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Rep. Calvert Votes to Remove Unnecessary Government Red Tape

September 25, 2015

Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) voted along with a bipartisan majority (233 to 170) of the House of Representatives to approve H.R. 348, the Responsibly And Professionally Invigorating Development (RAPID) Act. The RAPID Act would streamline the permitting process for federally funded and permitted infrastructure, energy, and construction projects.

"Over-regulation continues to hold back economic growth and job creation in America," said Rep. Calvert. "The RAPID Act is one of a number of steps Congress should take to cut unnecessary red tape and reduce the mounting burdens the federal government places on small businesses. I am hopeful that the House will also approve the REBUILD Act in the near future and continue to get the government out of the way of job creators."

Rep. Calvert has introduced related legislation, the REBUILD Act (H.R. 211), that would allow any state to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with a designated federal agency, who has environmental review responsibilities under NEPA, and assume the review responsibilities of that agency. Under the REBUILD Act, states would still be required to uphold the same NEPA standards or greater, by assuming these responsibilities states could integrate NEPA compliance into their own state approval process thereby streamlining construction timelines and eliminating the need for redundant reviews at the federal level.

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