Federal Rule Book Threatens Gulf Rebuilding
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Federal regulation threatens to stifle reconstruction of the Gulf region. While Chicago, San Francisco, and other American cities have been rebuilt after catastrophes, they were rebuilt without being hindered by federal red tape. New Orleans, however, may become entwined in it.
The Bush administration recognizes some of the problems caused by regulation. President Bush is to be congratulated on promptly removing the requirements of the Davis Bacon Act, a 1930s statute requiring union labor to be hired for certain projects. But for every rule that is removed, thousands of others remain.
Consider, for example, the National Historic Preservation Act. Under this law, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation must have an opportunity to comment on each “federal undertaking” that might affect historic properties. Historic properties may include both those on a national registry and those that are eligible. The sites also may include those considered by Native American tribes to be of cultural or religious importance.
Tracking down all potential but unregistered historic sites has delayed if not crippled many recent federal undertakings. The federal government will be heavily involved in the reconstruction of the Gulf region, and it is difficult to see how many of those efforts will not be “federal undertakings.”
To make matters worse, last October, the Federal Communications Commission decided that all new cellular tower construction projects in America are technically “federal undertakings” that must comply with the NHPA. The FCC prescribed detailed rules. To their credit, the chairman of the FCC, Kevin Martin, and a commissioner, Kathleen Abernathy, partially dissented from those new rules.
Since last October, hundreds of planned cellular towers have wallowed in regulatory limbo awaiting clearance under NHPA. Each cellular tower serves an area covering many square miles. In a Kafkaesque scenario, tower operators and licensees have attempted to contact parties with potential historic sites that might be affected by a new tower. All of this effort has incurred substantial costs but resulted in no new towers.
Hurricane Katrina destroyed or disabled many cellular towers in the Gulf region. Restoring cellular service is difficult task requiring skilled engineers and technicians. But restoring service while complying with federal regulations will take an additional army of lawyers, a large bank account, and the patience of Job. The NHPA and accompanying rules are only a small part of federal regulations that impedes new construction in the Gulf region and throughout America.
New Orleans and federal construction dollars are not strangers. In the 19th century, the Army Corps of engineers drained wetlands, built levees to channel the Mississippi River, and engaged in other activities to promote the construction of New Orleans. Private investment built New Orleans on dry land made possible by the federal government. By the Civil War, New Orleans was by far the largest city in the South.
As a young nation, our government saw its role as promoting unrestricted economic development. Today, that role is reversed. In fact, little that the Army Corps of Engineers did in 19th-century New Orleans would be approved today.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Washington has appropriated $60 billion for immediate relief efforts, amounting to payments of about $20,000 for each person living in the most devastated areas. Sending money every few months to those who were displaced is far less efficient than letting them rebuild their homes, letting their employers restart their businesses, or letting companies offer simple services such as cellular telephony. But red tape is frustrating both the displaced residents and businesses of the Gulf region.
Each federal agency needs to make a serious and expeditious review of its regulations. Where they will delay reconstruction efforts, those rules should be modified or abolished. Private, not government, efforts rebuilt Chicago, San Francisco, and others devastated by natural calamities. Private efforts can rebuild New Orleans, if only the government will cooperate.
A former FCC commissioner, Mr. Furchtgott-Roth is president of Furchtgott-Roth Economic Enterprises. He can be reached at hfr@furchtgott-roth.com.