On Wednesday, Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) questioned officials on the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse damage across the nation during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Senator Rickett. Thank You Senator Capito and General Spellman, Administrator
00:06Batt, great to see you again. Secretary Wiedefeld, welcome. I want to offer my
00:13condolences as well to all Marylanders and especially the families and loved
00:16ones of the six workers who lost their lives in this terrible tragedy and also
00:22thank the first responders who acted so quickly to prevent further loss of life
00:27and then of course responded after the bridge collapsed. So we do have a lot of
00:32heroes in our communities that respond to these things and we need to recognize
00:37the work they do. And of course this is maintaining the nation's infrastructure
00:43is a key priority for what we do in the federal government and the bridge in
00:48general is something that has been pointed out as a key part of our economy.
00:52In fact, talking to a small business owner in Omaha, Nebraska, he was talking
00:57about how he was having his product being shipped out through the Port of
01:00Baltimore and obviously the bridge collapse impacted that and he had to
01:05find another way to be able to ship. He was actually exporting his product
01:08overseas so it was trying to get there was not an easy task. So we know that
01:13this is an important thing. It's also important that we make sure that we get
01:17the information so that we can share that with the American taxpayers and
01:20make sure that this is done correctly. That's part of our job and oversight
01:24here. So, Administrator Batt, I'll just start with you just on some of the
01:27things that Senator Capito said just to make sure that you agree with that. So
01:31I think I know this is still early days so I'm not going to come back and hold
01:34you to the penny on this, but do you agree with the estimates about 1.7
01:38billion dollars to replace the bridge? Yes, Senator, thank you for that.
01:43That is what we believe is consistent. Great. And then we've
01:48established, and I think you agree, 350 million dollars in insurance? Yes, that
01:52is the current insurance policy. Okay, so and we've also talked about maybe some
01:55of the litigation claims. Senator Capito said 350 million dollars. Do you have any
02:00sort of estimate on that? I'd have to defer to DOJ who is leading the claim.
02:04Hard to tell. Have they said anything about 350 million dollars because I think that's
02:07what Senator Capito said? No, I think that was more of a guesstimate. I'll just
02:11clarify what I said. I just kind of threw that number out there so I
02:15could get to it even 1 billion. All right, great. Okay, okay, good. I'm glad
02:19that's a good thing to know. Secretary Wiedefeld, do you have any
02:22additional information to share on what the claims could potentially be? No, sir,
02:25no, Senator, but we also obviously have a number of attorneys
02:31that we've hired to go after those dollars as well. All right, so I had a
02:35conversation with Governor Moore. I very much appreciate him giving me a call to
02:38talk about this and he really described this as kind of a financing
02:42thing that we would get reimbursed, but it sounds like from what I hear that maybe
02:46at the upper end of Senator Capito is accurate. We're talking about the
02:49federal government getting reimbursed for about 700 million and having the
02:53federal government would pay for about a billion of this under Senator
02:56Cardin's plan. Is that accurate? Am I understanding this correctly? So, yes,
03:00under the ER law, all funds that are recovered through insurance or legal
03:06claims come back and the Skagit Bridge in Washington, about 20 million dollars,
03:10about 17 million of that came back 10 years later. Okay, great. So, also, my
03:16understanding is, Secretary Batt, that after the bridge collapsed, and this was
03:23after, you designated this as part of the interstate highway system. Is that
03:26accurate? Yes. Okay, so do you guys have the authority to do this? Is there
03:31any precedent for you designating this after a disaster like this?
03:37Because it changes the cost share, right? It would change it from 80% to 90%. Is
03:41that accurate? Yes, Senator, it would, and when I was a secretary in Delaware, I
03:45would drive on 695. It's signed as part of the interstate. I think we just all
03:50assumed it was part of the interstate, and so that was the first time that I've
03:53ever been part of re-designating it post an event, but it, for all intents and
03:59purposes, was part of the interstate. It was just related to its initial design
04:02exceptions back in the 1970s. Okay, so, but you do think this is the first time
04:07that you've done this? First time, to my knowledge, that we've done it after an
04:10event. We re-designate interstate all the time. So, what would happen then to the
04:14toll fees? Does that change anything with regard to the toll fees and how Maryland
04:17uses it? Does it designate as part of the interstate highway system? So, once they
04:21accepted the ER funds, that federalized the facility and would require any tolls
04:26to be used under Title 23. So, help me, for us regular civilians here
04:32who don't know what that means, what would that mean going forward for the
04:35state of Maryland? Because they've already talked about how they use this
04:37to maintain their toll system right now. What will happen going forward now that
04:40you've designated this? So, under Title 23, there are, you know, there's a list of
04:45things that you must do. The first is maintain the bridge or the toll facility
04:50so those funds can be used. And then, after that, there are certain things
04:54that are allowable all related to Title 23 highway expenses within the state. So,
05:00it's not going to impact Maryland's ability to be able to use those funds to
05:03continue to maintain their toll system. Is that accurate? No, sir. Okay, very good.
05:06I have other questions, but if we go to the second round, I'd like to get to
05:11those. If we don't, we can submit them in writing. Great. Thank you very much.
05:15Thank you, Senator Ricketts. And who is next? Would it be Sheldon Whitehouse?
05:20It would be. Senator Whitehouse, you're on.