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September 25, 2015
Dear Friends,
This week I was pleased to welcome Pope Francis to our nation’s capital. My daughter, Morgan, was my guest when the pope addressed a joint meeting of Congress.
With my daughter Morgan in my DC office |
ACTIONS IN THE HOUSE
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After the pope's visit concluded, the House voted on legislation to streamline the environmental review process for major construction projects. Rules and regulations handed down from Washington are killing jobs and slowing economic growth. The House is focused on passing legislation that eliminates unnecessary red tape and gets the government out of the way. One of the primary concerns I hear from constituents is that unelected bureaucrats, at federal agencies like the IRS and EPA, have too much authority to change the law through new rules and regulations. In July, the House passed and I supported the Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which states only Congress has the authority to approve an executive branch rule or regulation. This common sense legislation makes the executive branch more accountable to the legislative branch and will save taxpayer money.
Another good way to reform government is modifying the environmental review process for federal projects and permits. Before government-funded projects or private projects that require federal permits can move forward, like leasing of federal land for energy projects or offshore drilling, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires agencies to assess the environmental impacts of major construction projects. The federal environmental review process is burdensome and lengthy often causing delays, increasing costs, and impacting jobs and investment. In order to address this problem, the House passed and I supported the Responsibly and Professionally Invigorating Development (RAPID) Act. This legislation seeks to streamline the NEPA review process by establishing deadlines to conduct environmental reviews within a certain timeframe and limiting the scope of litigation after review. This is not a rubber stamp for all construction projects, regardless of the impact to the environment. Instead, it puts in place firm deadlines to ensure the timely release of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Environmental Assessments (EA) and establishes a 180-day statute of limitations for subsequent lawsuits challenging permitting decisions. Projects should not be able to bypass environmental review, but they also shouldn’t be held up indefinitely because of an agency's failure to complete the required NEPA review or a special interest group that uses dilatory litigation to prevent projects from moving forward.
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STAY IN TOUCH
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Let me know if there is anything my office can do to assist you. You can keep up with the latest news by signing up for my newsletter and following me on Facebook and Twitter.
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SURVEY
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Do you think federal rules and regulations are out of control? Let me know.
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Thanks for reading,
Rep. Trent Kelly (MS-01)
Member of Congress
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