National Affairs and Legislation Committee The Garden Club of America

112th Congress, 1st Session September 26, 2011 Update #6 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES VERSUS EPA REGULATIONS: ANOTHER ROUND
Administration sends tighter clean air regulations off the tracks Stop the TRAIN! Continuing Appropriations for FY2012 showdownanother train wreck?
How you can help: If you favor enforcement of Clean Air Act rules that stop polluters from spewing
substances into the atmosphere that are harmful to human health and to our planets future, then keep up the pressure! Make sure your representative and senators know that there is support in their constituencies for setting standards that protect our health and for reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. If your Representative was one of the four Republicans or a Democrat who voted against the TRAIN bill, be sure to thank him or her. Tell your representative and senators that no matter what they hear from corporations, businesses, industries, power plant and farm lobbyists about how costly it will be to comply with the proposed regulations, their constituents simply cannot afford to breathe smog- and soot-laden air laced with mercury and other harmful chemicals. Remind them that there are huge dollar costs to ignoring these problemscosts that are borne by those who are hospitalized or under treatment for lung cancer, asthma or other illnesses caused or worsened by dirty air, and unable to work or attend school. Thwarting proposed tighter regulations may save money for the corporations, but for every dollar saved for corporate profits, many more dollars will have to be spent by everyday people whose wellbeing is compromised by dirty air. Share the same message with the White House. It is possible that the administration underestimates how much support there is for better enforcement of laws that have been on the books but ignored for decades. (Check the new LCV public opinion poll to see the extent of public support. Go to http://www.lcv.org/assets/docs/092111-epa-poll-memo.pdf )

Administration pulls back on clean air limits:

Supporters of firm enforcement of the Clean Air Act requirements to limit emission of substances harmful to human health and the environment are dismayed and disappointed at recent Obama Administration actions to delay proposed regulations that would carry out court orders to enforce the Clean Air Act. Citing expense and potential economic and jobs impact, as well as technical implementation difficulties, the administration has pulled back on several fronts in recent weeks: Greenhouse Gas emissions: EPA on September 15 announced that it will miss the September 30 deadline for proposing new rules on greenhouse gas emissions for power plants. This came after EPA had been granted an extension of its original July 26 deadline. The deadline to issue a final rule still remains May 26, 2012. Although EPA still says it plans to implement the new rules, those concerned with the health and environmental impact of GHG emissions are disheartened at the delay, especially since it seems to be part of a developing pattern. Ozone/smog: After EPA missed four deadlines, President Obama on September 2 told EPA Administrator Jackson to withdraw the EPA proposed rule to tighten ozone standards to 60-70 parts per billion (ppb). This was the level recommended by EPAs Science Advisory Panel as necessary to prevent

asthma attacks and other health problems. The standard currently being enforced allows 84 ppb. President George W. Bush declined to tighten the standard as much as scientists recommended and instead proposed a standard of 75 ppb; however, it was never implemented. The administration says it will revisit the issue and finalize new standards in July 2014. Even though EPA Administrator earlier dismissed the 75 ppb standard as inadequate, EPA now plans to enforce the 75 ppb standard beginning sometime later this year. Boiler emissions: In May, EPA delayed implementation of its newly finalized emission standards for industrial boilers and furnaces for three years, even though the federal district court had told EPA to issue a final rule by February 2011. Paper, wood products, chemical and other industries are firmly opposed to tighter boiler standards. EPAs Lisa Jackson

Lung disease activists and other health advocacy groups along with members of many environmental organizations have been deluging EPA and the White House with messages of profound disappointment and some have even called for the EPA Administrators resignation. Despite this widespread disillusionment, there may be technical, legal and tactical reasons behind the decisions to go slow on these regulations. Congressional Republicans have declared war on EPA environmental regulations and will continue to challenge proposed tighter regulations on every possible groundshindering economic recovery, killing jobs, raising energy costs, violating procedures and sheer impracticability. Therefore, it is argued, the administration might be justified in moving very carefully, and slowly, to make sure its proposals are absolutely rock solid legally, procedurally and practically before moving ahead.

TRAIN (Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation) Act, H.R. 2401:
In the House Republicans relentless orchestrated campaign to stop EPA regulations, the House passed the socalled TRAIN bill on September 23 on a 223-180 vote with only four Republicans voting no (Bass of NH; Biggert and Dold of Illinois, and Hayworth of NY) and 19 Democrats voting yes.1 Bill supporters called the measure responsible action against a significant threat to jobs and the economy while opponents charged that the bills effects would be felt in emergency rooms nationwide and would result in more than 33,00 premature deaths, thousands of heart attacks and tens of thousands of asthma attacks. Outlook: Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Boxer (D-CA) and Sen. Lautenberg (D-NJ) were sharply critical of the House action and vowed the bill would be dead on arrival in the Senate. Even if the Senate were to pass it, President Obama issued a statement saying he would veto the bill. Overriding a veto requires a twothirds vote in each house. Thus even though this particular bill is not expected to become law in its present form as a stand-alone measure, dont rule out the possibilities that it could be added to some other must pass legislation, such as an appropriations bill, or modified to achieve a two-thirds majority. Given the Republicans and business/industry communitys determination to stop EPA regulations, this threat should not be discounted.2 TRAIN is just the first in a series of more than half a dozen bills House Majority Leader Cantor has teed up to stop various environmental regulations, including measures regarding mercury, boiler emissions and cement kilns.3 In a disturbing development, Senators Portman (R-OH) and Pryor (D-AR) introduced the Regulatory Accountability Act, S. 1606, on September 22 to provide more advance public scrutiny of regulations having high economic costs, among other provisions. House co-sponsors are Reps. Smith (R-TX) and Peterson (D-MN). What would TRAIN do? Set up an inter-agency commission led by the Secretary of Commerce to study the combined costs of new EPA rules for the power sector, cement kilns and gasoline formulation requirements and report back to Congress next year. Delay for at least three years implementation of two important power plant emission rules: the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) .

Altmire (PA), Barrow (GA), Bishop (GA), Boren (OK), Boswell (IA), Cardoza (CA), Chandler (KY), Costa (CA), Costello (IL), Critz (PA), Cuellar (TX), Donnelly (IN), Holden (PA), Matheson (UT), McIntyre (NC), Peterson (MN), Rahall (WV), Ross (AR), Sewell (AL) 2 Interestingly, the power generators are split. The Clean Energy Group (including Exelon and Constellation Energy) support the measure and say that most power plants can readily comply, including the 60 percent of coal-fired plants that already have scrubbers. Coal-fired power generators generally opposed the EPA regulations. 3 For the list, see the Current Status Report for September 9, 2011, under NEPA.

Delay implementation of the so-called Utility MACT rule scheduled to become final in November to control mercury and other hazardous power plant emissions. MACT stands for Maximum Achievable Control Technology and requires installation of state-of-the-art processes and devices to reduce emissions. Under the Latta (R-OH) amendment added to the bill, EPA would be required to consider costs and economic factors when formulating regulations, not just the best way to protect public health.

Continuing Resolution for FY 2012 (CR), H.J.Res. 76:

The current fiscal year ends at midnight September 30. Not one of the dozen appropriations bills to operate federal agencies and programs for the next fiscal year has been enacted, although six have been passed by the House and all but four have been at least reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The operative assumption was that the House and Senate would work out an omnibus continuing resolution (CR) to carry funding at current levels through mid-November to allow time for a full-year compromise approach to be adopted. The hope was this would allow Congress to take a scheduled recess this week in observance of Jewish holidays and also have a little more time to come to agreement on contentious issues in the Interior-Environment and the Agriculture bills, among others. Last week this strategy collapsed. The first time the measure came to the House floor on September 21, it failed 195 to 230 when 48 mostly Tea Party Republicans voted no because of they wanted the overall level for FY 2012 to be less than the $1.04 trillion agreed to in the Budget Control Act. Democrats balked at supporting it because in order to boost Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) funding for natural disaster relief and repair, the bill included cuts in the clean car subsidy program. House leadership promptly went back to the drawing board and came up with a bill that still cut the clean car program by $1.5 billion to offset disaster relief at FEMA and the Corps of Engineers, but also had a symbolic $100 million cut in the Department of Energy loan guarantee program for solar energythe same program that sent more than $500 million to the bankrupt Solyndra Corporation. This second bill had enough Republican support to pass 219-203. When the House bill comes up for a Senate vote this evening, September 26, no one expects it to pass. The Senate has refused to cut environmental programs such as the clean cars program that have both jobs and clean energy elements in order to pay for disaster relief. Instead the Senate last week passed a $7 billion disaster-aid bill with no budget offsets, nearly double the House level. The Senate Democratic leadership is also on record opposed to cutting FY2012 appropriations below the level agreed to last month in the Budget Control Act. The clock is ticking. Without a CR in place by October 1, the government would have to shut down. Once again, however, the CR is as much about environmental issues and symbolism as it is about spending. Stay tuned as the House and Senate try to find a way to avoid a budgetary train wreck.

How to contact your legislators:

To send email to your representative, go to https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml. To send e-mail to your senator, go to http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and scroll to the senators name. There you will see a web form address in red type. Click on that address and follow the directions for sending e-mail. To telephone any legislator, call the Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121. Ask for your senator's or representative's office. When the phone is answered, say that you want to leave a message about an issue. A very young aide will take the message or send you to the legislators voice mail. This seems impersonal, but is nevertheless effectivelegislators keep track of how many calls come in on different issues and the direction in which sentiment is running. Even a relatively small number of calls are enough to warrant serious consideration of the view expressed.

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NAL updates serve in an advisory capacity, based on committee research. Individual clubs and members may act on any issue as they choose. Editor: Martha Phillips (mhphillips@optonline.net). All e-mails and faxes are sent from GCA Headquarters. To unsubscribe: Contact Mary Jane at GCA Headquarters, 212-753-8287, or maryjane@gcamerica.org