Sheila Jackson Lee: “I hope that we will find common ground on really responding to a great concern that I think all Americans should be…”

“I hope that we will find common ground on really responding to a great concern that I think all Americans should be concerned about. Although this bill is called the RAPID Act, were it to become law, in the present form, a permit or license for a project would be deemed approved if the reviewing agency does not issue the requested permit or license within 90 to 120 days. That is a short period of time for complex regulatory structures that deal with complex industries. An industry that I represent in Houston, Texas, the energy industry, has complex needs and, as well, complex impacts and consequences if we do not deal with the agencies responsible, if the DOE, for example, does not do its due diligence. Now, let me say this, Mr. Chairman. These particular permits are done sooner than 90 to 120 days. But what this bill says is, if the agency is engaged in a very complex deliberative thought process, then, if they reach that deadline and they still have not finished, they are then, if you will, throwing to the side all of the safety issues and issues dealing with the protection of the American people under the bus. My amendment strikes the provision, deeming approved any project for which an agency does not meet the deadlines contained in the bill. I can appreciate some of the frustrations through the review process by the National Environmental Policy Act, but the cure is not this bill.…”