Document Ne92Epn3pon37ZN43QLYN73rw

August l8, 201 7 RYANlSITTONL TEXAS RAILROAD COMMISSIONER LieutenanLGeneral ToddT. LSemoniteL Commanding ,General ,and Lc::hiefdfEngineers L U.S. ArmylITorps:ofEngineersHeadquartersl 44 l lG :Street NW L Washington, JDC :203141000 Dear ,General lSemonite, L As a1,tatewide :elected :official Tusked Lwith Loverseeing :the lenergy IDdustry ID fue :largest '.energy :producing'state 'mThe :nation, Lam writing To Lask forLyourlassistance lih Lprioritizing ,the lC::orpus :Christi LShip ,C::hannel ImprovementProject :that is :fully La'uthorized La'ndtpermitted. As :fully Ldescribed Lbelow, :this ,project is L critically lihlportant lfb ,the lpeople LofTexas, America's :energy lindustry Landfue nation's ,economic Land L national security IDterests. LLappreciate Lyour ldonsideration LofThe Lfollcwing :informationland 1bokIorward l to lyour'thoughts lon :what The lU. S. Army :Corps ,ofEngineers lean Ldo ib :advance :this ,iinportant lwork.l_ By LWay Lofbackground, ,_as L}'Ou maylliot Lbe :intimately lfumiliar ,_with lthe specifics ,offuis :project, The lportLoL Corpus 11'.hristi :has uhore lthan $100 million ID Lgoods ~alue move Through ii Levery lday.Just la' ew ,months:_ ago, 1the llargest iankerib tever :enter La lJ. S. lGulLport ldocked lat :the :pa:t loflc::orpus 11:hristi. The J ,093-footL vessel is ,capable lofllbading more fuan l2 llllillionlbarrels LofAmericanldrude Loil :to W-ansportLoverseas. The importance 'offuis milestone ldannot Lbe Loverstated.lfThe lJnited LStates :does not Lenhance its energy, transportation IDfrastructure :given The :new global Lenergy :paradigmThousands Lofpotential1J.S. ljbbs :will not lbe lcreated lrlor Leconomic ,gain lr,ealized. Now That 1the l_crude loil Lexport Lban lhas Lbeen :lifted Land l_ production Tovels Lare near lhistoric lhighs, LWe must La'ct ltb lensure That lour :countryis :preparedltb :take l advantage ldfthe :enormous :energy Lopportunities lih ,front lofo.is. L These 'statistics Ldemonstrate lthe :incredible :economic liinpact lthe :port ldfC::orpus :Christi lhas liiot lonly lfor' Texas, 'but,for'the'rlation:l The lPort LofCorpus :Christi is The lih :largest LSealPort lin ,the lU. S. :tby ltbnnage) It 1is Jhe llargest llJ. S. lproduced ldrude l_exportLJ)ort The l_Ship L_Channel Jffiprovement lProject l_Will ladd lrlearly L$35 lbillion l-3nnually lih l_goods l_Value l__ exports The '.Ship ~Channel Jmprovement :Project :will '.provide '$100 :million lih :annual ftansportation ,cost l savmgs There Lare LcurrentlyL$50 :billion IDlprivate IDdustrial :projects Llinderway in lthe L&)uth Texas Lc::oastal Bend Land !Corpus 11:hristi :Ship ,Channel, 'Creating ltens i:\fThousands :dfiobs ,and lbillions :in L economic LoutpuL The Port Ldf'._corpus LChristi Lis Lexpected ltb ~-become l_dne l_dflthe llargest, liflrlot lthe llargest, l_export lports for 'Liquified lNatural :Gas :tby 2020) * * * 1701 NORTH CONGRESS AVENUE AUSTIN, TEXAS 78701-2967 PHONE: 512/463-7144 FAX: 512/463-7161 HTTP://WWW.RRC.TEXAS.GOV 17cv01906 Sierra Club v. EPA ED_001523B_00001501-00001 Texas leconomists lliave :predicted l1hat Lexpanded ldrude Loil lexports ldould lresult ID 30,000 ladditional lj_bbs ID l Corpus JI:hristi :alone. :Nationally lthe liiumberofjbbs :created!related ltb :crude :exports is :even lS:tunningly: larger.:=- Given Lall LoLthis, it' is 'disappointing l1hat 1J. S. Army LCorps 'ofiEngineers lFY 17 lWork Plan landL Administration's lFY 18 Budget undedlfour NEW LSTART deepening :projects ,{Boston, LCharleston, i_ Jacksonville, Tampa), 'a'll Lofwhich lwere :authorized AFTER l1he {Corpus {I:hristi :Project. The majority loL those Lprojects Jiave'Benefit-Cost Ratios l{BCRs) lbelowl1he {I:orpus JI:hristi !Project land lliigherLCosts. L Furthermore, l1he NEW :START :ports :are :primarily lfor'containers :filled lwith :Chinese lrhade :_goods, 1which exacerbateltheLU.S. lttadeldeficit The 'Corpus ,Christi 1Ship JI:hannel Jmprovement Project llias Jjeen lauthorizedlby :Congress l1hree !times (WRDA2007, :WRRDA2014, W 1 IIN 2016) lib ideepenl1he36-milelship ,channel ltb :54 J:TeetMLLWl{Mean Lower :Low tWater) lofl5 2' l(MLT) Mean :Low Tide Ji-om the ldurrent l45' :{MLT). Rather :than lembrace l1his necessary :project land l1he tremendous LDpportunities itlliolds :f"'or'our'country, 'the :port llias :described lthe l many :madblocks ,il Jias ,faced lih J:he :following :way_:' Although lauthorized ll:ly LCongress lthree limes l{'WRDA 2007, lreauthorized lWRRDA 2014, reaffirmed lWIIN:2016) :USACE land lIDffice LofManagement land '.Budget ldontinuetb Throw ilp _ unnecessary Lbureaucratic lliurdles ~any lexamples LSJuch las three :Limited Review Reports c{LRRs), l7 and !delays ID lreview lprocesses, la'rguinglthe LC::orpus 11:hristi Project was la ''New LStart" :rather l1han l_ a :continuing :project, 'thereby :.keeping lthe :project lfrom ll:leing lfunded l{resolvedlih lS:pecial :language l inlSectionLl 146:oflWIIN ActlasJLdontinuinglproject)). L Office 'bfiManagement l& Budget lalso :appears ltb :be stripping Toe {I:orpus ,Christi Project Ji-omihe USACE :budget leachlyear, 'claimingl.$200 lrhillionlis :tbo :large la .sum, ,whichLwill l''break" :their:J0 year plan. President Trump, Energy lSecretary Rick Perry, Interior LSecretary Ryan Zinke, land lnumerous Lother L administration Lofficials :have made ldlearihat lthey l.want lthe :United LStates lb :be lenergy 'dominant. L interpret :energy :dominance las lproducing r1 hore lenergy lthan lanyone ,else lih lthe Lworld, land llising lthat l energy lib :advance Lour leconomic land lnational :.security IDterests. :Makeltio mistake, lthe :Corpus :Christi :Ship Channel :Improvement Project lwill llielp :the :United lStates:become lenergy ldominant. l Please uet lme :.know lat :yourlearliestldonvenience :the 1J. S. Army lCorps' :thoughts lonlwhat :can :be 'done ltb :_ bring,this :project :tb Ji-uition. Lstand :ready lib lassist Lyou ID lany 'way necessary lib move lthis ~roject: forward. l.Lappreciate Lyour :consideration Lofrhy lthoughts land lLthank you :for '}tour lsiervice ltb lour ldountryL Ifl can lanswer' any :questions lfor 'Joulrelated ltb :this :correspondence, 'please :do :not lli esitate ltb :contact lmy l officelatl..512-463-7144. :_ Respectfully, L RyanlSittonL Railroad !Commissioner' State lofTexas: Cc: lT Justin lR. :Clark, lDeputy :Assistant lib :the President Land llDirector 'offutergovernmental lAffairs.{Via: electronic mail) L The Honorable :Mick Mulvaney, 'IDirector lofthe :Office lofManagement land !Budget l{via :electronic mail)' ThelHonorable:RickPerry,'SecretaryldftheDepartmentlofEnergyl 17cv01906 Sierra Club v. EPA ED_001523B_0000 1501-00002 [Jll]I:::__ lJllil lILi__C The lHonorable Doug Lamont, Acting Assistant :Secretary ldfthe :Army-Civil :Works l{via :::' electronic ,rhail) Col. Lars Zetterstrom, JDistrict :Commander, USACE :+Galveston llDistrictl{\ria := electronic mail) Col. :CalvinLC. :HudsonlII, DistricLC::ommander, !USACE l=1Et. :WorthlDistrictl{Via:= electronic mail) The Honorable :John LComyn, lIJnitedlStates :Senaton{\riai:llectronic lrhail)' TheBonorableuedlCruz,IJnitedLStateslSenatorl{via:electroniclmail)'_ The Honorable :Thad :Cochran, LChairman !Senate Appropriations :Cvia Lelectronic lrhail): The :Honorable Lamar:Alexander, :Chairman :Senate :Appropriations :Subcommittee l=1 Energy land l Water ]Development LCvia eectronic mail) L The Honorable Rodney Erelinghuysen, C1 hairman Bouse :Appropriations {\ria:electronic mail)L The Honorable :Mike :Simpson, LChairman Bouse :Appropriations :Subcommittee l=1 Energy land l Water Development Land lRelatedlAgencies 'Cvia :electronic mail) The Honorable LGreg Abbott, 'lliovemor lof!Texas ,C\ria i:Jlectronic mail) L The Honorable 'llieorge :_p. Bush, Land LCommissioner(\riaLelectronic lrhail)L The Honorable LCraig :Estes, :Chairman Texas :Senate :Natural :Resources L{via,electronic lrhail)'TheBonorablelDrewDarby,:ChairmanuexasBouse:EnergylCommittee:Cvia:electroniclrhail)' Texas :Congressional Delegation lCvia:electronic lrhail)' 17cv01906 Sierra Club v. EPA ED_001523B_0000 1501-00003