Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., urged federal and state officials Wednesday to take a fresh look at environmental requirements that he said could slow down reconstruction of a new Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Harris said a new round of environmental studies related to a new span of the bridge could add years to its development.
Environmental reviews were carried out when the Key Bridge was first built in the 1970s — but a new bridge could lead to additional studies.
“As we first concentrate on recovering the victims, it is important that both the state and federal governments work together to immediately reduce the environmental and regulatory burdens that would hinder the rapid reconstruction of the Key Bridge,” he said in a statement.
In an interview with WTOP, Harris pointed out that if a slightly larger bridge is built, it may come under new requirements.
He hopes that either statutory changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or exceptions could be made, since a new span will effectively take the place of the old one.
“My thoughts would be: they may want to rebuild it back even a little bit wider,” he said. “Redundancy is not a bad idea, and God forbid something happens to one of our two tunnels, we might be happy if we rebuilt this back with slightly larger capacity.”
Harris also suggested that labor agreements be reexamined to see if they would slow down the process of building a new bridge.
The Republican lawmaker pointed out that the I-35W bridge that collapsed over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis in 2007 was able to be replaced relatively quickly.
Harris noted that political leaders in Minnesota worked on a bipartisan basis and Congress quickly approved federal funding to begin the cleanup and start rebuilding.
While that bridge was very different from the Key Bridge, Harris said a lot can be learned from how the reconstruction was handled.
Harris also believes that Congress can quickly pass emergency legislation for Maryland, but that it doesn’t have to cover the expected costs of the entire bridge project right away.
He said an initial measure could be approved this year, then additional legislation could be considered next year, when the overall costs are better understood.
In addition, he said a review needs to be done to see what kind of damages the owner of the cargo ship involved in the accident might be liable for.
He noted that even if things move along quickly, replacing the bridge is going to be a long-term project.
“We need to minimize the amount of time that the bridge is going to be down,” he said. “It’s still going to take years to rebuild, but four or five years is much better than eight or 10 years.”
More Key Bridge collapse coverage:
- Previous accident, propulsion and mechanical issues reported in ship that hit Key Bridge
- Neighbors react to ‘great big noise’ of Key Bridge collapse
- How did container ship strike bring down Baltimore’s Key Bridge? An expert weighs in
- GALLERY: Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses after being struck by ship
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