Congress Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Mountain Valley Pipeline Seeks Late May Approval To Start Operation

The company wrote that the 303-mile project will be mechanically complete by May 22 and seeks FERC’s approval by May 23.

The builders of the Mountain Valley Pipeline are seeking federal approval to begin operations within weeks.

MVP has sought approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to begin operations in late May.

The company wrote that the 303-mile project will be mechanically complete by May 22 and seeks FERC’s approval by May 23.

It says its customers with long-term contracts for natural gas from the pipeline become effective on June 1.

The $7.5 billion pipeline has been delayed and cost more than projected as environmental groups and landowners challenged the project in court.

The MVP is under a consent decree with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration over a corrosion-resistant coating that may have degraded while large sections of pipe were exposed to weather during the delays.

That’s after groups challenged the safety of the exposed pipe. The company agreed to take corrective measures to eliminate any safety risk.

Various legal challenges to the pipeline’s construction ended last year when Congress passed, and President Joe Biden signed, a spending agreement that approved all remaining permits.

While some opponents continue to press forward, it appears they have few options remaining before the pipeline goes into service.

The MVP has a capacity of two billion cubic feet of gas a day. It will connect north-central West Virginia with southern Virginia and open up West Virginia gas production to new markets in the mid-Atlantic.

Public Can Comment On Corridor H Parsons To Davis Until March 27

The Federal Highway Administration intends to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on the nine-mile section of the corridor.

The public has a week left to comment on a controversial segment of Corridor H.

The Federal Highway Administration is accepting comment on the Parsons to Davis portion of the long-planned highway until March 27.

The agency intends to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on the nine-mile section of the corridor.

The West Virginia Division of Highways prefers a southern route, while some residents and community groups favor a northern route they say would have less environmental impact.

Most of the 130-mile road is complete. About seven miles of the road from Wardensville to the Virginia state line is set to begin construction this year.

The corridor is one of the biggest economic development priorities for the state’s elected leaders. It’s a piece of the Appalachian Development Highway System, created in 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty.

A budget bill Congress approved earlier this month includes $12.5 million to help complete the portion of Corridor H east of Wardensville.

Comment on the project here.

Miscalculation Means Fewer College Students May Get Federal Aid Than Expected

Fewer college students than anticipated will be eligible for Pell Grants this year after a miscalculation from education officials. Last week, Congress passed a bill rectifying the error, but reducing student eligibility for the program.

Fewer college students may be eligible for federal financial aid this year than initially anticipated, following a miscalculation from education officials.

Three years ago, the U.S. Department of Education began to overhaul its Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

The FAFSA determines how much federal and state aid college students are eligible for based on factors like household income and assets, but has long been criticized as overly complicated.

The overhaul slashed the number of FAFSA questions by about two-thirds. It also allowed students to submit financial data through the Internal Revenue Service directly, instead of reporting it themselves.

Additionally, the change reconfigured the FAFSA eligibility formula, expanding federal aid eligibility to more students. These adjustments initially brought a three-month delay to this year’s FAFSA process.

But that delay only grew when, in January, education officials discovered a miscalculation in the new aid formula overstated how many students qualify for a federal grant called the Pell Grant by at least 100,000.

The Pell Grant provides low-income students thousands of tuition dollars that they are not required to repay.

In the weeks following the discovery, lawmakers have scrambled to fix the FAFSA process so students can receive financial aid information before making college decisions.

On Thursday, the United States Congress passed a resolution that corrected the formula error, reducing the number of students who will be eligible for federal grants in the year ahead.

Some Democratic lawmakers expressed concern in reducing financial aid eligibility. However, several Republican lawmakers said the resolution passed last week preserves the integrity of the FAFSA process.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., expressed support for the formula fix in a press release Monday. She said it ensured this year’s federal aid distribution adheres to the law, and that it will end the repeated FAFSA delays.

“I was proud to help author a fix to the FAFSA Simplification Act,” she said. “I am hopeful that this fix will sustain and shore up the Pell Grant program for the future.”

The Department of Education plans to help colleges and universities process FAFSA information this month. West Virginia University and many other state institutions across the country have delayed application deadlines because of the complications.

Capito Receives Award For Senate Support Of Public Broadcasting

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito has received an award for her support of public broadcasting.

Capito accepted the Champion of Public Broadcasting Award from America’s Public Television Stations on Wednesday.

The two-term West Virginia Republican is the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that maintains federal funding for public broadcasting.

In another role on a Homeland Security subcommittee, Capito has supported funding for public broadcasting’s emergency communications services.

“Public broadcasting plays a significant role in our communities and helps inform Americans on what is happening around their state, our nation, and our world,” Capito said. “It certainly does in my state of West Virginia.”

The organization also presented Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee alongside Capito, with the same award.

The award is the highest given by the organization, to state and federal leaders who have made an extraordinary contribution to public television.

The organization presented Rep. Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat, with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Blumenauer founded and chaired the Congressional Public Broadcasting Caucus.

Mountain Valley Pipeline Delayed Again, Cost Rises To $7.7 Billion

Equitrans Midstream, the builder of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, said Tuesday that challenging winter weather in January has delayed the project’s completion to the second quarter of the year.

The delays have also boosted the projected cost to nearly $7.7 billion from $7.2 billion.

In the company’s fourth quarter earnings presentation, President and CEO Diana Charletta said construction made good progress in the final months of 2023, but slowed down in January.

“Along with unforeseen construction challenges, throughout much of January, construction crews encountered adverse weather conditions, including precipitation well above 20-year averages,” she said. “While our construction plans took into account the potential effects of winter weather, these conditions were far worse and longer in duration than anticipated, imposing a significant impact on productivity, which, in turn, impeded our ability to reduce construction headcount. Collectively, these factors resulted in our updated timing and total project cost targets.”

The 303-mile, 42-inch pipeline is expected to transport as much as 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day from north central West Virginia to southern Virginia.

It faced many court challenges over the past several years from landowners and environmental groups. The project has been delayed multiple times.

Congress mandated its completion last year as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. It is a top priority for the state’s elected leaders and the gas industry.

Manchin, Capito Seek To Overturn Biden Vehicle Emissions Rule

The rule, made final in November, requires state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations to set declining emissions targets.

West Virginia’s U.S. Senators are pushing back on the Biden administration’s effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks.

Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito have co-sponsored a resolution to overturn a Federal Highway Administration rule on emissions targets.

The rule, made final in November, requires state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations to set declining emissions targets.

Both Capito and Manchin argue the agency lacks the authority from Congress to issue such a requirement.

The rule itself, though, does not specify how low the targets have to be, as long as they’re declining, and does not impose penalties on states for not meeting them.

The House of Representatives has a similar bill to overturn the rule.