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Congresswoman Betty McCollum's Remarks on H.R. 2250, EPA Regulatory Relief Act

October 11, 2011
Statements For the Record

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 2250, the so-called EPA Regulatory Relief Act. This legislation is a special interest giveaway to a few big industrial polluters that won't create jobs but will expose American families to unnecessary and unacceptable health risks.

Despite the urgent need to create jobs and grow the economy, the House Republican majority is refusing to bring the American Jobs Act to the floor for a vote and instead, continues to bring up special interest bill after special interest bill for polluters who want to keep dumping toxic pollution into our air and water without consequence.

We have already seen Republicans grant power and cement plants the license to continue emitting mercury, lead, arsenic and other pollutants. With this bill, Republicans are now seeking to delay and indefinitely block the ability of the EPA to regulate mercury emissions from industrial boilers and incinerators. These rules were called for 21 years ago under the 1990 Clean Air Act and were to have been completed by 2000. According to EPA's analysis, delaying the current deadlines for cleaning up toxic pollution from the nation's largest industrial boilers and incinerators by three years, as called for by H.R. 2250, will result in 22,750 more premature deaths, 143,000 asthma attacks and over one million sick days. For the thousands of families living in the shadow of these boilers and incinerators, this bill will mean more neurological disorders, birth defects, learning disabilities, cancer and cardiovascular problems. Pregnant women and their developing fetuses and infants are particularly vulnerable to the deadly effects of mercury.

The Great Lakes Commission just issued a report finding that mercury levels have dropped by 20% thanks to the efforts of local and state governments working with power plants and incinerators to clean up their emissions. However, the report also notes that mercury levels still remain too dangerously high in most of the Great Lakes. All of Minnesota's lakes and streams have fish advisory warnings. This not only has real impacts for human health, but on jobs and our economy. The recreational fishing industry on the Minnesota waters of Lake Superior contributes more than $10 million to our local economy. 1.4 million Minnesotans fish, generating more than 43,000 jobs and $4.7 billion for our state economy. H.R. 2250 is certainly a job-killer for Minnesota.

The EPA estimates the cost of compliance for the boiler rule to be around $3 billion annually while providing between $17 billion to $41 billion in benefits to the economy starting in 2014. Bruce Bartlett, former economic advisor to President Reagan, has noted that regulations were responsible for a miniscule 0.2 percent of layoffs in 2010. Despite the evidence, Republicans continue to claim the economic necessity of discarding the health of our children and communities in order to protect a few bad polluters.

For over forty years, America has made tremendous bipartisan progress in cleaning up our environment while maintaining robust economic growth. We need to return to this tradition and re-focus our attention on legislation that will actually address our pressing jobs crisis. I urge my colleagues to reject H.R. 2250 and stand-up for the health of American families.

Issues:Environment & Energy