Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Chair, this amendment is so great, you are not even going to believe it.

Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to H.R. 3898, the PERMIT Act, that offers a solution to compensatory mitigation.

A lack of wetland mitigation credits is holding back residential housing construction, and the available credits are increasingly expensive.

These costs are passed down to the consumer, exacerbating the already unaffordable housing market that the U.S. is facing.

Unpredictable and lengthy permitting timelines for mitigation banks are making it more challenging to bring new credits to the market. Moreover, the requirement to purchase mitigation credits located within the same hydraulic unit code--geographic area determined by surface hydraulic features--can mean that credits available at a nearby wetland bank cannot be used if they are too far away.

Without available credits, a builder's second option is in-lieu fee programs; however, not all States offer this option, or builders can use a permittee-responsible mitigation. Still, most builders are not equipped to carry this out. Both options are expensive and burdensome.

My amendment fixes this issue by increasing the supply of mitigation bank credits, driving down the cost curve, and lowering home prices both through directly lowering the regulatory cost of building a new home and allowing builders to use lots that the cost of mitigation today prevents them from using.

Additionally, my amendment directs the Army Corps of Engineers and EPA to publish a revised compensatory mitigation rule that incorporates advances in science and lessons learned since 2007; promotes equivalency and flexibility among mitigation options, providing builders additional options beyond mitigation bank credits; speeds the approval of mitigation banks, including through the interagency review process, which provides numerous duplicative opportunities for the Army Corps offices to raise the same concerns; allows for mitigation credits to be used across multiple hydraulic unit codes; and allows for out-of- kind mitigation where appropriate.

Together, these changes will increase the availability of credits and provide alternatives to ensure that a lack of credits doesn't hamstring new developments.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment to H.R.

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Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Chair, I am very pleased to recognize that my friends on the other side of the aisle do recognize that we have a real big problem with compliance burdens and the costs associated with that, and how that prevents Americans from realizing the American Dream of homeownership. As they raise the point of affordability, they neglect the fact that we can address affordability by reducing costs to potential homeowners.

At least we can agree that we have a cumbersome regulatory framework that needs to be fixed. This helps fix and is actually a proactive step in addressing the affordability crisis. One of those things has to do with homeownership, and by adopting this amendment, we are increasing the likelihood that an American can actually build a home and realize the American Dream.

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Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Chair, I have heard this mentioned more than once today, and that is that we need to increase the number of personnel to process, manage, and administer the regulatory burdens that Americans are facing. Let me say that again. The Democrats say we need to increase personnel because the regulatory burden is so cumbersome that it takes additional personnel to be able to administer it. That seems counterintuitive to regulatory relief.

Mr. Chair, I urge passage of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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