Rep. Johnson Introduces Bill to Streamline Environmental Approvals
Washington, DC,
June 29, 2017
On Wednesday, Rep. Mike Johnson (LA-04) introduced the Streamlining Environmental Approvals Act of 2017 (the SEA Act), to reduce excessive government regulations developed under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). Johnson’s bill streamlines the lengthy permit approval processes that have caused setbacks and delays for those working to preserve America's rapidly deteriorating coastline, interrupted U.S. Naval operations and deterred offshore oil and gas exploration. Rep. Johnson released the following statement: “Excessive government regulation continues to stand in the way of hard-working Americans. These specific regulations impose burdensome, unnecessary barriers to new technological innovations. Particularly in the Gulf Coast region, many of the critical efforts aimed at protecting our coastline are halted by unnecessary permit approval delays. Even worse, our Armed Forces have been forced to devote valuable resources to address regulations put in place by the MMPA. This is simply unacceptable. My bill will remove government red tape keeping workers on our coast from moving forward with projects in a timely manner – freeing the market, creating jobs and boosting the economy.” Background: When enacted in 1972, the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was intended to manage interactions between marine mammals and commercial fishing operations in an effort to halt population declines of some of our treasured marine mammals. The SEA Act clarifies a permitting process known as Incidental Harassment Authorizations (IHA), required by the MMPA, and increases regulatory efficiency by removing additional secondary review and administrative processes under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Specifically, the bill:
The SEA Act is supported by:
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