[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 175 (Wednesday, November 16, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7588-S7589]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       EPA REGULATORY RELIEF ACT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Today, I would like to begin once again by focusing on 
a piece of jobs legislation that Republicans in the House have recently 
passed with significant bipartisan support and by calling on the 
Democratic majority in the Senate to follow the lead of the House 
Republicans by taking up this legislation and passing it right here in 
the Senate.
  The legislation I would like to highlight is H.R. 2250, the EPA 
Regulatory Relief Act. This legislation passed the House overwhelmingly 
last month. Forty-one Democrats supported it over in the House. Senator 
Collins has introduced a similar bill here in the Senate. It has strong 
bipartisan support.
  Most Americans are probably aware by now that the Obama 
administration is crushing businesses across the country with a 
mountain of redtape and new regulations that it imposes outside of the 
legislative process. When asked about their challenges, small business 
owners now rank these regulations at the very top of the challenges 
they face.
  One of the chief offenders is the EPA, and one of the most 
potentially damaging regulations this redtape factory has proposed 
relates to the boilers that are used by just about every manufacturer 
or institution in this country that doesn't get the power it needs from 
standard utilities.
  Right now, EPA wants to force anybody with an industrial-sized boiler 
to change their facilities to comply with a burdensome new regulation 
that, according to one study, could put 230,000 jobs at risk.
  So here is what Senator Collins has in mind that the EPA Regulatory 
Relief Act would do about all of this problem. Here is what it would do 
to protect jobs right here in America:
  First, Senator Collins' bill would provide more time for EPA to issue 
regulations for industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers, 
process heaters, and incinerators. This is the time EPA itself has 
indicated it needs in

[[Page S7589]]

order to collect more data and analysis and to finalize the rules, so 
it gives EPA what it says it needs. More specifically, it would provide 
EPA 15 months from the date of the bill's enactment to repropose and 
finalize the new boiler rules, which I want to emphasize the EPA has 
actually already requested at this time. This bill would also extend 
the compliance deadlines from 3 to 5 years, which would allow companies 
adequate time to comply with the new standards and install the required 
equipment.

  Crucially, this bill would also direct the EPA to ensure that the new 
rules are achievable and realistic. We all recognize the vital role the 
EPA plays in keeping the air we breathe and the water we drink clean 
and safe. We also need to get some commonsense limits on its actions, 
and that means putting in place laws that protect Americans against the 
kind of regulatory overreach that too many unelected bureaucrats in 
Washington seem to live for these days, especially in these challenging 
economic times.
  As I said, this bill has a lot of support not only from Republicans 
but from Democrats here in the Senate. In fact, 12 of the bill's 
cosponsors are Democrats. Like me, they understand and appreciate how 
these new rules would adversely affect jobs and manufacturing in this 
country, and they want to work with us to do something about it. So 
this is the perfect example of an issue on which the two parties 
actually agree. The perfect example.
  Senator Ron Wyden supports this bill because it directs the EPA to go 
back to the drawing board and craft boiler rules that are more in line 
with what is realistic from mills and factories, he said. Senator Wyden 
argues that the EPA itself has admitted its boiler rules need to be 
fixed.
  Here is how Senator Landrieu put it over the summer:

       With manufacturing being one of our bright spots in our 
     economic recovery, we cannot afford to jeopardize the 
     industry's health and the high-paying jobs it supplies to 
     this country. This legislation will give the EPA the time 
     extension it needs to craft a balanced approach that not only 
     keeps our environment clean, but also our economy strong . . 
     .

  This legislation is supported by the American Forest and Paper 
Association, the National Association of Manufacturing, the U.S. 
Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business, 
the Business Roundtable, the Biomass Power Association, and around 300 
other business groups. Too many jobs are at stake for the Senate not to 
act on this legislation that has actually already passed the House. I 
have previously mentioned an Ohio paper mill where 200 jobs are at 
stake as a result of this rule. The American Forest and Paper 
Association says 700,000 jobs in the paper industry alone are also at 
risk.
  The Republican House has done its job. Now it is time for the Senate 
to act. Let's take up the EPA Regulatory Relief Act, pass it, and send 
it on down to the President for his signature.
  If Democratic leaders cannot agree to take up and pass legislation 
the two parties actually agree on, then what will they agree to pass? 
Let's follow the House's lead and show the American people we can work 
together on this commonsense, bipartisan bill to protect jobs in 
American manufacturing.

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