[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 113 (Thursday, August 1, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S6235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. Warner):
  S. 1470. A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act with 
respect to the guidelines for specification of certain disposal sites 
for dredged or fill material; to the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, today, my colleague Senator Mark Warner and 
I are introducing the Commonsense Permitting for Job Creation Act of 
2013, a bipartisan, bicameral piece of legislation to address an aspect 
of water permitting law that has touched several economic development 
projects.
  In my home State of Virginia, there is a county that has been working 
on securing a permit for the proposed site of a business center, where 
one or multiple firms could establish job-creating manufacturing 
plants. This area--Henry County, on the North Carolina border, has seen 
profound economic challenges in recent years. The county's 5-year 
average unemployment rate is 11 percent. In the county's largest city, 
Martinsville, the 5-year average unemployment rate is over 17 percent. 
This part of Virginia would benefit greatly from the jobs this site 
could bring.
  Henry County has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on site 
preparation. However, the Corps has been reluctant to issue the permit 
because no company has yet committed to the site and prepared detailed 
blueprints. The problem is that a company will not relocate to the site 
without an approved permit, but a permit cannot be approved without a 
company willing to relocate.
  Henry County, the Martinsville-Henry Co. Economic Development Corp., 
and the Commonwealth of Virginia have together devoted more than $16 
million to this project. They have worked in good faith, at great cost 
in money and personnel hours, to promote economic development in line 
with environmental protection and all requirements of the law. Yet due 
to this regulatory ambiguity, this process is unable to move forward.
  Our legislation clarifies that ambiguity. It specifies that the lack 
of a committed end-user shall not be a reason to deny a Corps permit 
that meets all other legal requirements. I believe this bill will allow 
the site in Henry County, and similar sites elsewhere, to move forward, 
while maintaining all environmental protections.
  Senator Warner and I have introduced this legislation in partnership 
with our friends and Virginia colleagues in the House, U.S. 
Representatives Robert Hurt and Morgan Griffith. We believe this will 
expedite the approval of important economic development projects, and 
we are proud to be able to work across the aisle and with state and 
local officials on this commonsense, bipartisan solution.
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