[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 160 (Wednesday, December 12, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7783-S7784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REDUCING REGULATORY BURDENS ACT OF 2011
Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, I have come to the floor to discuss
legislation we could actually pass. I am not talking about the fiscal
cliff or sequester or anything quite so heavy, but nevertheless very
important. It has bipartisan support, sort of, been passed out of the
Senate Agriculture Committee, passed out of the House of
Representatives by over 300 votes, but it has yet to be brought to the
Senate floor for debate. That debate could be over within a half hour.
The majority leader talks about bipartisan support for legislation
and hurdles to bring the bipartisan legislation to the floor. Obviously
we have them. But I want to remind the Senate that this bill has
already passed the House, as I have said, with broad bipartisan support
and, again, with over 300 votes. That does not happen often in the
House of Representatives these days. It passed out of the Senate
Agriculture Committee with bipartisan support. It did not even have to
have a hearing. Yet the majority leader has not allowed this bill to
come to the floor for a vote. I urge him to do that.
I am talking about H.R. 872. What is that? That is the Reducing
Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011. How could anybody be opposed to that?
It has been pending before the Senate for 17 months. That is long
enough. That is certainly long overdue. This bill was placed on the
Senate Calendar on June 21 in 2011. We need to pass this bill. We
[[Page S7784]]
need to debate it very quickly and pass this bill. It is a short bill
but it is very critical to address a court decision that endangers the
public health and places additional paperwork burdens on States that
are facing very difficult budget times.
Let me be clear. This is a pesticide safety bill, pesticides that are
used to protect our crops and to protect our public safety. I am not
saying, nobody is saying, nobody ever will say, pesticides should never
be regulated. I just do not think it needs to be done twice. H.R. 872
does not alter pesticide regulation. Pesticide applications are subject
to the terms that are printed on a product label as approved by the
Environmental Protection Agency. It is against the law to apply
pesticides in a manner that does not comply with the EPA's approval.
Last December, 25 of our colleagues wrote to our majority leader and
our Republican leader requesting an open debate on H.R. 872, a
bipartisan bill. I ask unanimous consent to have a copy of the letter
printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(See exhibit 1.)
Mr. ROBERTS. Despite bipartisan requests for consideration, the bill
failed to be considered before regulatory requirements went into effect
last year. We are already seeing costs to States, to communities, and
to businesses that total up millions of dollars. Regulations now in
effect are duplicative--a Senate word, a 35-cent word. That means we do
not need it. We already have a bill in place. We already have
regulation in place. This regulation requires businesses to undertake
what amounts to a paperwork exercise. These requirements can slow
responses to real public health crises such as West Nile virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report over 5,000
cases of West Nile virus this year and sadly over 230 deaths. That is
not right. Pesticide applications are currently and should continue to
be regulated under FIFRA, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and
Rodenticide Act. This bill does what all of our constituents are
telling us to do and that is to protect human health and eliminate
duplicative, unnecessary regulatory actions.
The additional paperwork and permitting processes that States and
pesticide applicators must undertake provide no additional
environmental protection, zip, zero. It is just additional
environmental review. The EPA estimates that approximately 365,000
pesticide applicators will need permits to cover about 5.6 million
applications per year. Public health officials, farmers, other
pesticide applicators under this regulatory impact would not be facing
these requirements if the administration had chosen to vigorously
defend its longstanding policy that the protections under the Federal
pesticide law were sufficient to protect the environment.
Again, estimates suggest this duplicative regulation will require
365,000 individuals--a requirement that will cost $50 million and
require 1 million hours per year to implement--just to fill out the
paperwork. Bottom line, it will not add any environmental protection.
This layer of redtape will place a huge financial burden on the
shoulders of cities, of counties, farm families all across the country
as well as State governments responsible for enforcement while at the
same time facing dire budget situations.
Beyond agency enforcement, they will also now be exposed to the
threat of litigation under the clean water law's citizen suit
provisions. I think you have the real key as to where this bill was
headed. Some of you might say there are special exemptions for public
health emergencies, but environmental groups are challenging emergency
actions taken this summer to address the mosquito-borne illnesses such
as eastern equine encephalitis--not something to take an action against
if you are faced with one of these kinds of threats. Yet we have not
been able to move H.R. 872, to come up for a vote despite clear
bipartisan support.
It seems to me Congress must act to end this regulatory duplication
and clarify that they do not need this additional burden when they are
trying to prioritize staffing and resources.
I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill to protect
human health and put an end to this very costly regulation. With regard
to the bill again, it is 872, passed the House by over 300 votes,
bipartisan support in the Agriculture Committee, didn't even have to
have a hearing. Let's move this bill. It is something we can do. It
makes sense.
Exhibit 1
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC, December 8, 2011.
Hon. Harry Reid,
Senate Majority Leader, The Capitol, Washington, DC.
Hon. Mitch McConnell,
Senate Minority Leader, The Capitol, Washington, DC.
Dear Senators Reid and McConnell: We request your
leadership in helping to resolve the following issue at the
earliest possible opportunity.
As you are aware, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
recently finalized its Pesticide General Permit (PGP) under
the Clean Water Act (CWA), pursuant to a ruling by the Court
of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in National Cotton Council v.
EPA. Under this new permitting system, certain pesticide
applicators will be required to meet PGP or other permitting
requirements in addition to regulation under the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.
On March 31, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 872,
the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011, which would
address National Cotton Council v. EPA. This legislation then
passed the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and
Forestry on June 21 by voice vote.
We are aware that efforts had been made to come to a
bipartisan resolution before these new permitting
requirements went into effect. However, we believe there is
still an opportunity to resolve this matter in a way that
will protect the environment while avoiding undue costs on
rural communities and municipalities nationwide. Thus, it is
our sincere hope that you will allot floor time for the
Senate to have a full, open debate on this matter.
While we recognize that many important legislative items
vie for limited floor time, this is a rare opportunity to
demonstrate to the American public that Democrats and
Republicans are capable of working together to address
important issues.
Sincerely,
Mike Crapo, Kay Hagan, Richard Burr, Marco Rubio, David
Vitter, James Risch, John Boozman, Mike Johanns, Roy
Blunt, Rob Portman, Richard Lugar, Mary Landrieu, Kent
Conrad, Tom Carper, Chris Coons, Ben Nelson, Max
Baucus, Claire McCaskill, Tim Johnson, Amy Klobuchar,
John Hoeven, John Thune, Orrin Hatch, Lamar Alexander,
Joe Manchin.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
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