House Members Query EPA on Proposed New Ozone Standards

Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-KY), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-FL) are pressing EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson for more information concerning the agency’s discretionary reconsideration of ambient air quality standards for ground-level ozone and its proposal to issue new standards. In a letter to the Administrator, the Members requested Jackson’s participation in future committee hearings that will examine the standards and their economic consequences and asks her office to provide written responses to a series of questions concerning the development of the proposed ozone standards. A copy of the letter can be found here.

Washington Recap - (Week of July 11)

Overview 

Efforts to produce an agreement that would allow the Nation’s debt ceiling to be raised intensified, with daily discussions between the President and Congressional leaders; so far, the main protagonists in the debate seem unwilling to compromise – the President insisting on a “balanced” approach that includes both spending cuts and new revenues and House Republicans vowing to block any deal that includes new taxes. By most accounts, a breakthrough will need to occur by the end of this week to allow the time necessary to draft, debate and pass a measure by August 2. As negotiators continue searching for a magic formula this week, the House will be debating their “Cut, Cap and Balance” bill, legislation that among other features would require that a balanced budget constitutional amendment be submitted to the states for ratification and a super majority vote in Congress be obtained for any tax increase. 

Elsewhere, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s special task force investigating the nuclear emergency at Fukushima Daiichi released its so-called 90-Day Report last week. The report, while noting the continued safe operation of U.S. reactors, nonetheless termed the existing regulatory regime as “patchwork” and made several recommendations for regulatory changes that are likely to spark debate on Capitol Hill. Congressional Committees were busy on energy policy matters last week: the House Appropriations Committee cleared a spending plan for FY ’12 that would delay action on a number of regulatory initiatives by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including any rules pertaining to section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act; the House Energy and Commerce Committee reported legislation that establishes an interagency panel to study the combined economic impact of pending EPA air regulations and a second bill that establishes a regulatory regime for coal combustion residuals that prohibits EPA regulation of such material as a hazardous waste; the House Natural Resources Committee reported legislation that promotes offshore wind energy development; the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee reported several bills, including legislation that establishes a new entity to provide financing for clean energy projects; and two House hearings examined pipeline safety issues, as well as a new draft bill to reauthorize the federal pipeline safety regulatory program.  

Some Details 

Initial reaction to the NRC task force report has been muted, likely due to the educational effort involved in understanding the potential implications of a report that proposes a number of new regulatory initiatives. We should begin to get a better sense of Congressional reaction to the report in the coming weeks. Chairman Jaczko is scheduled to appear at a monthly “newsmakers” luncheon hosted by the National Press Club this coming Monday; the full Commission will be briefed by the task force during a meeting on Tuesday morning; an afternoon stakeholders meeting is scheduled for July 28; and Senator Boxer (D-CA) indicated last week that she will hold a hearing on the report on August 2. 

Of the measures advanced in various Committee actions last week, two especially noteworthy items are the coal combustion residual (CCR) bill and the so-called TRAIN Act, both of which achieved healthy bi-partisan votes. During consideration of the TRAIN Act (which establishes an interagency group to review the cumulative impact of certain EPA regulations), the Committee adopted an amendment by Rep. Whitfield that would delay both the Utility MACT and Cross-State Air Pollution Rule by 18 months. Due to Committee jurisdictional issues, the revised TRAIN Act does not include regulations under 316(b) of the Clean Water Act among those subject to review. The CCR legislation generally establishes a state administered program for regulating coal ash and prohibits regulation as a hazardous waste. 

One short take: 

• EPA has extended the comment period on its proposed 316(b) cooling water intake structure regulation until August 19. The move follows meetings between agency staff and staff for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Clean Water Act.

Washington Recap - (Week of July 4)

Overview 

Deficit reduction/debt ceiling issues remained the overarching central focus of the President and Congress last week. The President opted out of invitations to separate caucus meetings and invited a bi-partisan, bi-cameral group of legislators to the White House for a session mid-week that gave rise to varying opinions about the prospects for agreement, although all sides generally recognized that time is beginning to run short. Speaker Boehner’s announcement on Saturday that he was abandoning efforts to reach a longer-term solution likely forces all parties into a series of negotiations over stopgap measures designed to keep the fiscal ship of state afloat until sometime after next years’ elections. The House, back in session after the July 4 recess, matched the show of purpose put forward by the Senate last week by canceling its next recess – originally scheduled for the week of July 18. Senate Democrats, continually belittled by Senate Republicans for having gone more than two years without producing a budget, allowed press reports to leak late in the week about the outline of a proposal from Senate Budget Committee Chairman Conrad (D-ND). The proposal, said to reduce deficits by close to $4 trillion over 10 years, relies on large defense spending cuts and increased taxes on the wealthy; Conrad said it shows “how easy” it is to attain deficit reduction “in a balanced manner.” On other policy fronts, Congressional reaction to EPA’s release of its final Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) followed predictable political and regional fault lines; Senator Inhofe was among the critics, Senator Carper among the supporters. The House Energy and Commerce Energy and Power Subcommittee marked up legislation that that establishes an interagency group to conduct a comprehensive analysis of costs associated with several regulations recently developed, or under development, by the EPA. 

Three short takes: 

• The NRC task force investigating the root causes of the nuclear emergency in Japan for lessons learned applicable to the U.S. nuclear safety program is scheduled to forward its recommendations to the Commission this week. A public meeting of the Commission to discuss the recommendations is scheduled for next week.
• The Exxon-Mobil pipeline spill in near Yellowstone Park is the impetus behind the latest hearings on pipeline safety issues; subcommittees in both the House Energy and Commerce and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees will hold separate inquires on Thursday and Friday of this week. House panels have still not scheduled action on legislation reauthorizing federal pipeline safety programs.
• The House Natural Resources Committee plans an oversight hearing on Friday that will examine the plans of the Department of Interior to promote and regulate offshore oil and gas development.