A developer’s nearly three-decade regulatory nightmare of attempts to obtain a Clean Water Act permit shows why Congress must take action to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers‘ final “Waters of the U.S.” rule from being implemented.
During a hearing today before the Senate Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife, 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, even though the company has repeatedly gone through proper channels and put forth state-approved plans that would result in no net loss of wetlands.
Virginia Developer Trapped in Permitting Limbo
“We’ve been held hostage by the EPA and Corps…”
– Valerie Wilkinson, VP and CFO of The ESG Companies
$4.5 Million
Money spent thus far on the permitting process.
$40 Million
Total project investment to date.
28
Years of development delays.
428
Acres of yet-to-be developed land.
17
Onsite alternatives rejected by the Corps.
0
No-net-loss proposal of wetlands preservation also rejected by the Corps.