Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola has voted against a bill that would ensure greater confidence in clean water and put the Environmental Protection Agency back in its original regulatory container.
Since the Obama presidency, the EPA been expanding its authority beyond what was envisioned at its creation under President Richard M. Nixon in 1970.
H.R. 7023, the Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act was passed by the House of Representatives this week without the support of Democrat Peltola, Alaska’s only member of Congress. The original sponsor of the bill is Rep. David Rouzer of North Carolina.
Rep. Bruce Westerman, a Republican from Arkansas, is the chair of the House Natural Resources Committee who moved the bill forward.
“For far too long, the federal government has abused the Clean Water Act to stall critical infrastructure and energy projects. H.R. 7023 will end the weaponization of the Clean Water Act by making commonsense reforms to cut red tape and streamline the permitting process,” Rep. Westerman said.
Two Democrats voted in favor of the bill, which had the support of all but one Republican in the House. The final vote was 213-205, sending the measure to the Senate.
H.R. 7023 would amend Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to codify some regulatory provisions that relate to nationwide permits for dredged or fill material.
Section 404 covers a wide range of activities, and even prohibits Alaska coastal communities from dumping snow plowed from city streets into the ocean, even though that snow will be in the ocean within weeks on its own schedule of melting.
The bill is package of commonsense tweaks to Clean Water Act permitting processes that support clean water at the same time reducing regulatory burdens for the approval of energy and infrastructure projects.
For example, H.R. 7023 protects permit holders acting in good faith from unnecessary delays and frivolous lawsuits, and the bill adds transparency and stakeholder participation in the development of water quality standards. It would block the Environmental Protection Agency from vetoing a Clean Water Act Section 404 dredge and fill permit before a permit application is filed or after a permit has already been issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In Alaska, the EPA has issued preemptive denials of permits, not even allowing a project to make a case for its plan to protect waters. This most famously occurred with the Pebble Project, a gold and copper mine on state mining land in western Alaska.
The EPA power grab started with the Obama Administration EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s retroactive veto of a mine in West Virginia two years after the permit was approved and the mine was in operation. The EPA then sought same expanded authority to preemptively veto a project before the proposal can go into permitting in the Pebble case.
H.R. 7023 also sets more reasonable judicial review timelines for Clean Water Act Section 404 dredge and fill permits, so that environmental groups can’t block a project though court delays.
“For far too long, environmental activist groups have used litigation to stall crucial projects,” said Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri, who added that amendment to the bill. “The Judicial Review Timeline Clarity Act, as included in H.R. 7023, will provide certainty to agencies and communities in order to facilitate speedy authorizations, spur infrastructure development, and safeguard against endless lawsuits which stall crucial projects. Common sense needs to make it into our legal system. When we allow environmentalists to file frivolous lawsuits, it wastes time and resources for projects that the people of our nation depend on. Courts shouldn’t be used as vehicles to impose an environmentalist agenda.”
The Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act combines five separate bills that had been introduced in the House earlier this year. Among them was the Water Quality Criteria Development and Transparency Act, which seeks to ensure that every stakeholder across the nation has a voice in determining the EPA’s water quality criteria development for permits, said its sponsor, Rep. Burgess Owens.
Nick Begich III, a Republican running against Peltola for Congress, said, “The Clean Water Act has been hijacked by special interests, the EPA, and the federal bureaucracy as a way to end development, both in Alaska and across the United States. Responsible development requires predictability, transparency, and confidence in a reasonable process. Once again, Mary Peltola votes against the interests of Alaska’s working families.”
Rank choice voting = a representative that has California influences and values.
I’m shocked, just shocked, in my wildest disbelief would I have thought she would do such a thing.
(Stated with tongue in cheek)
You ain’t gotta /sarc/ that!
She’s not for Alaska.
Another “low-life” not interested in Alaska’s best outcome of Freedom from Federal Overreach! Vote her out!
Imagine.
If there ever was reason to support Begich it is this vote. Please Nancy terminate your campaign and support Begich. Alaska cannot afford to be represented by an individual who is so out of touch with issues that plague Alaska. Petulant is by far the worst Federal Representative Alaska has had in its History bar none. Couple that with Brandon the worst President in America’s History, these are dark times.
Maybe Precious Nick should step aside for Nancy. Like he refused to do after he LOST the primary round last time!! He’s not that special! No record in government at all , so a completely unknown quantity.
Chuck, I am not fond of Begich. But, Dahlstrom is not even doing the job that she is supposed to be doing now. She is supposed to be overseeing elections so what is she doing running in the elections? She needs to drop out. I am so surprised that she has not been asked to drop out of the race by the state.
Nancy has 20 years in government and is at 9% in the polls. Alaska doesn’t want Nancy Dahlstrom who is almost 70 years old to be are congressman.
Nick did not lose the “primary round”.
Begich is the strongest new political talent Alaska Republicans have had in years.
He needs the o actually hold an office and have a record to run on before he is declared to be a “talent” h e hasn’t done squat yet!
“We may have ignored court orders and Congressional oversight to give ourselves power to ruin any landowner, but we would never, ever abuse these powers. Trust us”. EPA.
“…and put the Environmental Protection Agency back in its original regulatory container.”
.
And, right there is the reason.
Like all leftists, Mary is all about having the government push the little people around. Letting the common folk make decisions, do things, and have freedoms is abhorrent to her ilk.
Rank Choice Voting coming back to haunt Alaska and Alaskans. Peltola and Murkowski are both illegitimate. And in Murkowski’s case, she’s been illegitimate ever since her daddy put her into office 24 years ago.
Correction. It was only 22 years ago. But I wanted to make history for our family and give all the Bush Natives an opportunity to learn to spell.
Frankie,
The Bush Natives still can’t spell, and the Supreme Court forgives them. Does your family’s history include an examination of your personal bank records including deposits made while you ran the bank?
Peltola is much more photogenic when she has her thumb turned down. Voters can relate
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