Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. 7023.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, I am proud to rise in support of H.R. 7023, the Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act, which will make permitting processes under the Clean Water Act more efficient, consistent, and transparent while continuing to protect our Nation's water quality.
The Clean Water Act became law in 1972 with strong bipartisan support and an understanding that clean water supports healthy communities, as well as every industry across the United States, from farming to fishing to manufacturing.
Unfortunately, we have seen this important law become increasingly weaponized over the years to delay permits and prevent critical infrastructure and energy projects from moving forward without providing any additional environmental protection.
Ultimately, the weaponization harms the health and well-being of our Nation. This bill will address these problems and greatly benefit manufacturers, farmers, energy producers, road constructors, home builders, water treatment plants, and supply chain managers, among others, by providing clarity under the Clean Water Act.
Every person throughout the country relies on these industries and will also benefit from the regulatory flexibility and faster completion of these projects.
I emphasize that this bill does not overhaul or weaken the Clean Water Act. Instead, the Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act codifies longstanding, effective permitting practices and makes targeted, commonsense reforms.
Mr. Chairman, I thank all of my colleagues on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee who worked on various aspects of this legislation.
Mr. Chairman, I urge support for this commonsense legislation that is going to provide clarity to the Clean Water Act permitting process, and I reserve the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Duarte).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Owens).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Burlison).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Rouzer).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from North Carolina.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. That was my last speaker, Mr. Chair, and I reserve the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Chairman, in closing, H.R. 7023 is critical to achieving more efficient project completion by streamlining and improving permitting processes under the Clean Water Act.
As has been stated, this bill will support everyday Americans making targeted, commonsense reforms to the Clean Water Act, balancing the need for environmental protections along with energy and infrastructure improvements.
This bill is the product of hard work by many members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. In particular, I thank Subcommittee Chairman David Rouzer for his leadership on this issue, and Representatives Eric Burlison, Burgess Owens, Peter Stauber, John Duarte, and Garret Graves for their work who all contributed legislative language to this bill.
Mr. Chairman, I urge support of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chair, I am here today to speak in strong opposition to the proposed legislation, H.R. 7023, the Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act.
This bill would modify requirements under the well-established Clean Water Act, limiting the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) authority to regulate the discharge of pollutants into United States waters.
If passed, it would represent a significant regression from over 50 years of well-established precedent regarding pollution prevention.
Moreover, it would defy the overarching intent of the initial legislation, which was to provide for more agency oversight and accountability of industrial polluters, not less.
I offered for consideration to the Rules Committee, the Jackson Lee Amendment No. 21, which sought to help ensure that any harmful impact, which would inevitably result from the passage of this dangerous bill, is documented, and reported to Congress.
Specifically, the Jackson Lee Amendment No. 21 would have added the following language to the end of the bill text in H.R. 7023:
Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, shall submit to Congress a report on any disparate impacts on minority and disadvantaged communities, and communities previously or currently designated as having cancer clusters, including impacts to human health, environmental quality, and local economies, that may result from the implementation of this Act, including the amendments made by this Act.
In my home-state of Texas and in my district particularly, there have been multiple revelations of cancer clusters in many of the underserved and minority communities.
For instance, the Fifth Ward, Kashmere Gardens, and the larger Northeast community along with other communities in the 18th Congressional District of Texas, are all regions with minority and underserved populations that have been disproportionately and gravely impacted by harmful environmental pollutants and toxins.
In a time where we are still seeking to combat the deadly and dangerous impacts of environmental injustice in my district, and across the country, we must be taking more vigilant steps to protect our communities and the environment for current and future generations.
Instead, this partisan package repeals, weakens, or otherwise erodes the oversight and regulatory powers of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers established by the Clean Water Act (CWA) over 50 years ago.
While the CWA requires projects to minimize their impact on the environment, this bill hamstrings EPA's oversight of large-scale projects and changes the process by which it reviews ``linear'' projects like oil and gas pipelines.
At the same time, the bill also significantly hampers the legal action the government can take against polluters, shortens the timeline for judicial review, and removes opportunities for local governments to give input on projects affecting their communities.
Coupled with the ruling in Sackett v. EPA last year that changed the definition of what qualifies as protected waters under the CWA, this bill is simply a shameful attempt to swing the door open for corporations to maximize their profits at the expense of the health of the general public.
Although the bill purports to ``cut red tape'' and speed up the permitting process, adding a formal rulemaking process instead of maintaining the system by which the EPA currently issues guidance will actually slow it down and open these permits up to judicial review.
It is time we stop playing these senseless and harmful political games that only put the health of the American people at risk.
It is time for my Republican colleagues to join me and my Democratic colleagues across the aisle in working towards common sense, bipartisan solutions for the advancement and protection of our Nation and the American people.
Yet, here we are again, instead of finding real solutions to real crises--such as providing aid to our allies abroad and providing long- term funding to yet again avert a government shutdown--House Republicans have instead chosen to once again waste precious floor time on political stunts on behalf of Big Polluters.
For these reasons, this Resolution providing consideration for this bill and the other anti-environment bills in this rule package should be voted down.
I urge my colleagues to vote no on this reckless and shortsighted bill.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source