I thank my colleague. We want to welcome Robin Kelly to the Chamber. You'll find that people are working hard on both sides of the aisle to represent the folks that they are here to represent. The Illinois delegation has a monthly…

Listen, we are legislators. The way a bill becomes a law is there is an idea... and it becomes law.

I think the discussion draft basically identifies a base standard, and I think it is pretty clear.

No immediate hazard, and the EPA went on record as saying that?

There is some optimism, I think, that there is some common ground that can be found.

I don't think there is any dispute in the language that there would be--and I am just making sure I say it properly--that there is an issuance requirement and enforceable permits that--in this draft language.

Thank you, and Mr. Cobb, I wanted to ask, as another experienced state regulator, do you think states are able to interpret the minimum program requirements in the bill to develop a permit program that is protective of human health and the…

Most people think of federal law when it comes to environmental protection and we have passed many important environmental laws over the years.

So for the public, moving on legislation could actually create a quicker standard of protection versus waiting for a process going through your due diligence?

And if there is, obviously, abuse, which I think some people fear, don't you think that the public would be aghast and may want to take retribution on politicians and those who have been appointed as commissioners of the environmental…

It is time this bill gets passed, and I am particularly pleased, from what I am hearing from the other side and from the EPA is that this may very well be the year to do it.

The long and short of it is Congress is perfectly capable of establishing a standard of protection for coal ash.

States have the same concerns about protecting the environment and contrary to some of the things you might hear today, states establish and carry out a standard of protection through their environmental permitting programs.

We believe that legislation would help you all deal with the pending CCR deadline.

We are pretty close on how we need to get to where we need to get to, and we just want to continue to work with you.

It is long past time to resolve these issues and indeed move forward.

Isn't that preferable than fighting through the courts and having citizen suits across the country?

The legislation we consider today sets out a new approach.

I would like to call the hearing to order, and ask folks to maybe get the anteroom doors, so that we can start.

I think dams are obviously in context well beyond coal ash disposal sites, but the structural integrity of dams, I am not a dam expert--d-a-m--but those things are evaluated by states.

Isn't it better for facilities to operate under an enforceable permit instead of a self-implementing regulation?

I think that is something we could--I mean, my understanding of your testimony is that there are four things you kind of like.

There has been a lot of media coverage on RINs. A RIN is a renewable identification number which is given to refiners upon the purchase of renewable fuels. It is then used by refiners every February to establish that they have met their…

I rise once again today in support of Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nevada, which, by law, is designated as the site for a permanent geological repository for our Nation's spent nuclear fuel. Last year, the President's Blue Ribbon…

What could this mean for patients, especially for telemedicine and other advancements that are starting to improve the quality and access to care for patients in rural areas, like my district, who are sometimes hours away from the care…