Statement by Senator Ron Wyden
for Environment and Public Works Committee Hearing
on Project Delivery and Environmental Stewardship
September 19, 2002
For
this hearing, I think it will be useful to review the history of the
environmental streamlining provisions of the Transportation Efficiency Act for
the 21st century (TEA-21).
During
Committee consideration of the TEA-21 bill, Senator Bob Graham, Senator John
Chafee and I succeeded in including our legislation to align transportation and
environmental decision-making as a way to get both faster and better
decisions. To develop this legislation,
we worked with transportation officials, environmentalists and developers.
What
prompted this effort was that too often the transportation and environmental
decisions proceed on completely separate tracks. The two tracks don’t come together until late in the
process. That frequently leads to
duplication of effort and delay. And
sometimes the whole process blows up.
For
transportation projects, “time is money.”
Delays in approving transportation projects not only increase the cost
of these projects; they also cause lost productivity to our economy and added
stress for commuters stuck in traffic.
In
the current budget climate, it=s going to be
hard to find additional dollars to fund transportation projects. But we can make the dollars go farther by
not making projects go through essentially the same reviews over and over
again.
I
think we have an opportunity to make environmental streamlining a win/win where
projects get built faster in a way that=s
better for the environment. Because
now, what we often have now is a lose/lose situation.
I
hope that this streamlining effort can be done administratively. This shouldn’t be bureaucratic water
torture.
But
if necessary, I am willing to come back again at this with legislation, and I
think I speak for Senator Graham as well.
Unfortunately,
I won=t be able to stay for today=s hearing, but I do want to recognize Charlie Hales
who is one of the witnesses on the panel today. Until recently, he served as Transportation Commissioner for the
City of Portland. As an elected city
official, Commissioner Hales demonstrated on a number of important projects in
Portland how you can get important projects built without cutting corners as
far as environmental compliance. He did
this by working collaboratively with both business and environmental
organizations. I think he brings an
important perspective on the issue for the Committee to consider.
I
thank the Chairman for holding this hearing and for including Mr. Hales as one
of today=s witnesses.