U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, urged President Joe Biden in a letter Tuesday to maintain the U.S. Armey Corps of Engineers’ authority to issue nationwide general permits for activities with limited environmental impact.
Doing so, the legislators said, would ensure environmental protection while increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of permitting.
“Bipartisan proposals to invest in our infrastructure will play an integral role in our Nation’s recovery from the pandemic. Revocation of the Corps’ duly issued nationwide permits in pursuit of nominal environmental benefits would hurt our chances at a strong recovery, however, and hinder needed improvements to our Nation’s infrastructure. It is critically important that we continue to pursue policies that responsibly protect our environment and support economic growth and job creation,” Graves and Capito wrote.
Currently, per the Clean Water Act, the Corps may issue nationwide permits for a period of up to five years for activities that result in the discharge of dredged or fill material in U.S. water sources, provided the activities result in “minimal adverse environmental effects” or “minimal cumulative adverse effects. Graves and Capito said the authority has been exercised by the Corps since the mid-1970s.
Graves and Capito said permitting through the Corps takes an average of 40 days, while individual permitting takes an average of 217 days.
“This difference of almost six months is significant in terms of the life of a project as we work to quickly deliver on improved infrastructure for the American people,” the two wrote. “It is difficult to “build back better” if we are unable to build at all.”
Revoking the Corps permitting authority would slow economic growth, they said.