Posted June 9, 2014
House
Water Resources Subcommittee Chairman Robert Gibbs (R-Ohio) and full
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee ranking number Nick Rahall
(D-W.Va.) will introduce legislation next week to limit the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency ‘s (EPA’s) permit veto power under the Clean Water Act (CWA),
according to an NE-MWI Mississippi River Basin Policy Analysis article by
Manuel Quiñones available here. The Hill Blog also
published an article available here.
Gibbs and Rahall aim to prevent the
agency from vetoing the Army Corps of Engineers Section 404 dredge-and-fill
permits, before and after the permitting process. The lawmakers are also
concerned about EPA’s ongoing review of whether to veto permits for the proposed Pebble copper and gold mini project in Alaska, which has not reached the approval process.
“This legislation will clarify EPA's
role in the Clean Water Act Section 404 permitting process to ensure that the
agency does not disrupt the normal permitting process by denying permits before
they are ever issued,” Gibbs said.
“EPA’s preemptive veto of permits is
a threat to our economy because it deters future investment in projects that
create jobs and promote local and regional economic development,” Rahall said
in the statement. “This bill simply aims to ensure that the proper permitting
practices can move forward, and that EPA's ideological zeal to expand its
authority is checked,” according to The Hill Blog.
Gibbs and Rahall also sponsored a
bill to ban the EPA from vetoing 404 permits issued by the Army
Corps, which was passed in April by the
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
For more information on the Clean
Water Act, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
