Illustrating how the federal regulatory system has run amok and the need for Congress to fix a broken permitting process, a development firm today shared its three-decade-long nightmare with a House panel regarding its futile attempts to obtain a Clean Water Act permit.
During a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Interior, Energy and the Environment, lawmakers heard how The ESG Companies based in Virginia Beach, Va. has been denied a Section 404 Clean Water Act permit to develop its property for close to 30 years. All the while, the company repeatedly went through proper channels and put forth state-approved plans that would result in zero net loss of wetlands…read more