Political Quotes

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. When a version of this amendment was offered in committee, the majority opposed it, claiming that the Corps permits are intended to cover both the construction and the ongoing operations and maintenance of a project. This is simply not accurate. Following the markup, I consulted with the Army Corps, which stated very clearly that ongoing operations and maintenance activities beyond the initial 5 years are not authorized under the initial permit for the construction of the project. In fact, according to the Corps, operations and maintenance activities that occur in the future beyond the initial 5 years need to be authorized under a separate permit at the time the activity takes place. In addition, any permit that is issued today by the Corps for construction or maintenance would expire in 5 years and would need to be renewed. I would like to submit for the Record a copy of the Army Corps' explanatory decision document nationwide permit 12, which describes the permitting procedures. So the language in the underlying bill would give construction and all future operations and maintenance under the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act a free pass from review by requiring the Corps to approve them regardless of whether they minimize or mitigate the impacts.…”