Authority to Accept Diesel Emission Reduction Supplemental Environmental Projects

Floor Speech

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Mr. COSTA. Congressman Boucher and Congressman Terry, I want to thank you and your staffs for the hard work that you've done with your colleagues. The Energy and Commerce Committee has made a significant difference in bringing this legislation to the floor.

This measure, along with its companion measure, Senate bill 2146, is, I think, very important to ensuring that we provide improved opportunities for air quality, as well as throughout the country.

I also want to thank my cosponsors in the House bill, which includes the original cosponsors, Congressmen Cardoza, McNerney, Congressman Nunes, as well as Representative Butterfield, Representatives HILL, Kind, Matheson, Matsui, Bono Mack, Shimkus and again Congressman Terry.

This measure, combined with Senate 2146, will allow the Environmental Protection Agency to continue the prior practice of accepting diesel emission reduction projects as part of an environmental settlement agreement. These settlement agreements are important when you're trying to reach an accord with the private sector and still, at the same time, clean up the air.

For many years the Environmental Protection Agency has funded diesel retrofit projects through the Supplemental Environment Projects, otherwise known as SEPS with the corporations as part of overall settlement agreements. From fiscal year 2001 to fiscal year 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency entered into diesel emission reductions with these settlement environment projects valued at over $45 million. This bill will help maintain this separate private funding source as a part of a private/public partnership for these projects and, at the same time, improve air quality in basins throughout the country that have regional air issues that they are in noncompliance with.

This is particularly of importance in my own district that I share with my colleagues, Congressmen Nunes and McCarthy and Congressmen Radanovich and Cardoza, as well as McNerney. The San Joaquin Valley area is a non attainment area, and consequently, we have difficult challenges trying to become an attainment area, especially when we consider that we are one of the fastest growing regions in California.

The air basin is 250 miles long, but it's shaped in a valley where you have mountain ranges on each side. Therefore, we not only have our own stationary and mobile sources of emission that we create, but because we're in the center of the transportation hub between Northern and Southern California, actually, all the way along the west coast, we have interstate transportation on 99 and Highway 5, which is no contribution of ours, but it's part of interstate transportation that contributes to the emissions that we have to deal with. So, therefore, this is an important measure.

We have among the highest rates of childhood asthma in the State. We have other issues that we are continuing to deal with.

Today, 90 percent of the commercial trucks are powered by diesel engines. Two-thirds of all farm and construction equipment run on diesel engines. Therefore, this measure can make a difference.

California does lead the Nation in clean diesel technology, and some of the cleanest types of diesel fuel anywhere in the world. But even retrofit projects have their role and play a significant contribution to improving air quality, not only in our district but throughout the country.

Finally, in addition, retrofitting clean diesel technologies for diesel vehicles and equipment, I think, is one of the most cost effective strategies for achieving tangible and immediate air quality benefits. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that these retrofit projects have a 13:1 benefit-to-cost ratio, meaning that the $45 million invested between 2001 and 2006 translates to over $600 million of health benefits that also benefit young people, children who have asthma cases, those who have cardiovascular issues and the like.

I want to again thank my colleagues, Congressman Terry, Congressman Boucher and your staffs and all those who are cosponsors of this important measure. This is cost effective. It's meaningful. It will improve air quality throughout the country.

At this time I want to urge all of my colleagues to support the passage of this measure.

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