[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 75 (Friday, May 15, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E718]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


              REGULATORY INTEGRITY PROTECTION ACT OF 2015

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 12, 2015

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1732) to 
     preserve existing rights and responsibilities with respect to 
     waters of the United States, and for other purposes:

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1732, a bill 
which blocks efforts to clarify the Clean Water Act before agencies 
even produce a final rule.
  There is consensus that the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act is 
confusing and has frustrated many in the regulated community. Two 
Supreme Court decisions and guidance dating from the Bush 
Administration has caused years of uncertainty and difficulty in the 
permitting process. Clarifying responsibilities under the Clean Water 
Act will ease those frustrations while protecting critical drinking 
water for our constituents.
  The Administration has undertaken a comprehensive review process to 
solicit comment from all the stakeholders to rewrite the rules. While 
today's bill argues that the Army Corps and EPA have made insufficient 
effort to obtain input from the regulated community, there have been 
over 400 public meetings and hundreds of thousands of public comments. 
The public comment period lasted 207 days.
  This bill would throw out that whole process and force the 
Administration to start from scratch, delaying regulatory certainty and 
clean water protections indefinitely. I urge my colleagues to vote no 
on this bill and evaluate the merits of the final rule when it is 
released in a few weeks.

                          ____________________