THE DAILY WHIP: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2014

H.R. 4795 – Promoting New Manufacturing Act (Rep. Scalise – Energy and Commerce) (One Hour of Debate). 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.

In the Statement of Administration Policy, the President's senior advisors stated that they would recommend a veto of the bill. With only a few legislative days remaining before the end of the year, House Republicans should be addressing a number of time-sensitive issues that need to be dealt with instead of wasting valuable Floor time on partisan messaging bills that undermine the EPA’s ability to protect the health of Americans.

The Rule, which was adopted on Tuesday, makes in order 2 amendments, debatable for 10 minutes, equally divided between the offeror and an opponent.  The amendments are:

McNerney Amendment. States that outdated air quality standards do not apply toward a preconstruction permit if the applicable federal, state, or local permitting agency determines that applying them would likely increase air pollution, slow permitting, or increase regulatory uncertainty.
Whitfield Amendment.Clarifies that Section 3 (b) of the bill does not prohibit States from imposing new or revised federal air quality standards under state or local law.

Bill Text for H.R. 4795:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 4795:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)