On the recordOctober 25, 2017
I appreciate the gentleman bringing it forward. Again, we have never said that consent decrees can't be used. The issue here is how they are used in transparency. Justice delayed, as has been said, is not one that is denied, but also transparency not used is also things that are done in the dark and away from the public view which also can have issues that we go forward. Very few of these cases are actually brought by Joe Private Citizen. They are brought by groups with interest. Even in the Chesapeake Bay, which has an $18 billion compliance tag, the rushed timeframe did not allow others' input and buy-in from other localities. So, again, nowhere has abuse of sue and settle tactics been seen so much as in the environmental regulation. In fact, the Judiciary Committee's report on this bill highlights 10 environmental sue and settle regulations from the Obama administration that equaled up to $125 billion of cost. Even the Environmental Council, as I stated earlier, in 2013, adopted a resolution calling upon the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to adopt reforms like the ones in this bill. This amendment would deny reform to precisely the area of regulation that needs it most and, thereby, substantially gut the bill. We can have good environmental regulations without shady, backroom dealing of sue and settle litigation skewing the results and excessively heightening the burden.…
