Ruben Gallego Asks Energy Nom About Possible Rollback Of Mining Protections For The Grand Canyon

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During a Senate Energy Committee hearing last week, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) questioned Leslie Beyer, nominee to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Lands and Minerals Management, about mining protections for the Grand Canyon.

Transcript

00:00My first question is for Dr. Travnik. One of the most pressing issues for my

00:04state is drought funding and we continue to see challenges with funding freezes

00:07at the Bureau of Reclamation. If you're confirmed, these funds will be your

00:10responsibility. Reclamation has halted critical funding that has been a bridge

00:14to keep the Colorado River Basin system functioning. I'm concerned that these

00:18funds are being held and I have heard reports that the department plans to

00:21hold funding until a seven-state agreement is reached. Do you commit to

00:24releasing all previously appropriated funding and do you recognize the

00:27urgency of the drought funding in the West? Thank You Senator for the question

00:31and as I've discussed before we do know that drought is an extremely important

00:35issue that we're seeing here in the West that we're all going to have to work

00:37really hard and all the different tools in the toolbox. As relates to the funding

00:42that is that might be put on pause right now I committed to if confirmed looking

00:45into it further just to understand what is on pause. Okay just because for us it

00:50looks it seems like it's not exactly the smartest move because there are some

00:53states would be absolutely happy to let this go to delegation keep fighting it

00:57out and then you're punishing some of the lower basin states that need this

01:01investment now which will end up actually helping all the basin in terms of

01:05their how many acre feet of water we need behind the dam. So just want to make

01:09sure you keep that in perspective. I'd like to also ask about the

01:13Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act. This will be the

01:16largest Indian water rights settlement ever enacted in the history of this

01:19country. We provide the the settling tribes the Navajo Nation, the Hopi tribe, the San Juan,

01:24Southern Paiute tribe with desperately needed water and infrastructure funding

01:28and water tax even spur their economy. Without a settlement other water

01:33users in the Colorado River Basin face uncertainty regarding the tribe's

01:37Colorado River water rights. So essentially we don't know how much we

01:40have left if we haven't allocated what these tribes justly deserve. So this is

01:45particularly important because the Navajo Nation has one of the largest single

01:48outstanding claims in the whole Colorado River. Approximately one-third of Navajo homes

01:52still do not have running water even to this date. So this settlement will bring

01:57certainty to the base and ensure tribes can thrive on their homeland. So will you

02:01commit to working with me and the Arizona delegation, bipartisan delegation, to

02:05finish this settlement? So Senator I understand the importance of the

02:08Indian water rights settlements. When I was here during the first Trump

02:11administration I had an opportunity to work with several of those tribal

02:14nations so I've committed to working with you on those. Great thank you.

02:19Questions for Mr. Garrish. You know appreciate our time yesterday talking

02:24about you know creative solutions for energy and fast deployment of nuclear

02:28energy. As you know I'm very interested in SMRs and they have a great potential

02:32for to meet Arizona's rising energy demand. I've heard from communities that

02:37actually are very excited about the deployment of this technology and so I was

02:41hoping that you and I can talk further about you know potential creative ways to

02:46actually have faster deployment. So will you commit to visiting Arizona and working

02:51together on fast deployment of SMRs including the potential for their use on

02:55military bases in the state? Senator thank you for your time that we took to

03:00discuss this important topic. Arizona it has a tremendous opportunity to for

03:07nuclear development and you are currently home of one of the most successful and

03:11largest nuclear plants and I think that there are many opportunities going

03:14forward and I look forward to working with you including military bases for

03:20nuclear potential. Thank you. Mrs. Bayer, Ms. Bayer, Arizona is home and

03:28thank you again for also speaking to me yesterday. It's home to 12.1 million

03:32acres of BLM land, a department that you're going to oversee. Within these are

03:38national monuments that highlight the natural and cultural beauty of my state. One

03:42example is the ancestral footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. The Grand

03:45Canyon is not only a national wonder of the world and a sacred site for many

03:48tribes, it's an enormous economic driver for northern Arizona. It's the second most

03:53visited national park in the country. Loving the Grand Canyon is

03:56incontroversial. 80% of all Arizonans support the ancestral footprints of the

04:01Grand Canyon and the ancestral footprints of Grand Canyon isn't unique in being

04:04protected by presidential declaration. Grand Canyon National Park itself started out

04:08that way. In recent weeks reports have circulated that the administration is

04:12planning to shrink the boundaries of a number of monuments including the

04:16ancestral footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. Do you plan to support

04:20the rollback of mining protections for the Grand Canyon? Senator, thank you for the

04:27question and thank you for the time. Yesterday I enjoyed speaking with you about

04:31this and a number of your other areas of focus. The Grand Canyon is an

04:38amazing place. My parents here and my son have spent a lot of time there and you

04:46know while I'm not at the department I'm not aware of any of those discussions but

04:52the importance and the majesty of the Grand Canyon is not lost on me. Thank you

04:59and you back Mr. Chair. Thank you very much Senator Goyeux. I want to thank the

05:05witnesses and everyone

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