Congressman Bresnahan Puts Additional Pressure on the Corrupt Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC)
It’s amazing how disturbed fractivists and their NGO enablers were when U.S. Representative Rob Bresnahan organized a meeting in the Poconos with EPA head Lee Zeldin to discuss the DRBC and Northeastern Pennsylvania’s energy needs. That was in March and they have been whining like little kittens every since. NOw, Bresnahan has kicked it up a notch by introducing a bill in Congress to put some manners on this compromised Commission and two others as well. Here’s the story from Delaware Currents (emphasis added):
A bill introduced by a Pennsylvania congressman proposes to bring greater scrutiny to the operations of the Delaware River Basin Commission and identify commission duties and responsibilities that might duplicate or overlap with federal agencies.
The bill, H.R. 3428, titled the Mid-Atlantic River Basin Commissions Review Act and introduced by Rep. Rob Bresnahan, a Pennsylvania Republican, cleared the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on June 11.
In addition to the DRBC, the measure calls on the federal General Accounting Office to also review the workings of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin.
“This federal-level review will ensure these commissions implement the necessary practices to serve as good stewards of taxpayer resources,” according to a summary of the bill on the committee’s website. “Specifically, this GAO review will focus on ethics practices, communication with the public, and how each commission carries out federal responsibilities.”
A time of tumult
The measure comes at a time that the Trump administration, backed by a Republican majority Congress, is seeking to cut personnel and funding at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, disrupt or roll back various environmental protection rules and undermine scientific research that environmental advocates say is an important tool in understanding extreme weather brought on by climate change.
The Bresnahan bill calls for the GAO to submit to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate a report with any recommendations “for statutory or administrative changes or changes to ethics policies and practices, to increase the transparency or congressional oversight” of the commissions.
Bresnahan, a newly elected congressman for Pennsylvania’s 8th District, made headlines in March when he convened a roundtable with local pro-fracking industry figures, advocates and elected officials. Together with Lee Zeldin, the newly appointed head of the Environmental Protection Agency, they talked about the need to unleash the natural gas resources in the Delaware River Basin and throughout the country.
It was not immediately clear what triggered Bresnahan to seek greater oversight and accountability of the commissions.
A summary of the bill said “a state level audit of the SRBC raised concerns about compliance with ethics and appropriate use of funds.” However, it was not clear what audit the committee was referring to.
A press representative for Bresnahan did not respond to emailed questions.
One commission welcomes oversight
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission said in a statement that it “fully supports the intent of H.R. 3428,” adding, “We welcome continued oversight and accountability measures that reinforce public trust in our work.”
The commission noted that it has previously been reviewed by the GAO and “we view this latest initiative as an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to transparency and effective governance.”
The DRBC declined comment but noted that its finances are subject to GAO and state-level oversight…
Like the DRBC, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin are multi-state compacts. However, unlike the DRBC and the Susquehanna commission, which have regulatory powers, the Potomac River Basin commission is an advisory, non-regulatory agency. It is made up of the Potomac basin states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
It’s very instructive that the SRBC welcomes the oversight, as it has responsibly dealt with natural gas development. It may not have the authority to regulate well pads per se but, by not caving into special interest fractivists and their enablers, it has faced no challenges to its exercise of whatever authority it does possess.
Here’s the thing, though. The SRBC us governed by the same majority of members as the DRBC, namely New York, Pennsylvania and the Feds. So, why have the directions of the two commissions diverged so greatly, with the latter unconstitutionally banning fracking without regard to standards?
The answer is quite simple: the Haas and Rockefeller families have deep special interests in the Delaware River Basin that they don't have in the Susquehanna River Basin. Those interests begin with vast landholdings in the Catskills by the Rockefellers. They want nothing to happen that would increase values of additional land they may wish to acquire and turn into a wilderness at taxpayer expense by buying on the cheap and entering into financially rewarding deals with New York State.
This is why the NGO shills are screaming about Bresnahan’s initiatives as applied to the DRBC. I certainly hope there will be more to come and President Trump will also get involved.
#NewYork #Pennsylvania #Bresnahan #DRBC #NaturalGas #Fracking #SRBC
