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16 Legislative History of the Clean Air Act of 1990 Public Law 101-549 2381 (1990)

handle is hein.leghis/lecleaia0016 and id is 1 raw text is: GOVERNMENT & COMMERCE ENVIRONMENT Lines Drawn in Opening Round Over Cleaning Nation's Air Waxman promises quick action, but dispute with Chairman Dingel could slow things down W hile he applauded President Bush for sending Congress a clean air package and vowed to move rapidly on it, Henry A. Waxman, D- Calif., chairman of the House Energy Committee's Health and Environment Subcommittee, criticized the presi- dent's plan for having serious short- comings. And he was not alone. As the subcommittee listened to opening statements the week of Sept. 11, almost each member who spoke complained about some aspect of the president's bill (HR 3030). (Back- ground, Weekly Report p. 1852) Not only were lines of battle drawn with the administration, they also were drawn between subcommittee mem- bers. In particular, the president's pro- posal has set the stage for continuation of a decade-long battle between Wax- man, a proponent of stricter air quality regulations, and full committee Chair- man John D. Dingell, D-Mich., who represents Detroit, home of major auto manufacturers. The two openly disagreed over which of the bill's provisions need fix- ing, and Dingell said he and the full committee's ranking Republican, Nor- man F. Lent, N.Y., may offer a substi- tute amendment when the sub- committee begins to mark up the bill Sept. 19. Action on improving the nation's air quality has been stalled since the late 1970s. But there is one difference in this year's battle. The Bush admin- istration appears ready to be an active player in the clean air debate, after years of indifference by the Reagan White House. Ukes and Dislikes With that in mind, Waxman said he hoped to move the bill quickly through the subcommittee in a spirit of compromise and accommodation. He told the panel that it is in such a spirit that we have chosen the president's bill as the markup vehicle. The president unveiled his clean air proposal July 21. By Christine C. Lawrence Rt MCHAEL JENKINS Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif. Waxman praised Bush for the acid rain reduction portion of his plan, which would reduce electric utility sulfur dioxide emissions by 9 million tons by the year 2001. But he com- plained that the bill was weak on con- trols for cars, trucks and buses. He cited Environmental Protec- tion Agency data that such mobile sources are responsible for roughly half of the nation's nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbon pollution. Waxman has introduced his own urban smog bill (HR 2323) with much stricter tailpipe emission standards. But Dingell attacked those who called the mobile source provisions weak and noted that HR 3030 devotes over 50 pages to requirements impos- ing new controls on the motor vehicle and oil refinery industries. He also said it was misleading for some to suggest that increased tailpipe controls would mean that small sta- tionary polluters, such as bakeries, dry cleaners and printers, would escape emissions reductions. In contrast to Waxman, the full committee chairman argued that the bill's acid rain provisions go too far. He particularly objected to an emissions cap that requires new fossil fuel plants, after the year 2000, to obtain offsetting reductions in sulfur dioxide emissions from existing plants. Dingell said the cap would severely damage fu- ture use of coal and would encourage utilities to turn to nuclear power. Dingell also said that HR 3030 would cost thousands of coal mining jobs in Appalachia, creating hardship and destitution in thet coal fields. Agreeing with Dingell were panel members from the Midwest, whose states would be hit the hardest by the president's acid rain provisions. Dem- ocrat Terry L. Bruce and Republican Edward Madigan, both from Illinois, said HR 3030's provisions were forcing one region of the country to bear more of the cost of acid rain cleanup than others. The president's plan would re- quire that utilities in nine states, mostly in the Midwest and Southeast, pay for about half the costs of acid rain reduction. Bruce has introduced his own acid rain bill (HR 2909), which he says would protect coal-min- ing jobs and help the targeted utilities pay for the cleanup costs. But panel member Gerry Sikorski, D-Minn., said he would offer an amend- ment to ensure that total sulfur dioxide reductions equal a firm 10 million tons by including industrial boiler emissions. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., added that he would attempt to strengthen pollution protection for national parks and to give technical assistance to small busi- nesses to help them comply with the new clean air regulations. Baucus Bill Meanwhile, Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of Senate Environment's Environmental Protection Subcommit- tee, Sept. 15 unveiled legislation to combat urban smog by setting new schedules for U.S. cities to comply with air quality standards for ozone and car- bon monoxide pollution levels and to control emissions from mobile sources. The urban smog provisions would set new tailpipe standards for nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons and would re- quire auto manufacturers to imple- ment by 1993 vehicle emission stan- dards that already exist in California. It also requires cars to meet a new carbon dioxide standard, Baucus said. Neither Waxman's urban smog mea- sure nor the president's bill has a simi- lar provision. The Baucus plan also sets tougher standards for mobile sources than those found in the presi- dent's bill. The subcommittee will be- gin hearings the week of Sept. 25. * CQ SEPTEMBER 16, 1989 - 2381

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