farmer, businessman, and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician who became the List of Governors of Maine, 47th Governor of Maine and a United States senator. ...
(R-ME) 1919–1926
*
Irvine L. Lenroot (R-WI) 1926–1927
*
Henry W. Keyes
Henry Wilder Keyes (; May 23, 1863June 19, 1938) was an American Republican politician from Haverhill, New Hampshire. He served as the 56th governor of New Hampshire from 1917 to 1919 and as a United States Senator.
Early life
Keyes was born in ...
(R-NH) 1927–1933
*
Tom Connally (D-TX) 1933–1942
*
Francis Maloney (D-CT) 1942–1945
*
Charles O. Andrews (D-FL) 1945–1947
Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Public Works, 1947–1977
*
Chapman Revercomb
William Chapman Revercomb (July 20, 1895 – October 6, 1979) was an American politician and lawyer. A Republican, he served two separate terms in the United States Senate representing the state of West Virginia.
Life and career
Revercomb wa ...
(R-WV) 1947–1949
*
Dennis Chavez
Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius.
The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is someti ...
(D-NM) 1949–1953
*
Edward Martin (R-PA) 1953–1955
*
Dennis Chavez
Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius.
The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is someti ...
(D-NM) 1955–1962
*
Patrick V. McNamara (D-MI) 1962–1966
*
Jennings Randolph
Jennings Randolph (March 8, 1902May 8, 1998) was an American politician from West Virginia. A Democrat, he was most notable for his service in the United States House of Representatives from 1933 to 1947 and the United States Senate from 1958 to ...
(D-WV) 1966–1977
Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, 1977–present
*
Jennings Randolph
Jennings Randolph (March 8, 1902May 8, 1998) was an American politician from West Virginia. A Democrat, he was most notable for his service in the United States House of Representatives from 1933 to 1947 and the United States Senate from 1958 to ...
(D-WV) 1977–1981
*
Robert T. Stafford (R-VT) 1981–1987
*
Quentin N. Burdick
Quentin Northrup Burdick (June 19, 1908 – September 8, 1992) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, he represented North Dakota in the U.S. House of Representatives (1959–1960) and the U.S ...
(D-ND) 1987–1992
*
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) 1992–1993
*
Max Baucus
Maxwell Sieben Baucus ( Enke; born December 11, 1941) is an American politician who served as a United States senator from Montana from 1978 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a U.S. senator for over 35 years, making him the long ...
(D-MT) 1993–1995
*
John H. Chafee
John Lester Hubbard Chafee ( ; October 22, 1922 – October 24, 1999) was an American politician and officer in the United States Marine Corps. A member of the Republican Party (United States), he served as the 66th Governor of Rhode Island, as ...
(R-RI) 1995–1999
*
Bob Smith (R-NH) 1999–2001
*
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...
(D-NV) 2001
*
Bob Smith (R-NH) 2001
*
James Jeffords
James Merrill Jeffords (May 11, 1934 – August 18, 2014) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. senator from Vermont. Sworn into the Senate in 1989, he served as a Republican until 2001, when he left the party to become ...
(I-VT) 2001–2003
*
James Inhofe
James Mountain Inhofe ( ; born November 17, 1934) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Oklahoma, a seat he was first elected to in 1994. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the U.S. Senate Committe ...
(R-OK) 2003–2007
*
Barbara Boxer
Barbara Sue Boxer (née Levy; born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States Senate, representing California from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the U.S. ...
(D-CA) 2007–2015
*
James Inhofe
James Mountain Inhofe ( ; born November 17, 1934) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Oklahoma, a seat he was first elected to in 1994. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the U.S. Senate Committe ...
(R-OK) 2015-2017
*
John Barrasso
John Anthony Barrasso III ( ; born July 21, 1952) is an American physician and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wyoming, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Wyoming State ...
(R-WY) 2017–2021
*
Tom Carper
Thomas Richard Carper (born January 23, 1947) is an American politician and former military officer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Delaware, having held the seat si ...
(D-DE) 2021–present
Historical committee rosters
116th Congress
;Subcommittees
115th Congress
114th Congress
Source:
References
External links
U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works official websiteArchiveSenate Environment and Public Works Committee Legislation activity and reports,
Congress.gov.
Public Works Agency– Public Works Industry Social Network including Municipal Contractors, Municipalities and Citizen Engagement
{{United States congressional committees
Environment and Public Works
Environment of the United States
1838 establishments in the United States