Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 7023, another example of team extreme's polluters over people agenda.

Folks may be wondering why we are talking about a bill that tries to gut the Clean Water Act in what is supposed to be energy week for House Republicans. The answer is pretty straightforward. This week actually has nothing to do with energy policy. It certainly has nothing to do with clean water policy.

The common thread is team extreme's bromance with polluting industries who want to dismantle our environmental laws so they can poison our air, water, and climate without any accountability. That is why we are debating this terrible bill that will roll back 50 years of clean water protections.

Now, in the Sackett decision, the Supreme Court severely limited Clean Water Act protection for tributaries and headwaters. The decision was a disaster, and it is why Congress right now should be trying to move legislation that builds up and protects the Clean Water Act. We should be giving the EPA further tools to hold industry accountable, to safeguard the power of States and Tribes so that they can protect sensitive ecological areas and embolden our communities to have an active role in the permitting process for projects that will impact their livelihoods.

Republicans are doing the exact opposite here. In the aftermath of Sackett, they are trying to gut the Clean Water Act even further by removing the EPA's ability to deny Clean Water Act permits, by removing NEPA and ESA protections, as well as State consultation. Republicans are trying to eliminate judicial review, making it virtually impossible for a community to challenge a project that has been hastily approved through this new permitting process.

The bottom line: This makes it a lot easier for polluting industries to wreck our lakes and rivers and streams. It puts polluters over people.

It is worth remembering, in the face of these constant attacks on our environmental protections, why we created the Clean Water Act in the first place. The purpose was to protect communities and the environment.

Just 50 years ago, we had lakes and streams that you couldn't wade into, much less fish in. There were rivers that caught fire and couldn't be put out. Team extreme wants to take us back to that. In typical fashion, they try to hide the effects of this bill behind a euphemistic title: The Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act.

If Congress had a truth-in-labeling requirement for bills around here, this would be called the dirty water permitting act. Enough of the gaslighting. Enough of putting polluters over people.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill.

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