Date: 2016-03-15
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition to the underlying bill but in support of the Engel amendment. It is perfect. good sense giving the Governor of a State the ability to opt out of the section of the bill that modifies the CrossState Air Pollution Rule if the Governor determines that implementing those provisions would increase the overall cost of complying with the rule. There goes. if you will. the underlying problem of this bill. There has been no determination as to the burden of this particular bill. and I oppose it. I oppose it in particular because the bill would undermine the emissions limits for hazardous acid gasses from those established under the MATS. leading to increased health and environmental impacts from increased emissions of hydrogen chloride. hydrogen fluoride. and other harmful acid gasses and sulfur dioxide. Specifically. the CSAPR and MATS protect the health of millions of Americans by requiring the reduction of harmful power plant emissions. including the air toxics and emissions that contribute to smog and fine particle pollution. The pollution reduction from CSAPR and MATS have reallife impacts: prevention of thousands of premature deaths. asthmatic attacks. and heart attacks. I would offer to say. as a member of the Homeland Security Committee. we are always dealing with toxics as it relates to chemical plants and protecting the homeland in the area of security. but we also need to protect them in the area of good quality health care. I would argue that this bill would economically advantage coal refuse EGUs over other EGUs. reduce compliance choices for other State units. and distort the economic incentives of coal refuse EGUs to reduce emissions. Also. the allowances allocated to coal refuse EGUs would be unavailable for use by any other sources. I ask my colleagues to oppose this legislation. I dont believe that this bill will be considered in the Senate. I dont believe that it will be considered for signature by the White House. I would offer to say that. besides the budget and the appropriations process that is ongoing. we in this Congress need to deal with the restoration of the Voting Rights Act and provide for section 5. Lets get to work on things impacting the American people. creating more jobs. as opposed to providing poor quality of life. poor quality of air for our citizens throughout this Nation. Once again. I support the Engel amendment. Mr. Chair. I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 3797Satisfying Energy Needs and Saving the Environment (SENSE) Act. I oppose this unwise and unnecessary legislation for several reasons. H.R. 3797. would threaten the health of Americans by requiring changes to the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) CrossState Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for electric generating units (EGUs) that use coal refuse as their main fuel source. In doing this. H.R. 3797 would restrict the marketbased approach currently used to allocate sulfur dioxide emission allowances issued under the CSAPR. thereby raising the costs of achieving the pollution reduction required by the rule. This bill also would undermine the emissions limits for hazardous acid gases from those established under the MATS. leading to increased health and environmental impacts from increased emissions of hydrogen chloride. hydrogen fluoride. other harmful acid gases. and sulfur dioxide. Specifically. CSAPR and MATS protect the health of millions of Americans by requiring the reduction of harmful power plant emissions. including air toxics and emissions that contribute to smog and fine particle pollution. The pollution reductions from CSAPR and MATS have real life impacts: prevention of thousands of premature deaths. asthma attacks. and heart attacks. Let me also underscore that an important feature of the CSAPR is its trading program which allows power plants to meet emission budgets in different ways. including by trading emissions allowances between emission sources within a State and some trading across States. This marketbased approach reduces the cost of compliance while ensuring reductions in air pollution for citizens across the CSAPR region. I oppose H.R. 3797 because it would create an uneven playing field by picking winners and losers in CSAPR compliance. Indeed. this bill establishes a special market of CSAPR allowances for EGUs that burn coal refuse and prohibits the trading of allowances allocated to coal refuse EGUs. which would interfere with and manipulate market conditions. Specifically. H.R. 3797 would: economically advantage coal refuse EGUs over other EGUs by giving them allowances that would otherwise have been allocated to others. reduce compliance choices for other State units. and distort the economic incentives of coal refuse EGUs to reduce emissions. Also. the allowances allocated to coal refuse EGUs would be unavailable for use by any other sources. This will result in the aggregate. in less efficient and more costly CSAPR compliance. Finally. I oppose H.R. 3797 because it would interfere with existing opportunities under the CSAPR for each State to control the allocation of allowances among its EGUs. Instead of wasting time supporting this bill. I urge my colleagues to join me in focusing on more important issues affecting our nation: more jobs for Americans in the energy and other sectors. energy security and independence and utilization of innovation in energy to solve some of the contemporary issues we face in our country.