This week has been Attack the EPA Week in the House. The Republican attacks continued today with the so-called Promoting Manufacturing Act.
Spoiler: It's not about promoting manufacturing. Instead, it's about exempting factories from the Clean Air Act.
This bill would modify the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Air Act permit program. Despite its name, this bill would do nothing to promote new manufacturing, and, in fact, would only serve to weaken the EPA’s ability to create and enforce protections for the nation's air quality.
Under current law, major new or expanding sources of air pollution are required to obtain permits with pollution limits before the start of a facility’s construction. A permit applicant must identify the pollution controls it will install at the new or expanded facility and demonstrate that the facility’s emissions will not violate air quality standards. When the EPA updates a standard to reflect the latest science and protect public health, the permit applicant must show that its emissions will not cause a violation of the updated, more protective standard.
This bill would create a loophole in that process by requiring the EPA to implement “concurrent” guidance, exempting newer facilities from new, stricter air quality standards. This would directly cause more pollution in the air, harming public health and causing higher cleanup costs. It would also drive up the operational costs of existing industrial facilities, forcing them to lower their emissions further to compensate for the new facilities releasing more than their fair share of pollutants.
After today, the House will on a Thanksgiving recess. It will return on December 8th. If no continuing resolution is passed before December 11th, the government will shut down. This is not a productive use of time, especially given that the President has already said he would veto the bill.
The bill passed 238 to 172. 16 Democrats joined the GOP in voting for it.
Who were they?
John Barrow (GA-12)
Sanford Bishop (GA-02)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
John Delaney (MD-06)
Pete Gallego (TX-23)
Mike McIntyre (NC-07)
Patrick Murphy (FL-18)
Bill Owens (NY-21)
Ed Perlmutter (CO-07)
Scott Peters (CA-52)
Collin Peterson (MN-07)
Nick Rahall (WV-03)
Kurt Schrader (OR-05)
Terri Sewell (AL-07)
Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)
Maxine Waters (CA-43)
The only name that surprises me on that list is Maxine Waters.