Press Releases

Opening remarks, as prepared, of Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) from House Floor debate on H.R. 1 – the Lower Energy Costs Act:

I rise today in support of H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, which will unlock the United States’ energy potential, benefitting Missourians and Americans nationwide. Broadly speaking, this bill is important for so many reasons — from increasing domestic energy production, to encouraging the production of critical minerals, to modernizing the NEPA process for energy and other infrastructure projects – this bill does exactly what the bill title says.

Division C of the bill was produced by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and it focuses on streamlining and clarifying the scope of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act to prevent its continued abuse in blocking energy infrastructure projects. Many projects that require water quality certifications under Section 401 are critical to our Nation’s energy production, such as natural gas pipelines, and Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and coal export terminals. Division C of the bill makes clear that states cannot block important energy projects on grounds outside of Clean Water Act water quality standards, consistent with the intent of the law.

Last month, H.R. 1152, which is encompassed within Division C, was marked up and passed out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. As included in H.R. 1, Division C is incredibly important to lowering energy costs and boosting American energy production – while still ensuring water quality.

I want to thank two of my subcommittee chairmen, David Rouzer and Garret Graves, for their leadership in sponsoring this legislation. I urge support of the bill. By passing H.R. 1, the House would support moving critical energy projects forward and support lowering costs for Americans through greater energy independence.