Providing for Congressional Disapproval of the Rule Submitted By the Environmental Protection Agency Relating to ``Control of Air Pollution From New Motor Vehicles: Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards''

Floor Speech

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding the time and for his steadfastness in standing up for the public health of all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Republican's bill, S.J. Res. 11. What my Republican colleagues are trying to do here is roll back a very important Environmental Protection Act rule that was developed to tackle air pollution across America under the Clean Air Act, air pollution specifically that comes from heavy-duty trucks and buses.

For over 50 years, the Clean Air Act has served us well. It is one of our bedrock environmental laws that improves the air that we breathe. It tackles polluting plants and vehicles through using the latest science and technology to constantly evolve and improve.

Oftentimes, the EPA works with industry, as they did here with the trucking industry, to ensure that there is a balance, that we are improving the air we breathe and still maintaining jobs and economic growth over time.

What the Clean Air Act has brought us over the past 50 years has been consistent improvement in the air that we breathe. In fact, there have been dramatic improvements. When we are talking about cleaner air, we are talking about healthier communities and healthier families.

Think about your friends and family members with asthma or heart disease or some kind of lung infection. That is why it is so important to make sure that EPA is constantly evolving in the science and technology we are using in cleaning up our air.

It is important to tackle the problem of heavy-duty trucks and buses. Why? They constitute about 6 percent of the vehicles on the road, but 59 percent of smog-producing elements: that means nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and particulate matter. The last time that EPA updated their rule relating to heavy-duty trucks and buses was 20 years ago.

Science and technology have evolved. The trucking industry has evolved. We can continue to make progress for American families. Even with the progress that we have made, one in three Americans live in counties with unhealthy air pollution. Back home in the Tampa Bay area, I can think of many communities along the interstate highways and along our industrial centers where there is a lot of traffic, especially from heavy-duty trucks and buses that are really weighing on the air quality in those neighborhoods.

This is a way, thankfully, for EPA to continue its mission to clean up the air under the Clean Air Act and make sure they are doing it in a scientifically sound manner. They are always working with industry on ways to improve and to protect public health. For all those reasons, I urge my colleagues to oppose this Republican resolution. Allow the Environmental Protection Agency to cut pollution, improve our health, and save lives. Let's put people over politics and make sure we are doing all we can do to improve the health and lives of our American neighbors.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote.

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