Date: 2015-09-25
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. 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. If a Federal agency has failed to approve or disapprove a project or make the required finding. we are in trouble. Babies are in trouble with formula. Senior citizens are in trouble with various pharmaceuticals. They are in trouble. And then. if we run up against the deadline. there is no response. Second. frequently there are times when it is the case that the complexity of the issues. as I said. warrant us to do so. In other words. what this bill is saying is: To heck with reason and good judgment. We do not care. To heck with protecting the American people. We do not care. As I listened intently and intensely to the Popes words yesterday. I offer this quote: Moses provided us with a good synthesis of your work. You are asked to protectand speaking to usby means of the law. the image. and likeness fashioned by God on every human face. This bill smacks in the face of that instruction. I believe that this amendment is worthy of passing. Mr. Chair. if H.R. 348. the socalled RAPID Act. were to become law in its present form. a permit or license for project would be "deemed" approved if the reviewing agency does not issue the requested permit or license within 90120 days. My amendment strikes the provision deeming approved any project for which agency does not meet deadlines contained in the bill. Mr. Chairman. I can appreciate some of the frustrations expressed by many of our friends across the aisle when it comes to review process mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). But the cure they propose in H.R. 348 is an example of a medicine that is worse than the disease. Under H.R. 348. if a federal agency fails to approve or disapprove the project or make the required finding of the termination within the applicable deadline. which is either 90 days or 120 days. depending on the situation. then the project is automatically deemed approved by such agency. This creates a set of unintended consequences. First. as an agency is up against that deadline and legitimate work is yet to be completed. it is likely to disapprove the project simply because the issues have not been vetted. Second. frequently there are times when it is the case that the complexity of issues that need to be resolved necessitates a longer review period. rather than an arbitrary limit. So if H.R. 348 were to become law the most likely outcome is that federal agencies would be required to make decisions based on incomplete information. or information that may not be available within the stringent deadlines. and to deny applications that otherwise would have been approved. but for lack of sufficient review time. In other words. fewer projects would be approved. not more. Mr. Chairman. H.R. 348 ostensibly seeks to make a minor procedure adjustment to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). In reality. however. H.R. 348 would radically transform the NEPA review process. and not for the better either. For more than 40 years. NEPA has been the law of the land and has provided a remarkably effective framework for all types of projects (not just construction projects) that require federal approval pursuant to a federal law. such as the Clean Air Act. For these reasons. I urge all Members to support the Jackson Lee Amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.