Political Quotes

“in reference to my amendment No. 2279, this is what we are trying to deal with here. In order to help expedite the review of projects that are subject to NEPA, Congress authorized in the FAST Act for States to assume the duties of conducting the NEPA analysis. For example, the Federal Highway Administration has entered into agreements with seven States--including Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Ohio, Texas, and Utah--to assume this responsibility with great success, providing an opportunity for States to leverage their unique understanding of their own States in order to better carry out NEPA's requirements. To build on this success, Congress should look to expand the ability of States to partner with the Federal Government for these types of reviews in their States' water infrastructure projects. My amendment would require the Department of the Interior to set up a program similar to the existing Surface Transportation Project Delivery Program so that any State may voluntarily assume the Agency's NEPA responsibilities for their water storage infrastructure projects. As I said just a moment ago, States already have a history of successfully conducting this work in the transportation space. In 2020, for example, California conducted 33 environmental assessments, 32 findings of no significant impact, 2 environmental impact statements, 3 records of decision, and the list goes on and on.…”