[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 143 (Friday, September 23, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1705-E1706]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TRANSPARENCY IN REGULATORY ANALYSIS OF IMPACTS ON THE NATION ACT OF 
                                  2011

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 22, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under

[[Page E1706]]

     consideration the bill (H.R. 2401) to require analyses of the 
     cumulative and incremental impacts of certain rules and 
     actions of the Environmental Protection Agency, and for other 
     purposes:

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chair, for decades public health has been the basis 
for how we enact emissions standards. The bill before us today, the 
TRAIN Act, represents a view of environmental protection that is simply 
off the rails.
  Initially drafted to study the effect of new and proposed clean air 
rules, it has troublingly morphed into a bill blocking action on them 
indefinitely. First, it would prohibit the EPA from finalizing its rule 
to reduce mercury emissions. This rule had its origin in the 1990 Clean 
Air Act, which passed this House with a strong bipartisan vote of 401-
25. An American Lung Association study earlier this year found that 
today 70 percent of Republicans still support stricter limits on 
mercury. Second, the TRAIN Act would prevent the implementation of new 
rules protecting communities from pollutants drifting over from out-of-
state.
  Clean air regulations are ultimately investments in our economy. They 
save us hundreds of billions of dollars each year in health costs from 
associated lung ailments. Even further, they incentivize the growth of 
clean technologies that will help us remain competitive and increase 
our innovation and manufacturing strength here in America.
  While I oppose this bill overall, Congressmen Connolly and McNerney 
have proposed amendments that would refocus the bill where Congress's 
attention belongs--job creation. Their amendments would support 
Democrats' Make It in America plan by studying the job-creating effects 
of pollution controls. Additionally, Congresswoman Richardson's 
amendment would prevent a cut in the program reauthorized just last 
year by voice vote that supports American-made technology to reduce 
diesel bus exhaust.
  Now is not the time to debate the environmental protections supported 
overwhelmingly and on a bipartisan basis, which carry tangible health 
and economic benefits. Instead we should be focusing on serious steps 
to get more Americans back to work.

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