'I Would Want More Than Condolences': GOP Lawmaker Demands Answers After Baltimore Bridge Collapse

3 months ago

During a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing earlier this month, Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) questioned witnesses about

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00:00The gentleman yields back. The chair recognizes Mr. Westerman for five

00:04minutes. Thank you Madam Chair and thank you to the witnesses and my first

00:08question is going to be for the Coast Guard and the NTSB. Obviously everybody

00:13just about has offered their condolences to the families of the people who lost

00:20their lives but I'm thinking if I were a family member I would want more than

00:23condolences. I would have questions that I wanted answered and the first question is

00:29why? I think from the information that we've received so far the explanation

00:34would be we had a have vulnerable infrastructure and we had a ship that

00:39lost power but I think there's a deeper question as to why and and also what are

00:47we going to do about that so that it doesn't we don't get a repeat incident.

00:52If if the ship had had a tug escort would it have hit the bridge even after

01:00it lost power? We're looking into that as part of our investigation. I can't answer

01:06that right now. It's a question that we have but it is something we're delving

01:11into. The same for the Coast Guard. We don't know whether there was

01:17sufficient time to have made a difference or whether it would have

01:20added to the casualty or not. I hope that's something that you're looking

01:24into and looking at other places around the country where these large ships are

01:29passing by vulnerable infrastructure without tugs. I know Mr. Graves talked

01:34about the ship in New Orleans and my understanding all those ships down there

01:40now have tug escorts. Mr. Bott, you're here to discuss the need for a massive

01:49bridge reconstruction that will require years-long effort and billions of

01:53dollars from the American taxpayer. Meanwhile those very taxpayers have been

01:59waiting for over two years for FHWA to perform repairs to a washed-out gravel

02:05road on White Rock Mountain in Franklin County, Arkansas in my district. This road

02:10provides access to Forest Service concessionaire facilities not to mention

02:15critical passage for emergency services in the area. The project has already been

02:20funded but is apparently so tied up in red tape that my office can't even get a

02:24clear answer from your agency on when the washout will be filled. If FHWA is

02:31unable to reconstruct a gravel road in less than two years and counting, why

02:36should we trust your agency with billions in funding for a project of

02:40this magnitude? Thank you, Congressman. I'm happy to go back and take a look and

02:46figure out exactly what is going on with that project and report back to your

02:49office. Thank you and this I guess would be for the Corps and for Mr. Bott but

03:00there's an issue that happened in Floyd Bennett Field which is National Park

03:05Service facility in New York City. You may ask what in the world does that have

03:10to do with this project but I'll tell you what it has to do. This administration

03:15used alternative arrangements to waive every NEPA and environmental regulation

03:21in the Park Service to build the migrant camp and they did that in less than two

03:27weeks. They waived all those regulations. I'm wondering if the administration has

03:32the intent to use alternative arrangements, not just CEs, but

03:38alternative arrangements to repair this bridge which is obviously very vital

03:42infrastructure. Sir, so we are in close coordination with Maryland DOT. We are

03:50not going to waive NEPA but is our strong likelihood that we'll end up with

03:55a categorical exclusion because we're replacing a bridge in relatively the

03:59same footprint that existed before. Does the administration have the legal

04:05authority to waive NEPA to use alternative arrangements to even go

04:10beyond the CE? Sir, the answer is yes and they can do that and it's amazing to me

04:18that they would do it on a Park Service facility that a million visitors in New

04:23York City used to build a migrant camp yet it doesn't seem to be an option on

04:28the table to rebuild this vital piece of infrastructure and I hope the

04:33administration would not only afford this same luxury to critical

04:38infrastructure but also to a lot of smaller projects around the country that

04:43get tied up in the process when the administration has full authority to do

04:50that. Thank you Madam Chair and I yield back.

'I Would Want More Than Condolences': GOP Lawmaker Demands Answers After Baltimore Bridge Collapse

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