Engineering Inc - July/August 2017 - 12

After 24 years as an orthopedic surgeon-known by many as
Wyoming's Doctor-he was elected to the Senate in 2008.
Re-elected in 2012 with over 75 percent of the vote, he also
serves on the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the
Committee on Indian Affairs and the Committee on Foreign
Relations.
ACEC: Mr. Chairman, the new administration and new
Congress bring new opportunities. What are your key
agenda items for 2017?
Sen. John Barrasso: Our committee is already off to a fast
start. In February, the Senate confirmed Oklahoma Attorney
General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection
Agency [EPA], and we know that several more nominees will
be going through our committee in the coming months.
We have held important oversight hearings on issues like our
nation's infrastructure needs. Specifically, we must upgrade our
roads, bridges, dams and water systems. Doing so will bring
our infrastructure into the 21st century. This is a shared goal
with President Trump's administration, but we need to make
sure the needs of rural communities are included.
We have also examined laws that need to be updated, in
order to ensure they are working to protect the environment
and the interests of the American people. We need to prioritize
conservation by modernizing the Endangered Species Act. We
need to ensure that endangered species are being recovered to
the point they can be delisted.
We must also encourage the use of more clean energy by promoting innovation in the nuclear energy field. Just recently, I
introduced the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization
Act with a bipartisan group of senators. This legislation will simplify regulation and promote innovation in the nuclear sector.
The administration and Congress have already begun work
to roll back harmful regulations from the Obama era that burden American families, small businesses and stifle economic
growth with little environmental benefit. The president issued
an executive order to revise the government's rules regarding
Waters of the United States. We will also continue to work to
limit rules the Obama administration set forth in the Clean
Power Plan.
Overall, I believe we have a unique opportunity. It is important we take the necessary measures to preserve and protect our
environment while also promoting innovation, modernization
and economic growth. Those goals are not mutually exclusive.
ACEC: President Trump has identified infrastructure
investment as a priority for his administration, and
the committee you now chair-the Environment
and Public Works Committee-will play a key role in
moving that legislation forward. Is this something
that Congress can get done this year, and what would
you like to see in this package?
Barrasso: I am optimistic the administration and Congress can
work together to improve the country's aging roads, bridges,
dams and water systems. Much of our nation's infrastructure
12

ENGINEERING INC.

JULY / AUGUST 2017

"I am
optimistic the
administration
and Congress
can work
together to
improve the
country's
aging roads,
bridges, dams
and water
systems."

is old, outdated and in need of
repair. We need to invest in modernizing our infrastructure for
the safety of Americans and to
promote interstate commerce and
nationwide economic growth.
On the Environment and Public Works Committee, we've been
holding infrastructure hearings.
They focused on updating infrastructure in rural areas and on
failing flood control systems.
Across all building projects, the
committee will work to remove
punishing regulations from
Washington that limit economic
growth. Bureaucrats shouldn't just
use a top-down, one-size-fits-all
approach. We need to be smarter
about these rules and more aware
of the effect they have.
SEN. BARRASSO
When updating our infrastructure, we cannot overlook rural
projects, as what affects rural
areas in turn affects the rest of
America. Roads stretching across rural lands are widely used to
transport goods to big cities, and water systems in rural areas can
affect agriculture production on which urban areas also rely.
Additionally, when rural flood control systems fail, rural
communities suffer greatly and often lack necessary funds and
resources to clean up and repair the damage. In any infrastructure legislation, we cannot forget about rural needs. Just because
most of the population doesn't drive on these roads every day or
directly work on the farms and ranches doesn't mean they don't
rely on them too.
ACEC: You have raised a number of concerns over
various regulatory actions coming from the EPA in
the previous administration. What role will the committee take this year in advancing a regulatory reform
agenda?
Barrasso: With administrator Pruitt's confirmation to head the
EPA, I have great confidence that many harmful Obama-era rules
will be overturned. In February, the president signed an executive
order on the Waters of the United States rule that instructed the
EPA to either revise or completely rescind the rule.
While regulatory reform has already begun, we need to look
at legislation to further undo harmful rules. I have introduced a
resolution as part of the Congressional Review Act to remove the
Bureau of Land Management's harmful and duplicative rule on
methane emissions from oil and gas operations on federal and
Indian land. The EPA and many states already regulate methane
emissions.
The committee will also work to streamline regulation to
allow for roads, bridges and other public works projects to be
built more quickly and efficiently.

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