From tourism and recreation, to working forests, and fishing and agricultural industries, there is no doubt that Maine’s economy is inextricably linked to the environment. Maine’s greatest treasure is its natural beauty, and Senator Collins remains committed to advancing reasonable and effective policies in the U.S. Senate to protect the environment.
Throughout her time in the U.S. Senate, Senator Collins has worked to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, spur the creation of green energy jobs, and reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil – while retaining important American manufacturing jobs. High costs of energy are burdensome to Maine families, truck drivers, farmers, fishermen, schools, small businesses, mills, and factories. Nearly 80 percent of the homes in our state rely on heating oil, leaving Maine families extremely vulnerable to high crude oil prices.
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) joined a bipartisan group of Senators in reintroducing legislation to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) with increased urgency given the program’s lapse in September 2018.
Washington, D.C. – On the 30th anniversary of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), U.S. Senator Susan Collins joined a bipartisan group of Senators in introducing legislation to reauthorize NAWCA through 2024. The legislation would also increase authorized annual funding for the program to $60 million.
Washington, D.C. – Mercury is a potent neurotoxin of significant ecological and public health concern, especially for children and pregnant women. An estimated 200,000 children born in the United States each year are exposed to levels of mercury in the womb that are high enough to impair neurological development.
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) announced that the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has awarded $100,000 to the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township to fund a study for a potential hydrogen-powered Business/Internet/Data Center on the Passamaquoddy reservation. Results of this study will identify the resources necessary for sustainable operations—including workforce development, capital, business management, legal services, and administrative support—which will help diversify the regional economy.
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) joined Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jack Reed (D-RI), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry regarding delayed guidance and documentation for the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). Senator Collins is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee.
WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Angus King (I-Maine), a cofounder of the Working Forest Caucus, applauded an action plan released by the Forest Opportunity Roadmap (FOR/Maine) Initiative to grow Maine’s forest economy and increase economic prosperity in rural communities. Supported by funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), the U.S.
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that Winter Harbor will receive $1.3 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Rural Development to upgrade the community’s wastewater treatment system. The funds will be allocated as a $390,000 grant and a $910,000 loan.
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Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, secured more than $47 million in grant funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Brownfields Program as well as an additional $80 million to help states and Native American tribes redevelop brownfields sites. The funding was included in the Appropriations Minibus that recently passed the Senate by an overwhelming majority of 83 to 15 and will now be considered by the U.S.
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) joined a bipartisan group of Senators in sending a letter to the Senate Majority and Minority Leaders requesting a permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) before its expiration on September 30, 2018.
Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins issued the following statement regarding today’s announcement that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt submitted his resignation. Senator Collins was the only Senate Republican to vote against Mr. Pruitt’s nomination in February 2017.
Washington, D.C. — By a vote of 86-5, the Senate passed a bipartisan appropriations “minibus” today that includes the fiscal year 2019 Energy and Water, Veterans Affairs, and Legislative Branch funding bills. U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and the Chairman of the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, successfully pushed for a number of provisions that were incorporated into the final bill. The legislation now awaits further consideration by the House of Representatives.
Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that the U.S.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that a combined total of $2.35 million in federal funding has been awarded to five communities in Maine to clean up and redevelop brownfield sites. The federal grants awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will provide communities with the resources they need to clean up contaminated lands, which will improve public health and foster economic growth.
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Chris Coons (D-Del.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) today praised the release of the GAO report entitled, “Technology Assessment: Chemical Innovation: Technologies to Make Processes and Products More Sustainable.” GAO conducted this study in response to a request from Senators Collins, Coons, and Markey in May 2015.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke expressing their opposition to a recent proposal from the Department of Interior that would allow offshore drilling in the vast majority of federal waters, including potentially off the coast of Maine.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Angus King (I-Maine) last night wrote to the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) urging it to reconsider its proposed strategies to address the maintenance backlog in the National Park System. The letter follows an announcement this week from the DOI that it is proposing to increase fees at 17 highly-visited national parks – including Acadia National Park – during peak seasons to help offset the backlog.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced that the University of Maine will receive $229,469 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to support its research on the age, growth, and stock composition of Atlantic bluefin tuna in the Northwest Atlantic.
Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tom Carper (D-DE) introduced the Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act, which would provide critical financial incentives to encourage investment in offshore wind energy. This bipartisan bill would create an investment tax credit that is redeemable for the first 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind facilities placed into service, amounting to approximately 600 wind turbines.
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded $445,041 to Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay. The award will help fund a project titled, “Microbial Activity in the Crustal Deep Biosphere.”
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced today that the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $15 million for the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC), an increase of $5 million over the previous year.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke urging him to reconsider the suspension of the Acadia National Park Advisory Commission. In their letter, the Senators expressed support for the Acadia Commission’s work to help build bridges between the park and the communities it surrounds.
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that two Maine communities will receive a total of $1.1 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to continue their work cleaning up contaminated brownfield properties. The Kennebec Valley Council of Governments in Fairfield will receive $500,000, and the Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission in Saco will receive $600,000.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that a combined total of $1.85 million in federal funding has been awarded for the assessment and cleanup of 9 Brownfields sites in Maine. The federal grants awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will assist local communities as they work to redevelop these contaminated sites in order to promote environmental integrity and future economic investment.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King today introduced legislation that would make it easier for Maine seafood dealers to export sea urchins and sea cucumbers outside of the United States. The legislation, which also has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and Congressman Bruce Poliquin, would put an end to repetitive, mandatory inspections of urchins and sea cucumbers exported from the country.
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) co-led a bipartisan coalition of 48 senators, including Senator Angus King (I-ME) in urging the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies to support the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and Forest Legacy Program, the nation’s federal conservation program, as they begin considerations for the upcoming fiscal year.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King released the following statement on today’s launch of the Biomass to Bioproducts Pilot Plant at the University of Maine’s Technology Research Center in Old Town:
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