On the recordOctober 5, 2011
Under the existing Clean Air Act, cement plants have 3 years to comply with section 112 standards; incinerators have 5 years to comply with section 129 standards. Because of the testimony that we heard over a series of hearings, the affected industry has indicated that they need some conformity in complying with these new regulations. As you know, there were regulations adopted in 2005 or 2006 that were invalidated by the courts. EPA came back with new regulations that were a little bit more complicated, more strenuous; and as a result of that, we've discovered that these cement industries have had difficulty complying with the 112 and 129 within the time period. So our legislation simply directs the EPA to go back, relook at the regulations, and within 15 months come back with a new regulation and then give the industry 5 years to comply on the cement side and the incinerator side. So we provide some conformity in our legislation. The gentlewoman from Texas is basically changing that back to 3 years. And the whole purpose of our legislation, because of the hearings, because of the technology required, it was quite evident that more time was needed. So we set a time period, a minimum time of 5 years to comply. The administrator of the EPA may grant additional time, if necessary, but we doubt that that would happen. So for that reason, for a pragmatic reason, I would oppose the gentlewoman's amendment so that we can have some conformity in these regulations.
