[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 8, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E47-E48]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               SOUTHERN BORDER AIR QUALITY PROTECTION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DUNCAN HUNTER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 8, 2003

  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I proudly represent Southern California 
communities, many of which are along the U.S.-Mexico border. These 
border communities, by and large, have a good working relationship with 
their neighbors in Mexico. Unfortunately, their proximity to the border 
causes them to suffer the consequences of Mexico's more lax 
environmental requirements, especially with respect to air quality. As 
we all know, air does not respect the international boundaries we put 
in place and, as a result, border communities are

[[Page E48]]

often penalized for activities that are actually happening south of the 
border and beyond their control.
  At least partially due to the heavy regulatory and environmental 
compliance burdens, electrical generation facilities are locating in 
Mexico. While some companies are building power plants that meet U.S. 
standards, for which they should be commended, other companies are 
choosing to operate dirty plants as opposed to incurring the additional 
cost of installing the best available emission control devices.
  As a result, I am reintroducing the Southern Border Air Quality 
Protection Act. This bill takes an immediate and important step in 
acknowledging that we must consider air pollution a regional issue that 
does not respect international boundaries. My legislation will prohibit 
the export of natural gas to any electricity generation facility 
located in Mexico and within 50 miles of the U.S. that does not meet 
the air pollution emission rate requirements in the nearest U.S. air 
quality control region. In addition, the legislation includes a 
grandfathering clause so that any plants put in service before December 
31, 2002 are exempted from this law.
  This bill is necessary to protect our border communities from rapidly 
increasing emissions from unregulated, substandard power plants that 
leave U.S. communities vulnerable to Federal regulatory sanctions. If a 
plant isn't good enough to build and operate five miles inside the 
border in California, then it shouldn't be good enough to operate five 
miles across the border in Mexico.
  I realize this is a first step and that more work must be done to 
create cross border air quality zones. I look forward to working with 
the appropriate U.S. agencies and the Mexican government to implement 
such binational agreements. In the meantime, this legislation is 
immediately necessary for the protection of our border communities and 
I urge all my colleagues to join me in this effort to ensure the clean 
air throughout the region.

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