Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment. It is a legislative earmark to benefit oil and gas producers. It would tell the EPA to ignore potentially unhealthy air in the counties that make up the Permian Basin. For the past few years, air monitors located in the Permian Basin area have shown violations well above EPA's 2015 ozone standard. So it is more than reasonable for the EPA to evaluate conditions in the area, consistent with the requirements of the Clean Air Act, but this amendment would prevent the EPA from redesignating the Permian Basin as being in nonattainment of the 2015 ozone standard. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is required to set a national ambient air quality standard for contaminants, like ground-level ozone, that are adequate to protect public health, including the health of sensitive groups such as children and the elderly. These health-based standards, the NAAQS, must reflect recent scientific and medical data. Once the EPA sets or revises the NAAQS, EPA uses air monitoring data and recommendations from States to determine which areas meet the standards and those that do not, known as being in nonattainment. {time} 1630 States then go to work to develop plans using the most cost-effective strategies to bring nonattainment areas in compliance with the standard. Allowing a region that exceeds the standard to be considered in attainment doesn't do anything for the families and the workers living in those counties breathing the toxic air.…”