[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 4 (Monday, January 9, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E57]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E57]]

  LEGISLATION DIFFERENTIATING ANIMAL FATS AND VEGETABLE OIL FROM TOXIC 
                         OIL UNDER FEDERAL LAW

                                 ______


                          HON. THOMAS W. EWING

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 9, 1995

  Mr. EWING. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing legislation, along with Ms. 
Danner of Missouri, requiring Federal agencies to differentiate between 
organic oils--animal fats and vegetable oils--and petroleum-based oils 
when promulgating regulations under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.
  This commonsense legislation does not change or weaken the underlying 
principles of the Oil Protection Act of 1990 or the other related 
statutes, like the Clean Water Act. It simply requires agencies to, 
one, differentiate animal fats and vegetable oils from other oils, and 
two, proposes regulations that recognize the differences in the 
characteristics or properties of these oils. These natural products are 
nontoxic, and their unnecessary regulation forces businesses to comply 
with costly and counterproductive requirements.
  The need for this legislation is prompted by the regulations recently 
issued under provisions of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and the laws 
amended by the act. The Oil Pollution Act was designed to reduce the 
risk of, improve the response to, and minimize the impact of 
catastrophic oil spills, like the one in Prince William Sound, Alaska. 
Unfortunately, the Oil Pollution Act's definition of ``oil,'' has been 
broadly applied to nontoxic agricultural products rather than just 
toxic oils.
  Nobody in their right mind would purposely ingest toxic products, but 
many of us consume food products manufactured with animal fats and 
vegetable oils every day. I think we can all agree agricultural oils to 
not pose the same risk to the environment and human health as toxic 
synthetic oils and, therefore, should not be regulated in the same 
fashion by the Federal Government.
  In the 103d Congress many Members of this body agreed with me and 
signed letters to Secretary Pena and Administrator Browner on this 
subject. A version of this legislation was passed twice by the House as 
part of H.R. 4422 and H.R. 4852. The Senate also passed virtually the 
same measure.
  Today, I am once again asking for the support of my colleagues to 
correct the unintended consequences of the Oil Pollution Act and other 
Federal environmental laws as we work to eliminate the unnecessary and 
costly regulatory burdens placed on U.S. business that do not add any 
additional measure of protection to the environment or the health and 
safety of our citizens.

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