Click here or the image above to watch Ranking Member Capito’s questions.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today questioned witnesses about coastal restoration and habitat conservation legislation.
HIGHLIGHTS:
RESPECTING PRIVATE LAND OWNERS: “When you’re talking about the Coastal Program and you’re talking about partnerships…How do you weave that into private landowners and those kinds of other partners that could be involved or would be affected by what you might be moving forward with at the Coastal Program?”
REMOVING DUPLICITIES: “In considering the Coastal Habitat Conservation Act, are there changes to the program that you think would improve its implementation?...We want to eliminate any kind of possibility of duplicative programming that might be coming out of one pocket but it’s serving the same purpose. It dilutes the purpose if you keep separating it out into different programs. Do you have any suggestions there?”
UPDATING U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE MAPS: “We codified the maps last in 2018. You said this is 400 maps that would be codified—the most ever. Just elementarily, how does that affect what you do?”
PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: “Ms. Cope, you mentioned in your statements the coordination you do with Ducks Unlimited and U.S. Fish and Wildlife. Can you give me some other examples of partnership you have that have been particularly successful? Are those partnerships growing and how that impacts your ability to move forward with these programs?”
FINDING THE RIGHT BALANCE: “Having been to the South Carolina coast myself, it has beautiful and very great beaches. Because of that, there’s a lot of infrastructure: hotels, people, recreationists who want to enjoy those areas. How do you balance that when you’re looking at the conservation aspects with the infrastructure needs and the human love of your coast?”
# # #