Max Baucus: “I strongly support Senator Boxer in her efforts to delete these provisions. Not only do they intrude upon the…”

“I strongly support Senator Boxer in her efforts to delete these provisions. Not only do they intrude upon the jurisdiction of the Environment and Public Works Committee, they are clearly legislation. Our committee was not consulted. The Appropriations Committee is now writing legislative language in an appropriations bill. It also is very unsound public policy. One of these riders, the so-called Linder-Collins provision, is really an attack on the public's right to know. The provision prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency from identifying those areas which do not the meet the 8-hour standard ozone pollution provision until next June. In other words, even if the EPA knew an area had unhealthy air, it could not tell citizens or their government. The other rider postpones EPA's final rules on arsenic standards for drinking water for 6 months. This is very important. This is yet another unhealthy delay that could expose Americans to unnecessary danger. Why do I say that? First, arsenic is a poison. We now know it is also a carcinogen.”