Federal Legislative Update
September 6, 2002
Richard "Rich" Gold- Washington
As Congress adjourned for its August recess, several contentious issues
remained unresolved. Below are reviews of some of the highlights of recent
legislative developments.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee recently approved
legislation that would require chemical plants to review their facilities for
security flaws then draft plans to respond to those flaws. These plans would
then be provided to the EPA and the Office of Homeland Security for review. The
legislation (S. 1602), sponsored by Senator John Corzine (D-NJ), also allows the
Justice Department and the EPA to designate some plants as high risks for
accidents or terrorist attacks and require their owners to increase security.
Senate Republicans have voiced their opposition to the bill and House
Republicans have said they plan to block it even if it passes the Senate.
Competing air pollution bills have emerged in the Senate, and a partisan
stand-off is likely as the differences are worked out between the Bush
Administration, Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats. Senator Robert Smith
has introduced legislation (S. 2815) that would implement President Bush’s
“Clear Skies” initiative. This plan, unveiled last winter by the
Administration, calls for a 73-percent reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions
from power plants by 2018 and similar reductions in nitrogen oxide and mercury
emissions. Earlier this summer, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
Chairman Jim Jeffords (I-VT) moved a bill through his Committee (S. 556) that
calls for much steeper cuts in those same emissions as well as cuts in carbon
dioxide emissions. The Bush Administration has consistently opposed any carbon
dioxide controls. This issue is likely to provide some vibrant debate when
either or both of these bills come to the Senate floor after the August recess.
As the House of Representatives recently approved the Interior Appropriations
bill, House Republicans were successful in their attempts to remove a provision
that they overwhelmingly opposed. At issue was a provision that sought to boost
the Department of the Interior’s role in the Everglades Restoration Plan by
giving the Agency equal standing with the Army Corps of Engineers on a
scientific advisory board for the program. In the end, House Resources
Committee Chairman James Hansen (R-UT) raised points of order against the
provision and it was stricken from the bill.
In June, EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman proposed changes to the new
source point review (NSR) air pollution program. A bipartisan group of 33 House
members recently wrote her a letter outlining their opposition to those
changes. The group, headed by House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood
Boehlert (R-NY) and Ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee
Henry Waxman (D-CA), asked Whitman to refrain from NSR changes that would result
in more emissions than could occur under present NSR laws. These laws require
power plants to install expensive pollution control mechanisms for any physical
change in operations that would cause increased emissions. Among the changes
proposed by Whitman was using a higher baseline as a limit for a given plant’s
emissions. The opposition letter maintains that this will increase emissions.
The EPA is making the case that it is simply more representative of long-term
emissions.
For more information, contact Rich Gold or
Michael Gillis, toll free at 888-688-8500, or via e-mail at rgold@hklaw.com, or
mgillias@hklaw.com, respectively.
*Mr. Gillis is a Public Affairs advisor in our
Washington, D.C., office.