Bilirakis Advocates for Pasco County, Army Corps of Engineers' Ridge Road Delay Demonstrates Need for Reform

Press Release

Representative Gus Bilirakis yesterday spoke on the House floor about the need to reform the Army Corps of Engineers' permitting process. Pasco County has been waiting decades for project approval.

"The Ridge Road expansion is a matter of public safety for the people of Pasco County and the Tampa Bay region. My constituents have been waiting too long for action by the Army Corps of Engineers. They have only been met with stonewalling by the Corps which continues to require a seemingly endless array of redundant and costly environmental reviews and evaluations. Ridge Road is a crucial hurricane evacuation route, and the expansion is necessary," commented Bilirakis. "The Corps' permitting protocol clearly needs to be modernized; as of now, it is a burdensome and unfair process that places the safety of my constituents in jeopardy."

Congressman Gus Bilirakis' amendment would have stricken all funding for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, who is the appointee that oversees the Corps. House Energy & Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson offered Congressman Bilirakis assurances that the committee will hold the Corps accountable for their lack of movement on key projects, like the Ridge Road extension, and will continue to work with Congressman Bilirakis to wield pressure that will help to ensure that the needs of his constituency are met.

Source