"Sen. Roy Blunt Placing a Hold On Obama's EPA Nominee"

"Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt said on Monday that he is placing a hold on Gina McCarthy, President Obama’s pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency, which could delay a full Senate vote on the nominee."



"Blunt said the hold would remain in place until the Obama administration issued a timeline for release of a draft Environmental Impact Statement for the St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid Floodway Project. The project calls for installing pumping stations and closing a 1,500-foot gap in the Mississippi River levee system in southeast Missouri.  

Blunt said the project has been held up due to 'disagreements between federal agencies.' In late February, Blunt and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) brought together the agencies -- the EPA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Fish and Wildlife Service -- to work out their disagreements. But last Friday, according to Blunt, the agencies failed to deliver a timeline for delivering the draft environmental study."

Neela Banerjee reports for the Los Angeles Times March 18, 2013.

SEE ALSO:

"An Agency of Unchecked Clout" (Washington Post: 9/10/00)

"Environmental Groups Battle Farm, Business Interests Over Bootheel Levee Project" (St. Louis Beacon)

"Reining in the Corps of Engineers" (TIME: 9/20/07)

Source: LA Times, 03/19/2013