Today, U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, sent a letter to Gina McCarthy, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), regarding the economic and geopolitical impacts of the Agency's decision to use preemptive vetoes on projects across the country.
"EPA's preemptive efforts send a signal that is quickly having short- and long-term negative impacts that well exceed jobs and economics," said Vitter. "Thanks to EPA's precedent-setting preemptive veto, investors will look elsewhere and the United States will have to increasingly rely on foreign nations for energy and minerals that are necessary to produce everything from solar panels and wind turbines to advanced military and medical equipment."
Last month, EPA initiated a veto process under the Clean Water Act (CWA) in order to block the Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Since then, at least three projects have been targeted to be preemptively shut down before a single shovel hits the ground, including mining for minerals like copper, nickel, and platinum.
In March 2014, Vitter and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) introduced the bipartisan Regulatory Fairness Act of 2014, which would prevent EPA from preemptively or retroactively vetoing CWA permits. The Regulatory Fairness Act (S. 2156) is also supported by Sens. Risch, Murkowski, McConnell, Crapo, Enzi, Heller, Barrasso, and Hatch.
-30-
