Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. While the Clean Air Act obviously serves a useful purpose, all too often States and localities are tied up in knots in just trying to comply with the provisions of it in which the rules that were promulgated in response to the law, or amendments to the law, just weren't well thought out. In this regard, in 2005 Congress amended the Clean Air Act so States and localities could get off the regulatory hook for so-called ``exceptional events''--dust events--events that they cannot control but that impact air quality. In 2007, the EPA adopted the Exceptional Event Rule, implementing Congress' amendment to the Clean Air Act; but this rule has proven flawed, costly, and inconsistently implemented. Let me give you an idea of what we're talking about here. Here is a picture. It's an actual photograph of one of the events that happened just this year in the Phoenix metropolitan area which was caused by a monsoon. The monsoon comes along. When it rolls along flat ground, it tends to pick up every loose bit of dust or dirt that's there, and it causes an event like this. Obviously, this is not something that the State or local government can control; yet we're forced to go then to the EPA and beg for an exception to the Clean Air Act, which has proven to be extremely costly when we have to do it over and over again. I reserve the balance of my time.”