[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 154 (Friday, October 14, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1867]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   EPA REGULATORY RELIEF ACT OF 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 6, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2250) to 
     provide additional time for the Administrator of the 
     Environmental Protection Agency to issue achievable standards 
     for industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers, 
     process heaters, and incinerators, and for other purposes:

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 2250, the so-
called EPA Regulatory Relief Act. This legislation is a special 
interest giveaway to a few big industrial polluters that won't create 
jobs but will expose American families to unnecessary and unacceptable 
health risks.
  Despite the urgent need to create jobs and grow the economy, the 
House Republican majority is refusing to bring the American Jobs Act to 
the floor for a vote and instead, continues to bring up special 
interest bill after special interest bill for polluters who want to 
keep dumping toxic pollution into our air and water without 
consequence.
  We have already seen Republicans grant power and cement plants the 
license to continue emitting mercury, lead, arsenic and other 
pollutants. With this bill, Republicans are now seeking to delay and 
indefinitely block the ability of the EPA to regulate mercury emissions 
from industrial boilers and incinerators. These rules were called for 
21 years ago under the 1990 Clean Air Act and were to have been 
completed by 2000. According to EPA's analysis, delaying the current 
deadlines for cleaning up toxic pollution from the nation's largest 
industrial boilers and incinerators by three years, as called for by 
H.R. 2250, will result in 22,750 more premature deaths, 143,000 asthma 
attacks and over one million sick days. For the thousands of families 
living in the shadow of these boilers and incinerators, this bill will 
mean more neurological disorders, birth defects, learning disabilities, 
cancer and cardiovascular problems. Pregnant women and their developing 
fetuses and infants are particularly vulnerable to the deadly effects 
of mercury.
  The Great Lakes Commission just issued a report finding that mercury 
levels have dropped by 20 percent thanks to the efforts of local and 
state governments working with power plants and incinerators to clean 
up their emissions. However, the report also notes that mercury levels 
still remain too dangerously high in most of the Great Lakes. All of 
Minnesota's lakes and streams have fish advisory warnings. This not 
only has real impacts for human health, but on jobs and our economy. 
The recreational fishing industry on the Minnesota waters of Lake 
Superior contributes more than $10 million to our local economy. 1.4 
million Minnesotans fish, generating more than 43,000 jobs and $4.7 
billion for our state economy. H.R. 2250 is certainly a job-killer for 
Minnesota.
  The EPA estimates the cost of compliance for the boiler rule to be 
around $3 billion annually while providing between $17 billion to $41 
billion in benefits to the economy starting in 2014. Bruce Bartlett, 
former economic advisor to President Reagan, has noted that regulations 
were responsible for a miniscule 0.2 percent of layoffs in 2010. 
Despite the evidence, Republicans continue to claim the economic 
necessity of discarding the health of our children and communities in 
order to protect a few bad polluters.
  For over forty years, America has made tremendous bipartisan progress 
in cleaning up our environment while maintaining robust economic 
growth. We need to return to this tradition and refocus our attention 
on legislation that will actually address our pressing jobs crisis. I 
urge my colleagues to reject H.R. 2250 and stand-up for the health of 
American families.

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