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American Energy Solutions for Lower Costs and More American Jobs Act

Floor Speech

Date: Sept. 18, 2014
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Government Operations Environment

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Mr. MARINO. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2 is a practical bill that would lower costs for energy, create over 1 million long-term jobs, improve our energy security, and substantially reduce redtape.

This is exactly the type of bipartisan legislation Congress should be passing to revitalize our economy and create jobs.

According to an April 2014 report issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the average wait time for an environmental impact study in 2012 was running 4.6 years. This is the highest average since 1997 and includes projects with wait times of 10 to 20 years.

The World Bank and International Finance Corporation's recent Ease of Doing Business index embarrassingly ranked the U.S. 34th in the world in the category of "dealing with construction permits.''

This is no longer a political game. This is costing the United States real dollars and good-paying jobs.

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency and other regulatory bodies are filing numerous claims to deny and delay companies from receiving permits for as long as 10 to 15 years just to break ground.

At a time when our economy is lagging and job creation is moving at a very slow pace, this is an outrage. The RAPID Act would set hard deadlines for agencies to approve or deny permits. The RAPID Act would also crack down on prolonged lawsuits, creating a window of 180 days for any claim challenging a permit decision.

This bill would also substantially streamline the process by empowering lead agencies to manage environmental reviews efficiently from start to finish to avoid waste and duplication of efforts among the bureaucratic agencies.

Mr. Speaker, simply because the leader of the Democratic Senate, Harry Reid, will not allow over 260 bills to go to the floor doesn't mean that we should refrain from continuing to do our job here. My constituents back home deserve this legislation and America needs this legislation, and we will continue to fight on a daily basis to make sure that we improve the economy and create jobs.

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