[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 114 (Wednesday, July 27, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1427]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2012

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. MAXINE WATERS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 26, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2684) making 
     appropriations for the Department of the Interior, 
     environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2012, and for other purposes:

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chair, I rise to oppose the underlying bill and the 
numerous extreme, anti-environmental riders included therein.
  I rise to oppose the underlying bill and the numerous extreme, anti-
environmental riders included therein.
  Mr. Chair, this bill is full of anti-environmental riders. These 
riders are legislative provisions that were attached to an 
appropriations bill because they are far too extreme to pass Congress 
on their own merits. Together, these riders undermine decades of 
progress protecting our nation's environmental heritage. They threaten 
the air we breath and the water we drink.
  One of the riders in this bill stops the Environmental Protection 
Agency, EPA, from giving Clean Water Act protection to critical 
headwaters and streams that supply drinking water to about 117 million 
Americans.
  Another rider prevents the EPA from updating its stormwater discharge 
regulations to manage polluted stormwater runoff, which contaminates 
water supplies and contributes to beach closures. Last year was the 
second highest year on record for beach closings and advisories.
  Yet another rider changes current law to eliminate requirements for 
chemical companies to obtain permits for pesticides entering rivers and 
streams. This will mean even more of these toxic poisons in our lakes, 
rivers, fishing places, and drinking water supplies.
  The Cross-State Air Pollution rider prohibits EPA from implementing a 
rule to protect communities from pollution caused by power plants 
upwind of them. EPA estimates that this rule will prevent up to 34,000 
premature deaths, 15,000 heart attacks, 400,000 cases of aggravated 
asthma, and 1.8 million sick days a year beginning in 2014.
  The Mercury and Air Toxics rider blocks EPA from finalizing a rule 
reducing emissions of mercury and other toxics from power plants. EPA 
estimates that this rule could deliver as much as $140 billion in 
health benefits and prevent 17,000 premature deaths each year.
  The Cement Kilns rider prohibits EPA from enforcing limits on 
emissions of mercury, particulate matter, and hydrochloric acid from 
cement kilns. These limits would reduce mercury pollution and fine 
particulate matter from cement kilns by 92 percent, preventing up to 
2,500 premature deaths and avoiding 17,000 cases of aggravated asthma 
each year.
  Finally, the Offshore Drilling rider allows oil companies to pollute 
more by exempting support vessels involved in offshore oil drilling 
from regulation. This provision undermines the ability of the EPA to 
ensure that oil drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf proceeds 
safely, responsibly, and with opportunities for stakeholder input. 
We've already seen from the BP oil spill how dangerous offshore oil 
drilling can be.
  On top of all of these dangerous riders, this bill slashes funding 
for the EPA by 18 percent below the 2011 level, in addition to the 16 
percent cut that was inflicted on the agency when compared to the 2010 
level. These cuts would leave the Environmental Protection Agency 
unable to effectively regulate pollution or protect public health, even 
when it is not prevented from doing so by an anti-environmental rider.
  This entire bill is a threat to our public lands and our public 
health, and I urge my colleagues to vote against it.

                          ____________________