President Biden is moving full steam ahead on the construction of a temporary pier in Gaza, but at least one member of Congress wants to make sure he’s complying with the same stringent environmental checks required of domestic construction projects.
Rep. Tom Tiffany, Wisconsin Republican, urged the House Appropriations Committee to ensure that the pier passes muster with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and other conservation laws in upcoming 2024 spending bills and a potential foreign-aid supplemental bill.
The proposal for an offshore pier and two-lane causeway unveiled by Mr. Biden last week in his State of the Union address will certainly have an environmental impact, reportedly requiring as many as 1,000 U.S. troops and spanning “more than a quarter mile to accommodate truck traffic and freight operations,” he said.
“As you know, NEPA has long required the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement [EIS] for any action that has a substantial impact on the natural environment,” Mr. Tiffany said Monday in his letter, which was obtained by The Washington Times. “If media reports about the scope of this project are accurate, it certainly suggests that such an assessment would be justified.”
In addition, the administration “should also consider potentially negative effects that the project may have on threatened or endangered species, habitat and ecosystem preservation, and the loss or destruction of any cultural and historical antiquities that might be present within the project’s planned footprint.”
Mr. Tiffany’s request could be interpreted as a jab at both the White House and federal environmental regulations, which have long been criticized by Republicans for delaying and running up costs on U.S. infrastructure, energy and wildfire-mitigation projects.
DOCUMENT: Rep. Tom Tiffany's letter
Mr. Biden is trying to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza as he walks a political tightrope between continuing his support for Israel, a staunch U.S. ally, and bowing to pressure from his party’s left wing to force a ceasefire ahead of his November election showdown with former President Donald Trump.
The U.S. Army sent a vessel last weekend with equipment to build the temporary pier designed to provide a sea route for humanitarian aid to Gaza, which has been cut off from supplies during the Israeli-Hamas war spurred by the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians.
Whether the overseas pier would need to comply with federal environmental regulations is another question, but Congress certainly could mandate such requirements.
In 1979, President Carter signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to take environmental factors into account “when making decisions on major Federal Actions which could have environmental impacts anywhere beyond the borders of the U.S., including Antarctica.”
The Washington Times has reached out to the White House for comment.
Mr. Tiffany added that the pier, which is expected to take 60 days to build, would come as a boon to Hamas, the U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization that has ruled the Gaza Strip since taking over in 2007.
“It goes without saying that this controversial infrastructure project will benefit the Hamas terrorists who continue to exercise effective control over parts of Gaza — along with aid distribution in those areas,” Mr. Tiffany said. “The last thing we ought to do is take steps to ‘fast track’ this misguided effort by side-stepping the same kind of scrutiny we would apply to a project of this cost and logistical complexity here in the United States.”
The letter was addressed to House Appropriations Committee Chair Kay Granger, Texas Republican, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the committee.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.