[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15033]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   WE MUST PROTECT OUR BORDER COMMUNITIES FROM DIRTY AIR AND UNFAIR 
                               SANCTIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, we all know that pollution knows no 
boundaries. As much as we wish they could, the Border Patrol is not 
able to stop air pollution from coming over our international borders.
  Right now, communities on our international border are being 
bombarded with pollutants from our neighboring countries. It is making 
air quality along the border even worse and leaves those communities 
with no recourse.
  I introduced a bill, H.R. 4774, to provide Federal assistance to 
combat air pollution at the border, to ensure that our communities are 
not unfairly penalized.
  Imperial County in my Southern California district, which takes up 
much of the U.S. Mexico border in the State, is severely impacted by 
air pollution because it sits in the middle of an air basin that 
straddles the international border with Mexico.
  Mexico simply does not have the same strict air quality standards as 
does the United States. Imperial County has not met national and State 
air quality standards as a result, so any air pollution created in the 
international air basin has serious consequences for the health of my 
community's citizens.
  I have deep concerns about a recent Federal Court ruling regarding 
the air quality of Imperial County and the subsequent actions on the 
part of the Environmental Protection Agency.
  Imperial County has demonstrated to EPA that the county would have 
only moderate pollution were it not for serious air pollution from 
Mexicali, Mexico. EPA agreed. However, outside groups took EPA to court 
and they ruled in turn that Imperial County's air pollution should 
indeed be classified as serious.
  This is a devastating ruling for Imperial County. Unemployment 
averages 20 to 30 percent. The ability to attract new employment 
opportunities will be greatly hindered. Economic development will be 
halted. Agricultural activities will not be able to begin.

                              {time}  1700

  The chaos and expense to Imperial County will not address the real 
cause of nonattainment: cross-border pollutants.
  Imperial County has an asthma rate that is off the charts, the worst 
in the State, probably the worst in the Nation. Asthma-related 
hospitalization rates are five to six times greater than the overall 
rate in California. This statistic is a statistic that I and many 
others in our community are fighting to change, but we cannot change it 
if we are not pushed to work with our neighbor to the south.
  For that reason, I introduced the bill H.R. 4774, the FAIR Air Act, 
fair meaning the Foreign Air Impact Regulation, which will compel the 
United States at the Federal level to work more closely with our 
neighbors in trying to reduce air pollution. This bill says that if 
pollution from another country causes nonattainment of pollution 
regulations, EPA and the Secretary of State should work together to 
lower it; do not put it on the backs of the farmers and the working 
people in Imperial County.
  My bill would direct the Secretary of State to negotiate with his or 
her counterparts in the foreign country to develop a plan to improve 
air quality. It requires EPA to deliver a report to Congress that lays 
out the agreed-upon binational steps with binational funding to back it 
up, those steps to improve the air quality in the region; and directs 
the EPA to take action to help the region implement the plan; and, 
finally, delays EPA's authority to move border air quality regions to a 
higher pollution nonattainment status until the previous items have 
been completed.
  We simply cannot put this international problem on the backs of those 
who simply happen to live along the border. There truly needs to be a 
binational cooperative solution. We live in the same air shed, and we 
are interested in good neighborly relations.
  I am fighting to help our binational communities come into compliance 
with air quality standards with help from both sets of governments. It 
is only with cooperation and working together to achieve a common goal 
that we can indeed reduce air pollution and keep the children in 
Imperial County from suffering from asthma.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4774, the FAIR Air Act, will help to achieve that 
purpose. I urge my colleagues to support that bill.

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