To provide for the construction, operation, and maintenance of an arterial road in St. Louis County, Missouri.

Chairman Oberstar, thank you and Ranking Member Mica and the gentleman from Wisconsin here today for working with me

to move this important legislation along. Also, special thanks to your staff and committee staff on both sides that have been helpful in moving this legislation. On behalf of myself and the citizens the Third District in Missouri, I want to thank them all.

This bill, H.R. 1129, means a great deal to the congressional district I represent in Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri. It will allow the construction, maintenance and operation of a road to a community in South St. Louis County hard hit by the great flood of 1993. This Lemay Connector Road, as it is called, is vital to the long- term recovery of that community. It will bring badly needed jobs and tax revenues to the area, support the cleanup of brownfields sites, and create new parks and recreational opportunities.

The transformation taking place in this area is the type communities dream about, turning environmentally contaminated idle property into hundreds of millions of dollars in economic development, thousands of new jobs, and wonderful recreational opportunities alongside a national treasure, the Mississippi River.

In 1993, Lemay, Missouri, just south of St. Louis, was hard hit by the flood of 1993. In the aftermath, Community Development Block Grant funds were used to acquire certain parcels of land which carried with them FEMA deed restrictions. St. Louis County has since acquired the land, but deed restrictions still apply.

Years ago, this area was home to businesses providing thousands of jobs for this community. Unfortunately, by-products heavily polluted the area, and since the closure of businesses, four specific sites, including the former National Lead Site, which closed in 1978, the Carondolet Coke site, which closed in 1992, the Stupp Brothers site, which closed in 1998, and the National Imaging and Mapping Agency site, closed in 1994, have since been designated as brownfields. Thankfully, clean up and redevelopment of the land will come to fruition as the Lemay connector road is built.

Since 1993, the Federal Government has invested more than $33 million in South St. Louis City and County region for the purpose of revitalizing these communities. In addition, the State and local community have come together to plan the redevelopment of this area. Plans include new businesses, which will generate thousands of new jobs, a bandshell, ice skating rink, bowling alley, multi-screen movie complex, a new county park with soccer and baseball fields. The proposed Lemay connector road will provide access to all this, the four abandoned brownfield sites, and complete the link to the Great Rivers Greenway regional ring of trails.

In 2003, the Missouri Department of Transportation conducted a federally funded survey with regard to the area and decided it was one of the top priorities for the region.

The planned road is authorized by this legislation and has been identified by means of an environmental assessment as the environmentally preferred route.

The road is considered safe by the Missouri Department of Transportation, has been endorsed by its officials, and also the local police and fire departments, because it will enable city and county to reduce first responder times. Most importantly, the planned road has the unwavering support of community leaders.

In addition to the public access benefits already stated, the road will include dedicated bicycle paths and sidewalks, and provide improved access to schools, community institutions and parks, and I want to name a few in the area: Hancock Place School District, Notre Dame High School, Metropolitan Sewer District, St. Louis Enterprise Center in South County, Lemay Child and Family Center, Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, and a park and planned military history complex. In addition, park areas include the Black Forest Park, Lemay Park, and the Great Rivers regional system of interconnected parks and trails.

The bill costs the Federal Government nothing. The cost of the road will be incurred by the county in cooperation with local developers. This legislation has broad bipartisan support in Missouri and here in the Congress among our congressional delegation, including my Missouri colleague on the Transportation Committee, Mr. Graves. The legislation specifically authorizes the Lemay connective road to be built over deed-restricted parcels of land.

In an attempt to avoid the same disastrous consequences of the flood of 1993, the bill requires the county to take appropriate flood mitigation efforts upon constructing the road. It is the intent of Congress that prior to constructing the road, adjacent or nearby land of approximately equal size and value of the easement necessary to build the road, about 0.3 acres, will be designated for open space, recreational use, or wetlands management.

Finally, consistent with existing law, the Federal Government will not be liable for any flooding caused by the construction, maintenance and operation of the road.

My colleagues, this is a good bill that will have remarkably positive impacts on the Lemay community in Missouri. I urge your support and passage of H.R. 1129.

I want to conclude by giving special thanks to our St. Louis County executive, Charlie Dooley, and his staff in St. Louis County, and all those working with the county for their impressive work on this project.

I can't wait to travel on the new Lemay connector road, to take a tour of the newly opened businesses, community center, and take a bike ride along the Great Rivers Greenway.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1129) to provide for the construction, operation, and maintenance of an arterial road in St. Louis County, Missouri.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on the bill, H.R. 1129.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the legislation before us would authorize St. Louis County, Missouri, to build a road over three-tenths of an acre of deed- restricted property. The road that they would build will lead to a development project along the Mississippi River adjacent to St. Louis.

In the aftermath of the 1993 Mississippi River flood, which many of us can vividly remember, and I recall so much part of that tragedy our then majority leader, Mr. Gephardt, passing sandbags down along the riverfront to halt the onslaught of the river, it was a very compelling moment in flood history in America. St. Louis was particularly hard hit.

FEMA, under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, acquired property, took it out of development and protected the floodplain from development for uses that would be inconsistent with the need to protect the area against flood.

FEMA requires that properties purchased under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program be maintained in perpetuity for uses consistent with open space, recreation or wetlands management. The law generally does not allow new structures to be built on such property, but exceptions are permitted under existing law, including projects preapproved in writing by the director of FEMA. FEMA has promulgated regulations to spell out those restrictions.

The property which is the subject of this legislation, was not purchased with hazard mitigation funds, but with Community Development Block Grant funds. But those funds were subjected to the same FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program easement restrictions for open space.

All parties tried in the current situation to find an exception in the historic application of FEMA law and regulation, but the project didn't fit any of the historic examples or exceptions. So the State and the county both are seeking a waiver of the easement so that both entities can proceed with construction of a road that will create access to a complex development project of housing, retail, commercial space and open and recreational space.

Now, this project itself is not within nor will it be built anywhere on restricted property, property restricted by FEMA under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds. And to be sure that there are no escape clauses or escape hatches, if you will, the bill includes requirements to ensure that the road authorized to be developed will not increase the danger of flooding and that the road will not subject the Federal Government to any additional exposure or liability.

The bill requires the county in which the road will be constructed, and that is St. Louis County, Missouri, we have one also in Minnesota, to ensure that the construction, operation and maintenance of the road will not cause any future additional flood damage that would not have occurred without the project. It is very important to spell those conditions out.

The bill also requires the county or its assignee to mitigate the project by adding to the flood protection area a nearby parcel of land of equal or greater size to the deed-restricted land used for the road.

Further, the bill provides that the Federal Government shall not be liable for future flood damage that may be caused by the project and that the county will be liable for such damage.

The bill also provides that the deed restricted property on which the road will be built, and only the road, will not be eligible for any future disaster assistance from any other Federal source.

I think with those very precise, very carefully crafted constraints, we can and should approve this legislation to allow the other development to go forward, a development that is not within the hazard area.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, I want to express my great appreciation to the gentleman from Wisconsin and to the staff on the Republican side for their splendid cooperation throughout the crafting of this legislation. It took a great deal of time and effort to get to this point and it was a bipartisan initiative. We very much appreciate their consideration.

I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Carnahan), the author of the legislation, and within whose district this project and development will occur. I also want to express my appreciation and perhaps admiration for his persistence in following through on this very difficult, complex initiative. The gentleman has certainly worked hard on behalf of his constituency.

Mr. Speaker, I certainly look forward to doing a bike ride along that area, if it is a long enough road, and look forward to the project moving forward with the construction of this road and the development and the investment and the job creation that the gentleman has cited.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I rise in support of H.R. 1129. This important legislation is necessary to provide for the construction, operation, and maintenance of an arterial road in the Lemay area of St. Louis County, MO. This road, the Lemay connector road, is the lynchpin of the long-term recovery of that community and will open several abandoned industrial sites to new industrial, commercial and retail development and create thousands of new much-needed jobs. The road was identified as the highest priority for redeveloping the area in a federally-funded study conducted by the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Mr. President, I vividly recall the devastation that was caused by the the flooding in 1993 and one of the areas that was hardest hit was the community of Lemay. In response to that tragedy, Congress enacted an emergency supplemental appropriations bill. As a new member of that committee, I worked to appropriate supplemental funds for HUD's community development grants to compensate homeowners for losses and to clear the area. Property acquired with the funds, however, was required to be maintained for uses consistent with open space, recreation or wetlands management. This was a one-time requirement, and no other property acquired using CDBG funds before or since the 1994 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act has carried similar deed restrictions. Furthermore, I want to assure my colleagues that we are not establishing any precedent by adopting this legislation in part because of the unique situation in which properties became deed restricted and also because exceptions have been made to allow for roads and public works development on deed restricted lands.

Mr. President, my colleague from Missouri is correct that no Federal funds will be used for either construction or maintenance of this road. Furthermore, this road will become a county road and it will not be part of the Federal-aid system. Under current law, which this bill does not amend, the Lemay connector road is not an eligible use of Federal funding.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the bill before us, H.R. 1129, introduced by Representative Russ Carnahan of Missouri, provides for the construction, operation and maintenance of an arterial road in St. Louis County, Missouri, over deed-restricted property and requires that county to restrict a nearby parcel of land for open space, recreation or wetland management. The bill allows construction of a surface road across property purchased with Federal funds.

Following the 1993 Midwest floods, this property was purchased for the purpose of clearing the floodplain of homes to prevent future flood losses. The bill requires St. Louis County to ensure that this project will not cause future flood damage. If there is flood damage caused by this project, the bill assigns liability to St. Louis County. This property will remain permanently ineligible for Federal disaster assistance. The Federal interest in reducing Federal disaster costs remains protected.

This project is not setting precedent. In the past, exceptions have been made to allow for road and public works development on deed restricted properties.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of our committee, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I join my colleague, the senior Senator from Missouri, in supporting this much-needed legislation. Not only will the road revive the economy of the communities around Lemay, it will also support the restoration of brownfields sites, improve public safety, create new parks and riding trails, and provide other recreational opportunities. With all of these benefits, it is not surprising then that the bill has broad bipartisan support from every relevant State and local elected official and also here in the Congress. It has also been endorsed by the Missouri Department of Transportation, the local school district--Hancock Place School District and the local fire and police departments.

I also want to assure my colleages that no Federal funds will be used to construct or maintain the Lemay connector road. Neither St. Louis County nor the State of Missouri is seeking or will seek Federal assistance to build, maintain, or operate the road. In fact, the County has sent several letters to FEMA that it will not seek Federal funding for the road. Under terms reached by the St. Louis County and Missouri DOT, private developers will bear 100 percent of the cost of construction of the road, and the road will be maintained by St. Louis County as part of its standard maintenance program,