| District | W.Virgina 3rd |
| Party | Democratic |
| Terms | 18th |
| Committees | Chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources, Transportation & Infrastructure |
| Websites | www.rahall.house.gov/ |
| Links | |
Leadership: As chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Rahall has been instrumental in promoting and moving important ocean legislation that had been left behind by previous committee leadership. In 2006, as ranking member of this committee, Rep. Rahall proved his leadership by successfully fighting to re-authorize and strengthen the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Most recently, Chairman Rahall sponsored the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act (H.R. 3534) which passed the Natural Resources Committee floor on July 15, 2010. The CLEAR Act establishes a sizable ocean trust to fund projects that conserve, protect, maintain, and restore ocean and coastal ecosystems. It initiates the critical practice of marine spatial planning to protect ecosystem health when making decisions about the use of ocean resources, and it reforms the Minerals Management Service and the processes used to make decisions on outer continental shelf energy projects.