Copyright 2000 The Washington Post
The Washington
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June 22, 2000, Thursday, Final Edition
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A01
LENGTH: 985 words
HEADLINE:
House Votes To Restrict EPA Use of Smog Data
BYLINE:
Juliet Eilperin , Washington Post Staff Writer
BODY:
The House voted last night to block the Environmental Protection
Agency from identifying regions with dangerously high smog levels, a move aimed
at preventing federal regulators from enforcing tough new clean air rules.
With the backing of 58 Democrats, House Republicans won support for a
measure postponing an EPA initiative to improve air quality damaged by emissions
from factories and automobiles. While the EPA effort is already subject to a
court challenge, lawmakers were so anxious about making their disapproval clear
that they told the agency that it may not even use its data to say which
communities are failing to meet clean air standards.
"Everybody needs to
vote for this amendment to tell the EPA to cut it out," Rep. Charles Whitlow
Norwood Jr. (R-Ga.) declared on the House floor. The provision on the EPA was
attached to a spending bill for veterans and housing programs on a 226 to 199
vote and came as part of a renewed congressional assault on the agency. House
Republicans, in particular, are eager to restrain the Clinton administration
from imposing broad new environmental rules in its final months.
Also
yesterday, the House affirmed language delaying the implementation of new
drinking water standards for arsenic.
Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-Mich.)
said the administration's environmental approach has "gotten under the skin of a
lot of people. A lot of folks, both Democrats and Republicans, have their eyes
on them." He added that with high gasoline prices in the
Midwest, lawmakers are particularly skeptical of new EPA requirements.
But Democrats complained that the House is trying to hamstring the
agency, and some Republicans voiced concern that their party could be
undermining its efforts to present a more moderate face for the fall elections.
"They are certainly targeting the EPA's ability to do their job, which
is protecting the environment and the public health," said Rep. Maurice D.
Hinchey (D-N.Y.). "Now, they're even trying to limit the EPA's ability to even
know the nature and dimensions of the problem."
Rep. James T. Walsh
(R-N.Y.) said he is concerned the new environmental provision could threaten the
future of the overall veterans and housing spending bill, which was approved 256
to 169. To become law, the EPA measure must also be approved by the Senate and
signed by President Clinton. The administration has signaled that the president
might veto bills with language he considers anti-environmental.
"You
can't carry too many controversial issues in a bill," Walsh said. While some of
his colleagues see the EPA as overreaching, he noted: "What they're doing is
enforcing our laws. We need to worry about people's health."
Another
controversial issue addressed by the House last night was the Clinton
administration's recent accord with Smith & Wesson, in which the gun
manufacturer agreed to adopt certain safety provisions in return for the
government dropping a threatened lawsuit. The House narrowly approved language
preventing the Department of Housing and Urban Development from advising local
communities on purchasing guns from Smith & Wesson; it rejected another
amendment blocking the department from spending money to implement the agreement
with Smith & Wesson.
The House action yesterday on the EPA was the
latest twist in the government's ongoing efforts to crack down on air pollution.
In 1998, the agency issued new smog regulations for
utilities--rules that are still under litigation. And just last year, it sued
several power plants in the Midwest for failing to meet current emissions
standards for nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide. It also issued
tight new rules in December for tailpipe emissions and for removing
sulfur from gasoline.
The agency began updating its
health standards for smog in 1997, asking communities and localities to compile
air quality statistics that take into account how pollution builds up over an
eight-hour day.
Under current administration policy, the EPA may use
this information to identify which areas have dangerous levels of smog and then
compel local governments to develop plans aimed at reducing air pollution. If
local officials fail to devise such a plan, they risk losing federal
transportation funding.
Several lawmakers said this approach could
discourage businesses from investing in communities labeled as polluted. They
noted that the federal appeals court in the District has ruled the EPA exceeded
its authority in imposing more stringent air standards, and that the issue is
now before the Supreme Court.
"The only common-sense approach is to
delay this process until the Supreme Court reaches its decision," said Rep. Mac
Collins (R-Ga.), one of the provision's sponsors.
Rep. Jim Turner
(D-Tex.) said that designating a county as polluted is "kind of like a
quarantine sign going up at the county line to new business."
But Rep.
Sherwood L. Boehlert (R-N.Y.), a leading environmentalist, mocked this reasoning
during the floor debate. "The idea here is dirty air doesn't exist if it isn't
officially recognized," he said.
EPA general counsel Gary Guzy said the
appeals court specifically allowed the EPA to continue identifying polluted
areas, even while its overall regulatory authority is being considered by the
Supreme Court.
"We think the public has a right to know about the
quality of the air they breathe," Guzy said. "We also think this could delay the
health protection standards that are critical for the American public."
Every member of the Maryland delegation voted against the amendment,
with the exception of Republican Reps. Roscoe G. Bartlett and Robert L. Ehrlich
Jr., while Rep. Albert R. Wynn (D) did not vote.
All members of the
Virginia delegation supported the amendment, with the exception of Reps. Thomas
M. Davis III (R), Frank R. Wolf (R), James P. Moran Jr. (D) and Robert C.
"Bobby" Scott (D).
LOAD-DATE: June 22, 2000
