Providing for Congressional Disapproval of the Rule Submitted By the Environmental Protection Agency Relating to ``Review of Final Rule Reclassification of Major Sources As Area Sources Under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act''

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to S.J. Res. 31. On the day that House Republicans have been planning to actively strip healthcare away from 13.7 million Americans, they are also seeking to make Americans sicker by giving some of the worst industrial polluters a free pass to pump dangerous chemicals into communities across the Nation. With this resolution, Republicans are repealing critical Clean Air Act safeguards that have been in place for decades.

The regulatory rule Republicans are trying to repeal today is first and foremost a public health protection measure. It requires facilities that emit the worst of the worst hazardous air pollutants to monitor, report, and cut those emissions to the maximum degree of reduction achievable, even eliminating them entirely if possible.

The rule also prevents any backsliding by major sources of the seven most dangerous hazardous air pollutants, including mercury and PCBs. By repealing this rule, Republicans are going to allow large facilities to increase their toxic emissions up to just below the legal limit, endangering the health of American communities.

The cruelty of the Republican majority cannot be overstated. Let me be clear. The dangerous air pollution this rule protects us from can cause cancer, birth defects, developmental disorders, and neurological problems, even at small levels of exposure.

Unfortunately, Republicans want to make it easier for large industrial polluters to increase their emissions of these chemicals, regardless of the harms. They want to make Americans sicker at the same time they are looking to strip away their health coverage.

Allowing nearly 2,000 large industrial facilities to escape from their Clean Air Act compliance obligations, as this resolution allows, will not magically push them to invest in new technologies to clean up. There is zero evidence that giving facilities a free pass leads to less pollution. In fact, the opposite is certainly true.

Passing this resolution will be a race to the bottom, giving these facilities the green light to permanently abandon their long-installed pollution control equipment that are currently saving lives. This Republican resolution will allow these facilities to spew hazardous air pollution into the air with reckless abandon, and increase cancer- causing pollutants without consequence.

It will also allow these facilities to stop monitoring and reporting to the EPA which would end any chance of accountability for surrounding communities. The Trump EPA has been clear that enforcement of environmental laws is not a priority, so American families will be at the mercy of large corporate polluters.

This resolution proves, once again, that Republicans are completely out of touch. Americans are struggling to make ends meet and facing the reality that Republicans may soon strip them and their families of healthcare, but their focus is on repealing commonsense protections that make the air safer to breathe.

In the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments, Congress recognized the clear and present danger caused by hazardous air pollution coming from large industrial sources across the country. It is because of the requirements put in place to address that danger that we have seen such sharp emission reductions and cleaner air over the past one-half century. To turn back now because of a CRA vote would be catastrophic, especially for anyone who lives near an industrial facility.

It is not enough to gut the healthcare of millions of Americans. Republicans first want to make sure the air we all breathe will do us harm. S.J. Res. 31 is cynical, dangerous, and deeply irresponsible. Congress should be trying to protect Americans, not trying to make them sick.
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Mr. PALLONE. Castor), the ranking member of the Energy Subcommittee.

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Mr. PALLONE. Schrier).

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Mr. PALLONE. Matsui), the ranking member of our Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about the seven hazardous air pollutants that Republicans are apparently fine with pumping into the air we breathe.

First is mercury. Mercury is quickly absorbed into the body through inhalation and skin contact. It moves quickly across the placenta and into a human fetus and can also cross the blood-brain barrier and remain in blood cells for decades.

This is why it is linked to developmental deficits in children. It can impact the heart, lungs, central nervous system, reproduction, kidneys, and GI tract. It is also linked to cancer and autoimmune diseases. The Republicans want children to breathe more of this toxin.

Next is alkylated lead. Alkylated lead is a combination of toxic lead and hydrocarbons from fossil fuels. It affects nearly every organ in the human body and reduces cognitive function in children. It is a known carcinogen, and as far as we know, there is no safe level of lead.

Then we have dioxins, furans, polycyclic organic matter, hexachlorobenzene, and PCBs. Also, all of these would be increased because of this CRA. These are all known carcinogens. All are bioaccumulative, persistent, and toxic, even in amounts in fractions of a gram.

It is really a shame to frame this rule simply as a so-called regulatory burden or a simple cost of doing business. EPA's rule is a public health rule, and we need to uphold it to protect the health and safety of our constituents, both adults and children.

Mr. Speaker, big polluters are the only people who will benefit from the rescission of this rule, not the American people.

If this rule is blocked, industrial facilities would once again be allowed to escape the regulations of the Clean Air Act that are meant to curb the release of harmful and cancer-causing pollutants.

Once they have escaped, most of these facilities would not be required to conduct monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting of what pollutants they are releasing into our communities.

They certainly will not have any incentive to implement any type of reporting on their own, especially when over half of the States prohibit regulators from being more stringent than EPA regulations.

This is all while the American people will bear the burdens of the rule's repeal, facing even higher risks of cancer, asthma, and other severe health conditions.

Not once--and I will repeat that--not once in the history of the Clean Air Act has Congress rolled back its protections. I find it extraordinary that Republicans are attempting to do this at a time when they are also trying to gut Medicaid.

We should be protecting this rule to defend the health of our constituents and to make sure that polluters are held accountable, not just trying to rescind this rule entirely.

I think it is time that we stand up to big polluters and billionaires and re-center the health and needs of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, for all of these reasons, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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