During a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing last week, Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) questioned Sean McMaster, nominee to be Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, about speeding up infrastructure projects.
00:00The second question that I asked you all with timely responses back, there's nothing more
00:05frustrating, no matter who's in charge, to not get an answer. And that happens. And it is very
00:12frustrating. So I will go to Senator Ricketts. Thank you, Chairman Capito and Ranking Member
00:19Whitehouse for holding the hearing today. And welcome to all of our nominees. Congratulations.
00:24I chair the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife and sit on the Transportation
00:30and Infrastructure Committee. And I look forward to learning from you, each of you, how you plan
00:33to serve Nebraskans and Americans in your new roles, should you be confirmed. The Endangered
00:40Species Act is a law that impacts each one of you as nominees. Mr. McMaster, you and I shared
00:46with you my concerns about the American burying beetle and its impacts on infrastructure.
00:52Mr. Tell, you heard about the piping plover and the pallid sturgeon and its impacts on the
01:00Missouri River and the Platte River. And then, Mr. Buster-Rude, you're no stranger to NEPA
01:06compliance. I would like each one of the nominees to talk a little bit about how you plan to
01:12implement the ESA in a way to promote species protection and recovery, but is not prohibitive
01:17to the work in your respective offices. And Mr. Tell, may we start with you.
01:20Mr. Senator, thank you for the question. I detected a bit of frustration from you and
01:26I've detected it from the public over my time working here in the Senate about when the laws
01:31apply on the basis or decisions are made within the government on the basis of something that
01:35the government did before. And I think that's the case here with the species you're talking
01:39about where the government's work actually increased the habitat and then created a problem
01:45where before it didn't exist. And so we have to be better at predicting these things and having
01:50a comprehensive management plan that looks at second and third order effects of the government's
01:54work and gets it right. And when we don't get it right, correct it as quickly as possible
01:57instead of ignoring the problem. Thank you, Senator.
02:00Hey, Senator. I appreciated the conversation the other day. I'll say the administration has
02:05a strong process, a robust process and way to find ways to expedite project delivery, but
02:11at the same time respect and conserve the environment in that process. If I'm confirmed, I look forward
02:19to learning more from you on the specific issues you raised in person, working closely with the
02:23Federal Highway Administration in partnership with the state to make sure that those environmental
02:28challenges are conserved, maintained, and respected while we look to move projects forward quicker,
02:35faster, and better for the benefit of the state and the country. Thank you. Senator, based on my
02:45environmental legal experience, and I would bring that to bear here with EPA, I believe that early
02:52consultation and engagement on endangered species issues in the planning phase before shovels even go
02:59in the ground is essential in terms of planning out an expedited schedule that is not impaired
03:05by the presence of either critical habitat or listed species. Great. Thank you. Under Chairman
03:12Capital's leadership, we are beginning to work on the surface transportation reauthorization bill,
03:17and our focus on improving efficiency in the system. I've heard from Nebraskans that one
03:22reason projects are significantly slowed is that too many agencies are required to take action to approve
03:28a single project. Often these approvals are being done consecutively instead of concurrently,
03:34adding unnecessary delays to project implementation. Mr. McMaster, how important is streamlining
03:39processes to deliver on timely project delivery and what can Congress do to help? Yes, Senator,
03:46I appreciate that question. It's a tremendous priority of this administration to find ways to move projects
03:51faster and better and more cost effectively. I'll say this tremendous backlog, the historic backlog of grant awards
03:59that are awaiting grant agreements in no small way is a tremendous priority that needs to be addressed.
04:07Over the last couple of weeks, we've seen two different tranches of backed awards that are totaling more
04:14than five billion dollars in this effort. The Secretary is also interested in reducing the regulatory burden
04:19on these awards and future awards so that when we say we want to build, we're able to build and we're able to build more cost effectively. In addition,
04:29the administration is looking at updating its guidance on NEPA and then looking for additional streamlining provisions.
04:35So if confirmed, I look forward to working closely with you and the Congress as you engage in your efforts to reauthorize the service transportation programs.
04:44All right. I'm running out of time here, but Mr. Tell, obviously, I, as governor, I sat through a 500 year flood in Nebraska in 2019.
04:56Can you work, tell us how you can work with sister agencies like Fish and Wildlife to ensure the management of Missouri River Basin prioritized people and property
05:04to make sure we're protecting life when we have those, you know, 500 year floods?
05:10Senator Ricketts, thank you for the question and thank you for your leadership as governor during that flood that affected large swaths of the country and especially Nebraska.
05:22With the Missouri River, which I told Senator Fisher yesterday is America's longest river edging out the Mississippi by one mile.
05:30It requires management from Montana all the way to Missouri and your state is right in the middle.
05:35And there are competing interests that have to do with navigation interests and flood control interests up and down the system,
05:42as well as water supply interests, especially in the in the further west reaches of the river.
05:47And so it's a challenge.
05:49And the Corps of Engineers often has to make decisions about whether agricultural interests and weigh those against commercial interests and weigh those against life and safety interests.
06:00And I would just say that life and safety and the protection of property has to always be a primary concern as these issues are balanced.
06:09The Corps of Engineers has has manuals that dictate how they operate these facilities.
06:15But, Senator, I think our elected leadership, our politically accountable leadership,
06:20I think there's an expectation that they'll use good judgment in times of crisis like this one to deliver the best result for the public.
