Responsibility and Professionally Invigorating Development Act of 2013

Floor Speech

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Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I thank Chairman Goodlatte and Mr. Marino for putting forth this bill, the RAPID Act. This bill is a giant step toward implementing an environmental review process that works. I offer an amendment today not to alter the process, but to ensure that projects that are currently languishing in current environmental review have an opportunity to access the tools provided in this bill.

Infrastructure projects are vital to my home State of Florida. From port infrastructure to airports to seaports, road projects, even the Everglades restoration projects, my State's economy is supported by wise in investment in infrastructure.

Two projects in my State have suffered greatly under the current environmental review process. Orlando International Airport has had plans to develop a piece of property for airport services for more than a decade. The expansion would create skilled, high-paying jobs, and would be a boost to central Florida's economy. The plans have been under environmental review since 2008. A simple environmental assessment should not take more than 6 years.

Another project in our State, Port Everglades, involves deepening an existing channel by a few feet. The deepening of the channel at Port Everglades will allow more exports to flow out of our State on Post Panamax ships. This project is vital to our State as a whole, but also important to central Florida due to the large amounts of citrus that ships out of our State through Port Everglades. The more citrus we can ship, the more jobs we create. However, the channel deepening has been under environmental review for more than 17 years. For nearly two decades, Port Everglades has been caught in an endless cycle of review. The Florida delegation is committed, both Republicans and Democrats, to getting this project complete.

My amendment today is offered with these projects in mind. This amendment simply applies the same timelines that the RAPID Act establishes for new projects to projects that are currently under review.

Does it mean that they would be automatically, if it is already 4 1/2 years into the project? No, it just means that timeline would not go beyond another 4 1/2 years.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I want to make sure everyone understands what this does. It would limit to 4 1/2 more years. So we have a project 17 years in. Now we are saying, all right, can you give us an answer in 4 1/2 more years? Over two decades, and we can't get an answer? I don't know; maybe we won't. But if the answer is ``no,'' say it. That is all they have to do. This doesn't automatically approve anything. What it says is, Give us an answer. Isn't 21 years long enough?

I reserve the balance of my time.

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