John Hansen: “I stand in favor of the bill. Mr. Chairman, today I stand to applaud the fine bipartisan work of the Transportation and…”

“I stand in favor of the bill. Mr. Chairman, today I stand to applaud the fine bipartisan work of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in crafting, what should be recognized as a victory for the American people, the environment, and common sense. This bill recognizes the critical need for flexibility at the State and local level. The approach of H.R. 961 is to preserve environmental standards and safeguards in the Clean Water Act, while providing flexibility in achieving those standards. The Clean Water Amendments of 1995 recognizes and reaffirms the fundamental thrust of the original 1972 act while focusing on those areas where the law clearly needs updating. H.R. 961 is a common-sense approach to provide flexibility to local officials, reduce unfunded mandates, ease redundant and costly regulations, and makes bureaucrats factor risk assessment into their decisions. In crafting this bill, Members of both parties have realized that officials at the local level know how to address their water quality matters a lot better than the bureaucrats in Washington. It was the desire to have cleaner water in my small town of Farmington, UT, 30 years ago that brought me into politics. It is the desire of all of us to have clean, safe water to drink and use.”