William Tauzin: “I'd like to commend the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Oxley] and the gentlewoman from Arkansas [Mrs. Lincoln] for their…”

“I'd like to commend the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Oxley] and the gentlewoman from Arkansas [Mrs. Lincoln] for their bipartisan cooperation on this bill. To paraphrase Mark Twain, regulatory reform is a lot like the weather. Everybody talks about it, but nobody ever does anything about it. We've had a lot of passionate debate on both sides of the aisle this year saying we all want regulatory reform, that we need to put a stop particularly to the old style of regulation that costs a lot but does very little to actually improve the environment. Well, this is our chance to prove we mean it. Unless we act, EPA will be forced to issue another one-size-fits-all regulation that will cost, by EPA's own estimate, $800 million per year to implement. EPA is asking for our help, because they know that little, if any, real risk reduction would occur if these rules are promulgated. What this means for me is that one chemical plant in my district could be forced to spend about $34 million to replace a well-operated wastewater treatment system. Risk assessments performed by the company show that its surface impoundments already protect human health and the environment to RCRA risk standards. In fact, the emissions of highest risk hazardous constituents from all plant sources, including wastewater treatment, has been determined to have a lifetime cancer risk to the nearest receptor of less than one in a million.”