John Shimkus actually said...

"Yes. And I think you followed--that was my follow-up question. Why would that--why is it important that the states at least have some role?"

"The Federal and state Partnership for Environment Protection Act does exactly what the title implies and would go a long way toward making the states partners with EPA in cleaning up hazardous waste s..."

"This is not a new concept. Legislation has been introduced previously by my friends across the aisle to ensure that federal agencies comply with all federal and state environmental laws."

"Our goal is to modernize some of these environmental laws that we oversee and make sure the states are playing a significant role in implementing them."