U.S. Hispanic Business Council Opposes United States Army Corps of Engineers' Re-Review of Nationwide Permit 12 & More News Here

Energy points are essential to the USHBC’s mission in three foremost respects. First, the power sector is a vital supply of direct and oblique employment and entrepreneurial alternatives for Hispanic-Americans.

Right now, there are roughly 30,000,000 employed Hispanics making up 19% of the entire 157,000,000 Americans within the workforce. And of the 30,000,000 employed Hispanics, 8,797,393 (30%) are employed within the power sector and/or a set of immediately impacted industries together with: Oil, Gas and Other Energies, Agriculture, Construction, Manufacturing and Transportation. Second, larger power costs function as an “invisible tax” on all companies – however they chunk notably exhausting on small companies and new enterprise house owners. Every greenback spent on gas, and each greenback misplaced to larger supply costs, is a greenback that may’t be invested in our companies, hiring extra folks, elevating wages for present staff, or increasing our operations. And third, skyrocketing costs on the pump are probably the most regressive kind of inflation possible. Upper-income Americans will not really feel a lot ache; those that are simply beginning to construct their very own American dream will.

“It is incomprehensible that the United States Army Corps of Engineers would choose this time to initiate a discretionary re-review of Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP 12). NWP 12 is a crucial tool that allows for expedited approval of minor oil and gas pipeline activities that the Corps has determined will have no, or minimal, environmental impacts. It’s important to remember that the Clean Water Act expressly allows the Corps to take this approach, and that federal courts have repeatedly upheld it, and just last year the Corps completed the required five-year review and reissued the permit with a careful consideration of environmental and other factors as required by federal law,” mentioned Javier Palomarez, President & CEO of USHBC. “This sort of capricious rule making threatens the very livelihood of hard working Americans, because it kills jobs in critical industries.”

“Our nation needs an abundant, reliable, and affordable supply of all forms of energy. Especially in this moment of crisis, with Russia using its own energy resources to blackmail and bully our European allies. We support President Biden’s commitment to help Ukraine and our allies push back against Russia. To do so, they will need help to replace Russia’s energy with cleaner gas and other fuel from the United States and other responsible players. To give them that help, we must maintain a robust American energy infrastructure,” mentioned Don Salazar, USHBC Chairman of the Board.

“The Corps has arbitrarily decided to reopen the permit for further review, years before the 2026 deadline. This calls into doubt the Corps’ commitment to the permit, and this will deter needed energy infrastructure investment, slow important projects, and render us less able to achieve energy security at home and abroad. The Corps should commit to leaving the permit in place until 2026, and focus on its mission of protecting our nation’s waters while allowing for responsible infrastructure development,” mentioned Palomarez.

About the United States Hispanic Business Council

The United States Hispanic Business Council (USHBC) is a voice for the Hispanic enterprise group. A 501(c)6 non-profit group, the USHBC focuses on enhancing entry to contracting within the public and non-public sector, truthful illustration of Hispanics in enterprise, media, and politics and making certain Hispanics have a voice in the nationwide dialogue.

NOTE: Comments as Submitted Below

Comments submitted on behalf of the United States Hispanic Business Council, Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Texas Association of Business, Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce, Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Utah’s Latinoamerican Chamber of Commerce, Florida Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce Inc., Brazoria County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Irving Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey in response to the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) Federal Register publication titled Notice of Virtual Public and Tribal Meetings Regarding the Review of Nationwide Permit 12; Establishment of a Public Docket; Request for Input, 87 Fed. Reg. 17,281 (Mar. 28, 2022), Docket ID No. COE–2022–0003 (Review Notice).

I submit these feedback in my function because the President and CEO of the United States Hispanic Business Council (USHBC). We are a 501(c)6 nonprofit group focusing on enhancing entry to contracting in the private and non-private sector and truthful illustration of Hispanics in enterprise, media, and politics.

Energy points are essential to USHBC’s mission in three foremost respects. First, the power sector is a vital supply of direct and oblique employment and entrepreneurial alternatives for Hispanic-Americans.

Right now, there are roughly 30,000,000 employed Hispanics making up 19% of the entire 157,000,000 Americans within the workforce. And of the 30,000,000 employed Hispanics, 8,797,393 (30%) are employed within the power sector and/or a set of immediately impacted industries together with: Oil, Gas and Other Energies, Agriculture, Construction, Manufacturing and Transportation. Second, larger power costs function as an “invisible tax” on all companies – however they chunk notably exhausting on small companies and new enterprise house owners. Every greenback spent on gas, and each greenback misplaced to larger supply costs, is a greenback that may’t be invested in our companies, hiring extra folks, elevating wages for present staff, or increasing our operations. And third, skyrocketing costs on the pump are probably the most regressive kind of inflation possible. Upper-income Americans will not really feel a lot ache; these who’re simply beginning to construct their very own American dream will.

We strongly oppose the Corps reopening Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP 12) for assessment at this time. The nationwide allow is a vital mechanism for sustaining a strong American power infrastructure. It ensures that pipeline initiatives which have solely a minimal environmental affect may be accepted and carried out rapidly, which protects our pure assets whereas making certain that we are able to responsibly and flexibly harness our power assets. The Corps has no authorized obligation to take this step now. It only in the near past concluded the required five-year assessment cycle, and in reality it’s defending NWP 12 in courtroom.

However, the Corps has now recommended that each materials facet of NWP 12 is again up for assessment. The questions that the Review Notice poses suggests the Corps could alter the nationwide allow in ways in which contradict the whole level of having this type of categorical pre-approval for initiatives with minimal affect. The Corps has requested for public enter on, amongst different issues, the following: Should the allow be revised to discriminate in opposition to new building as in contrast to upkeep of present services?

Should the allow be revised to discriminate in opposition to oil pipelines as in comparison with fuel pipelines?

Should the Corps insert a second spherical of public discover and remark on the again finish, regardless that the whole level of issuing these nationwide permits as a discover and remark rule within the first place is to keep away from pointless delays on the particular person venture stage?

The reply to all of these questions is identical reply that the Corps simply reached in January 2021 and which the Department of Justice is at the moment, and rightly, arguing in courtroom: No. In truth, NWP 12 is totally authorized and sufficiently protects the atmosphere. The Clean Water Act particularly permits the Corps to situation this sort of normal allow the place it finds that the actions licensed may have solely minimal impacts. The Corps did make that discovering little over a 12 months in the past, in an intensive and cautious rulemaking course of with full public enter. All that has modified over the previous 12 months is that our power safety is now way more beneath menace than ever earlier than – making NWP 12 all of the extra vital, and the Corps’ Review Notice all of the extra inappropriate,  irresponsible,  and even dangerous.

Russia’s battle on Ukraine shines a highlight on the connection between power safety and nationwide safety. Russia has been emboldened to take its egregious actions largely as a result of Europe depends on Russian power. President Biden has rightly rallied the West to reject this power blackmail, and particularly promised that we are going to assist our European allies discover different sources of liquified pure fuel and different fuels. At the identical time, the sanctions on Russian power that the West has been compelled to impose have supercharged the pre-existing issues of normal inflation, energy-specific inflation, and provide chain disruption.

The reply to those associated worldwide and home issues is identical: we should guarantee an considerable home provide of power and the infrastructure to ship it at house and overseas. Nationwide Permit 12 helps do this. This pointless Review Notice does the alternative. Anyone who thought they might depend on NWP 12 to plan and perform wanted power infrastructure initiatives now has to marvel whether or not the Corps will pull the rug out from beneath them. The five-year assessment cycle that Congress established within the Clean Water Act is a cautious balancing of the necessity for periodic environmental assessment on the one hand, and the want for certainty in infrastructure growth on the opposite. Short-circuiting the assessment cycle 4 years earlier than its time is due distracts from the Corps’ mission and chills wanted infrastructure investments.

We perceive that President Biden has introduced a nationwide coverage of decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels and growing our use of renewable power. This is a worthy purpose, and these feedback shouldn’t be understood to oppose it. But these long-term insurance policies of shifting the stability of our power sector must be rigorously deliberate and intentionally executed in a accountable and clear method. At this second of disaster, the Review Notice represents the alternative of the wanted method. It is an answer searching for a downside. The Corps ought to withdraw its Review Notice and make it clear that it is not going to proceed with assessment till it’s legally required to take action.

Respectfully submitted,

Javier Palomarez

President & CEO, United States Hispanic Business Council

SOURCE U.S. Hispanic Business Council

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