Should we give states more time to reach EPA standards?
Bill Summary
This bill would provide states with additional time and flexibility to implement the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) revised ground-level ozone and air quality standards which were completed in October 2015. Certain deadlines imposed by the EPA standards would be delayed, including the designation of states that haven’t met the standards which now wouldn’t occur until 2026. Additionally, the 2015 ozone standard wouldn’t apply to new air permits that are completed before the EPA makes its final nonattainment designations for states that don’t meet the ozone standards. Sponsor: Rep. Pete Olsen [R-TX-22]
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Opponents say
• Rep. Kathy Castor urges: “What this bill does, it guts the Clean Air Act. It allows more pollution and threatens the public health. If America is going to be a leader in the world in science, why would we say we are not going to consider the science when we are considering our environmental laws and standards in the public health?”
• California Attorney General Xavier Becerra contends: “Clean air shouldn’t be a luxury, and we shouldn’t make people wait even longer to get it. Can you imagine the pain a parent feels when his or her child can’t breathe? This legislation is a giant step backward for clean air and public health.”
• California Attorney General Xavier Becerra contends: “Clean air shouldn’t be a luxury, and we shouldn’t make people wait even longer to get it. Can you imagine the pain a parent feels when his or her child can’t breathe? This legislation is a giant step backward for clean air and public health.”
Proponents say
• Sponsor Rep. Pete Olson argues: “The current system is broken. The guys have been waiting seven years to get some certainty, and all of a sudden it changes. We said we want clean air and water, but give them at least 10 years, if they need it.”
• Senator Shelley Capito, one of the bill’s co-sponsors stated: “In West Virginia and across the country, states have suffered job losses and economic devastation under the regulatory burdens of the previous administration. The Ozone Standards Implementation Act will provide more clarity, more regulatory certainty, and ease the economic burden of never-ending overreach.”
• Senator Shelley Capito, one of the bill’s co-sponsors stated: “In West Virginia and across the country, states have suffered job losses and economic devastation under the regulatory burdens of the previous administration. The Ozone Standards Implementation Act will provide more clarity, more regulatory certainty, and ease the economic burden of never-ending overreach.”
- CBO: H.R. 806, Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2017
- House Takes Up Bill to Delay Ozone Rule Compliance
- California joins coalition opposing Ozone Standards Implementation of 2017
- Congress Could Block One of Obama’s Most Expensive Regulations
- What Would Thoreau Think of Climate Change? #TuesdayThoughts
