Whatcom View: Congress interferes with Washington’s business

Members of Congress are interfering with Washington’s business and are hoping that we don’t take notice. As Lummi Nation works to protect our sacred Cherry Point from corporate interests, we have been fighting our battle in D.C. against legislation that could impact Indian Country and the Pacific Northwest.

Last week, the House of Representatives approved an amendment to a comprehensive energy bill that paves the way for approval of a terminal at Cherry Point. Co-sponsored by Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana and Rep. David McKinley of West Virginia, the legislation prevents the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from completing an independent review of the Gateway Pacific Terminal project’s impacts on Lummi’s treaty rights. But Zinke and McKinley have taken it a step further, prohibiting any federal agency from acting on a permit for a bulk commodity export project until all federal agencies have fully reviewed the project in relation to the National Environmental Policy Act.

Rep. Zinke and Sen. Steve Daines of Montana have led efforts in Congress to support the construction of the terminal in Whatcom County. There is Montana coal in the ground and a terminal provides a key location for exports to China. With the cooperation of some colleagues in Congress, they have passed legislation that interferes with Washington’s business. On Dec. 3, the House passed an amendment to a comprehensive energy bill (H.R. 8) that changes the way project permits move through the approval process.

Costly to taxpayers

The amendment is a lose-lose for everyone. It would require all federal agencies to complete their review of an export facility project before a permit can be granted or denied. Without this amendment, if the Corps determines that the project would violate treaty rights, no further review is necessary to deny the permit. This means that our agencies could spend unnecessary resources to review a project that’s already prohibited under existing law. In addition to infringing on tribal treaty rights, it’s simply bad law. It could extend the timeline for industry by requiring all agencies to complete a review before a determination on a permit is made, costing them time and money. It also prevents agencies from streamlining their environmental reviews — something the agencies do to make the process more efficient and to reduce delays and costs. The added review time, and wasted resources, means the bill likely comes with an unnecessary and big price tag for taxpayers.

Backdoor attempt

Ultimately, the Zinke amendment is at the expense of Lummi’s treaty rights and the beauty of our natural areas in Whatcom County. It’s a backdoor attempt to stop the Corps from completing its independent review of the Gateway Pacific Terminal project’s effect on our reserved treaty rights to harvest fish and shellfish and to build a terminal in our Salish Sea. Lummi Nation, together with a coalition made up of members from our 10-tribe alliance, took our message to D.C. last week to educate members of Congress about this amendment and to urge them to protect tribal treaty rights.

Everyone who cares about the Salish Sea and the Pacific Northwest should be aware that powers outside our state want to define Whatcom County’s future. Members of Congress, like Zinke and McKinley, are counting on Washington state and Whatcom County residents to ignore their interference. We must send them a strong message that we’re paying attention and won’t allow them to decide the future of Washington’s lands and waters.

This story was originally published December 9, 2015 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Whatcom View: Congress interferes with Washington’s business."