[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 50 (Tuesday, April 13, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3640-S3641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. TORRICELLI:
  S. 775. A bill to require the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency to conduct a feasibility study for applying airport 
bubbles as a method of identifying, assessing, and reducing the adverse 
environmental impacts of airport ground and flight operations and 
improving the overall quality of the environment, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.


             The Right To Know About Airport Pollution Act

  Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Right To 
Know About Airport Pollution Act, and ask that my remarks be placed in 
the Record at the appropriate place. This important legislation will 
allow the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in conjunction with 
the FAA, to conduct a nationwide study of air, water, solid waste and 
noise pollution generated by airports across the U.S. every day. In 
addition, the bill will direct the EPA to determine whether current air 
emission standards are sufficient to protect the environment, and will 
require airports to be listed under Community Right To Know laws 
governing the use of hazardous materials.
  Many of my colleagues and I hear everyday from constituents who are 
concerned by the pollution, including noise pollution, created by 
airports in our states. In 1996, a Natural Resources Defense Council 
(NRDC) report confirmed that US airports rival smokestack industries in 
the amount of pollution they release into the environment. This growing 
problem affects every state in our nation and millions of our 
constituents. You do not have to be from a state with a large airport 
to understand that pollution associated with these facilities severely 
affects the health and impacts the quality of life of our constituents.
  While we must recognize that airport expansion is an inevitable by-
product of a vibrant economy, and that the government has a 
responsibility to foster economic growth and jobs, we also have an 
equal responsibility to mitigate the hazardous affects of pollution and 
noise on our constituents. The studies produced as a result of this 
legislation will give us a better idea as to the magnitude of the 
pollution problem caused by airports, and will allow us to prepare a 
commensurate response.
  Again, I would like to thank my colleagues who have demonstrated 
interest in this issue and look forward to the passage of this 
important legislation.

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