On the recordOctober 3, 2011
I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 489 is sponsored by our colleague, Representative Gosar of Arizona, and it seeks to resolve bureaucratic dysfunction and streamline regulatory processes for the purposes of creating jobs in northern Arizona. This is a no-cost bill, and it eliminates duplicative permitting requirements--which we often, in this body, commonly refer to as ``red tape''--by putting just one Federal agency in charge of the C.C. Cragin project's pipeline, part of a Federal water project. Prior to this bill, the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Forest Service could not reconcile their responsibilities over who would actually manage the pipeline. These dueling regulatory requirements ultimately increased the costs that were passed on to the water consumers. They also created enough confusion to keep one community from going forward with a locally financed project that would have been connected to the Federal pipeline. This bill clarifies these Federal management responsibilities, and it mirrors other permitting and approval precedents on similar Federal projects. It also creates a regulatory environment for that local water project--and the jobs that will go with it--to proceed. I thank Congressman Gosar for sponsoring this jobs bill, and I urge the adoption of this particular measure. I reserve the balance of my time.
