[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 118 (Tuesday, September 20, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S10231]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S10231]]
                                S. 1711

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, while I do not make it a practice to 
comment on every bill that has been introduced, I am moved to remark on 
what I consider to be a particularly misguided recent legislative 
initiative--a bill allowing the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, 
the very agency charged with protecting the public's health, to waive 
all laws under its jurisdiction--public health and environmental laws--
during the cleanup of hurricane Katrina. The bill, S. 1711, would even 
allow these waivers over local and State opposition.
  People returning to areas devastated by the hurricane deserve to 
know, among other things, that their water is safe to drink and that 
new construction won't put them or their families in harm's way by 
polluting their air or by destroying wetlands that can provide valuable 
ecological services. Although the legislation calls for up to 18 months 
of waivers, given the long-term nature of the types of activities 
involved, the effects of these waivers could be long lasting.
  The broad approach being pushed is completely unnecessary and puts 
people and the environmental resources they depend upon at risk. While 
all of us want to help those affected by hurricane Katrina, there is 
simply no valid reason to think that we need to erode established 
environmental and public health protections in order to do so. We 
should be focused not on efforts that could harm the very people who 
have already faced the unthinkable but on efforts that will safeguard 
the health of the public and the health of the environment. Anything 
short of this should be off the table.

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