Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I am proud to offer the Clean Air and Water Investment and Infrastructure Act. Texas, like many States, faces…”

“I am proud to offer the Clean Air and Water Investment and Infrastructure Act. Texas, like many States, faces increasingly difficult challenges in improving air and water quality. The Clean Air Act requires the Environmental Protection Agency to set air quality standards and establishes deadlines for State and local governments to achieve those levels. Today, more than 90 communities across the country are out of compliance with the Clean Air Act. These so-called ``non-attainment'' areas are threated with regulatory sanctions, such as loss of federal highway funding, if they do not meet mandated ozone levels by 2007. Texas has four non-attainment areas: Beaumont-Port Arthur, Dallas- Fort Worth, El Paso and Houston. The Houston area alone needs an estimated $4.1 billion annually in order to meet Federal air quality standards. These communities will not achieve compliance without assistance. Too many industrial plants need to install expensive equipment. If these environmental investments do not become more affordable, communities will either suffer sanctions or force industrial facilities to close and move offshore, causing substantial economic hardship. Texas and many areas of the country, especially in the Southwest and West, also face critical water and wastewater problems. Investments in sources of clean water must be made or we will face shortages in the coming decades. However, necessary water infrastructure improvements are extremely expensive.”