Today, the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries held an oversight hearing on the federal procurement and permitting process for Bureau of Reclamation projects. Subcommittee Chair Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) issued the following statement in response:

“Modernization of America’s permitting processes is a prerequisite for engineering the great infrastructure projects of the 21st century. Reducing regulatory burdens and accelerating project timelines is critical to restoring proactive water management.”

Background

As Americans face rising utility prices, reducing the cost of delivering water infrastructure in the West is a top priority for House Committee on Natural Resources Republicans and the Trump administration.

Many Bureau of Reclamation projects were authorized before 1970, and several critical components are more than 100 years old. As these facilities approach the end of their design lifetimes, the cost to maintain and repair them escalates, as does the likelihood of catastrophic failure.

The complex, bureaucratic nature of federal procurement and permitting processes often prolongs project timelines and increases costs that are ultimately borne by the Bureau’s water and power customers. At the same time, many of the agency’s partners, primarily local governments, irrigation districts and public utilities, have observed that projects conducted through a non-federal procurement process are often completed more efficiently.

Secretarial Order 3446, “Cutting Red Tape and Reducing Consumer Costs at Reclamation Construction Projects,” streamlines the federal procurement process by allowing qualified entities to assume greater responsibility for managing construction and maintenance contracts at Bureau of Reclamation facilities, while maintaining proper oversight and accountability.