Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of my amendment to H.R. 2021, a bill that curtails the EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate pollution from offshore oil drilling and to limit the public's participation in decisions that directly affect our health.

My amendment strikes the text which strips the ability of the Environmental Appeals Board to remand or deny the issuance of clean air permits for offshore energy exploration and extraction. Quite simply, this amendment allows the EAB to operate as it does today, saving taxpayer dollars and keeping unnecessary litigation out of the courts and in a place where unbiased and apolitical judges can make sound decisions with input from local constituencies who are most affected.

It's worth noting that the EAB was established under George H.W. Bush, created in recognition of increasing levels of appeals from permit decisions and civil penalty decisions. Further, three of the four sitting judges were appointed by Republican administrations. The judges who sit on the EAB are not political appointees. They are critical EPA officials whose terms do not end at the end of an administration.

The board takes approximately 5 months on the average from the time a petition is filed to receive and review briefs, hold oral arguments, and render a comprehensive written decision in a prevention of significant deterioration air permit case. Federal court review would likely take at least three or four times as long. Only four of the board's 100-plus air permit decisions have ever been appealed to a Federal court, and none of the board's air permit decisions have ever been overturned.

The EAB is cost-effective and efficient and has proven to be the fastest, cheapest way to achieve a final permit. I ask my colleagues to support this amendment to allow the EAB to continue to serve to protect the public health, to keep unnecessary lawsuits from the court system, and to take into account local community input.

I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Chairman, the numbers speak for themselves. What we're talking about with this legislation is really just two permits that folks were concerned about. The reality of the matter is the average is 5 months.

Now, I understand what we're talking about is with just exploration, but we would like to get this right and not have amnesia about what happens when we get this wrong, because that's not just job-killing, it's ecosystem-killing. It destroys an entire region. There's a lot at stake here.

These aren't unaccountable people. They're appointed by administrations, created by a Republican administration, three of the four appointed by Republican administrations. It is in fact, in a sense, the executive branch. And while the executive can't do all this, it's delegated to appropriate authorities to make sound, apolitical decisions that affect communities not just for months or years but conceivably for generations. There's a lot at stake.

This is a simple amendment to deal with a critical problem, and I encourage my colleagues to support it.

I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source