THE DAILY WHIP: TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016

H.Res. 640 – Rule providing for consideration of both H.R. 3797 – SENSE Act (Rep. Rothfus – Energy and Commerce) and H.R. 4596 – Small Business Broadband Deployment Act (Rep. Walden – Energy and Commerce) (One hour of debate).  The Rules Committee has recommended one Rule which would provide for consideration of two bills.

For H.R. 3797, the Rules Committee has recommended a structured Rule that provides for one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.  The Rule allows for 5 amendments, debatable for 10 minutes equally divided between the offeror and an opponent.  The Rule allows one motion to recommit, with or without instructions, and waives all points of order against the legislation.

For H.R. 4596, the Rules Committee has recommended a structured Rule that provides for one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.  The Rule allows for 1 amendment, debatable for 10 minutes equally divided between the offeror and an opponent.  The Rule allows one motion to recommit, with or without instructions, and waives all points of order against the legislation. 

The Rules Committee rejected a motion by Ms. Slaughter of New York to consider both H.R. 3797 and H.R. 4596 under open Rules. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

H.R. 3797 – SENSE Act (Rep. Rothfus – Energy and Commerce) (Subject to a Rule) (One hour of debate).  This bill would undermine the Clean Air Act by allowing existing electric power plants that convert coal refuse into energy to increase their air pollution emissions under the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS). Coal refuse, or waste coal, is the byproduct of mining or other coal processing, and a small number of electric utilities use this material as fuel.

The bill would modify: (1) CSAPR to allow such plants to emit additional sulfur dioxide; and (2) MATS to allow these plants to emit more sulfur dioxide and hydrogen chloride.  These changes would raise the cost of achieving the pollution reduction under these rules, while putting the public in danger and harming the environment. 

Currently, states have the authority to allocate additional pollution emissions to coal fired electric power plants, but this bill would require the EPA Administrator to allow only waste coal burning plants to emit more pollutants.  

H.R. 3797 was reported out of committee without a single Democratic vote. In the Statement of Administration Policy, the President's senior advisors stated that they would recommend he veto this bill.

The Rule makes in order 5 amendments, debatable for 10 minutes, equally divided between the offeror and an opponent.  The amendments are:

Pallone Amendment. Strikes the portion of the bill that modifies the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule.
Engel Amendment. Gives the Governor of a State the ability to opt-out of the section of the bill that modifies the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule if the Governor determines that implementing those provisions would increase the overall cost of complying with the rule.
Bera Amendment. Requires a GAO report on the increase in sulfur dioxide and other air pollution emissions that result from this Act and the effect of such emissions on public health.
Peters Amendment. Requires the EPA to provide notice to communities about the anticipated effects of this Act on air quality not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
Veasey Amendment. Requires the EPA Administrator to certify, prior to the legislation taking effect, that the implementation of the bill would not cause adverse public health impacts, such as increased asthma or bronchitis.

Bill Text for H.R. 3797:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 3797:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

Postponed Suspensions (4 bills)

1. H.R. 2081 – To extend the deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project involving the Gibson Dam (Rep. Zinke – Energy and Commerce)
2. H.R. 3447 – To extend the deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project, as amended (Rep. Foxx – Energy and Commerce)
3. H.R. 4416 – To extend the deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project (Rep. McKinley – Energy and Commerce)
4. H.R. 4434 – To extend the deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project (Rep. Gibson – Energy and Commerce)

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK
The GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Wednesday, March 16: The House will meet at 12:00 p.m. for legislative business. The House is expected to consider H.R. 4596 – Small Business Broadband Deployment Act (Rep. Walden – Energy and Commerce).