First of all, let introduce myself to you. I'm Senator Mike Crapo from Idaho. It's my first time in Arkansas. I got here this afternoon -- or actually this morning, and have had a wonderful, warm welcome from you in Arkansas, and I appreciate that very much. Sitting with me, as I'm sure you recognize, is your Senator Tim Hutchinson. Senator Hutchinson and I were elected to the House of Representatives the same year, and I appreciate being on the panel with him today. We also expect that we may be joined by Representative Jay Dickey, and look forward to him being able to join with us as soon as he can if he's able to make it here, and we welcome him. If you see him out there, tell him we've already welcomed him to come up and join with us up at the front. Let me begin by explaining to you a few of the ground rules -- in fact, I tell you what I'll do is I'll -- I think, Tim, maybe what we'll do is make our opening statements and then I'll go into the ground rules.
So let me begin by simply saying that this is a formal hearing of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. It is authorized by the Chairman, Senator Bob Smith, of New Hampshire, who was not able to be here with us today because of scheduling, but who is very concerned and interested in this issue that you are all concerned and so interested with. I don't know of many proposals by a Federal agency in rulemaking that have generated more concern nationwide than this. There have been over 30,000 public comments, the majority of them against the rule, concerns being raised from across the country, north to south, east to west.
This is not a partisan issue. This is an issue of concern that people across America have spoken out against. Some of us are concerned that the EPA may be and seems to be committed to proceeding with the promulgation of a rule that goes beyond its jurisdiction, that has not been properly analyzed and is going to cause not only a slow-down of water cleanup efforts around the country and states where they are already well underway in a different manner, but also cause significant cost to the states and to the private sector as the rules are promulgated. There have been -- is this the seventh hearing now? Seventh? Six or seven hearings now in Congress on this issue, and as I say, I haven't seen proposed rules that have generated this kind of concern and opposition since I have been serving in Congress. The legislation that is before you is legislation that was introduced by Senator Bob Smith, the Chairman of the committee, and myself, and has been co-sponsored by Senator Hutchinson, who is a strong supporter and was a supporter early on, which will do several things. I'm not going to go into detail about that legislation right now, but it will provide significant financial resources to the states in terms of the efforts they are undertaking under the current Clean Water Provisions to identify the waters of the country that need attention and to provide resources to their cleanup. It will also provide for state cleanup -- excuse me, individual State pilot programs to be evaluated to determine what's working in different parts of the country and help that to be promulgated and facilitated. It, in addition, provides for a National Academy of Sciences study so that we can get the kind of science and analysis of these issues that are raising so much concern nationwide more clearly understood.
One of the things that has come out in the hearings that we have held to this date is that the -- there is a significant disagreement on the science and simply on the quality of the science, let alone on the direction that the science would tell us that we should head. And then finally, it stops the EPA from promulgating this rule for a period of eighteen months while we wait for the National Academy of Sciences study and proceed with a what I've often said "a deep breath." Stop, let's take a deep breath, and let's start analyzing this in the way that it should be analyzed. There are other proposals in Congress as to how to deal with this issue. It's a complicated and a difficult issue.
Once again, I appreciate your welcoming me here into Arkansas to discuss the issue with you tonight, and with that, I will turn the time over to Senator Hutchinson for any statement that he now wishes to make.