Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2017

Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, I want to express my strong opposition to H.R. 806, the Ozone Standards Implementation Act, which would undermine the Clean Air Act and the decades of progress that we have made to improve our Nation's public health and air quality.

This bill delays implementation of the 2015 ozone standards until 2025, extends the review cycle for all National Ambient Air Quality Standards from 5 to 10 years, and authorizes the EPA administrator to consider technological feasibility when establishing or revising a

Mr. Chairman, I would just suggest that, when we move the timeframe for accomplishment of our progress by 8 years out into the future, we are stalling progress; and when we tamper with a review every 5 years and make it 10, we are denying progress.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cardenas).

Mr. Chairman, we have just heard from two colleagues from Texas, and I want to remind all of my colleagues, our colleagues, that the State of Texas has over 1.5 million residents with asthma, including some 430,000 children. Weakening vital protections in the Clean Air Act would put their health at risk.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor).

Mr. Chairman, having just heard from the gentleman from Arizona, I want to remind my colleagues that the State of Arizona has over 660,000 residents with asthma, including some 175,000 children. Weakening vital protections in the Clean Air Act would put their health at risk.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Dingell).

Mr. Chair, having heard from my friend and colleague from West Virginia, I want to remind my colleagues that the State of West Virginia has 100,000 residents with asthma, including over 18,000 children. So it is weakening vital protections in the Clean Air Act that would put these populations at risk.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Matsui).

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

As I earlier stated, the State of Arizona has over 660,000 residents with asthma, including 175,000 children; and I just question putting their health at risk with this bill that moves us in the wrong direction.

Mr. Chairman, I include in the Record a number of supporting documents. The first is a letter opposing the bill signed by the State Attorneys General of New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, and the Acting Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

April 26, 2017.

Re Opposition to H.R. 806, Ozone Standards Implementation Act

of 2017.

Hon. Greg Walden, Chairman,

Hon. Frank Pallone, Ranking Member,

Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Representative Walden and Representative Pallone: We

write in opposition to H.R. 806, Ozone Standards

Implementation Act of 2017. This bill would not only delay

implementation of more protective ozone air quality

standards, but, more broadly, would undermine the mandate in

the Clean Air Act (Act) that the national ambient air quality

standards for ozone and other criteria pollutants be based on

up-to-date scientific evidence and focus solely on protecting

public health and welfare. As explained below, these measures

would be a significant step backward in combatting the

dangers of ozone and other criteria pollutants.

Many of our states have struggled for decades with the

pervasive problem of ozone pollution. The scientific evidence

of harm to public health from ozone pollution is well

established, as are the economic consequences. At certain

concentration levels, ozone irritates the respiratory system,

causing coughing, wheezing, chest tightness and headaches.

People exposed to elevated levels of ozone suffer from lung

tissue damage, and aggravation of asthma, bronchitis, heart

disease, and emphysema. Children, older adults, people with

asthma or other lung diseases, and people who are active

outdoors are particularly susceptible to the harmful health

effects of ozone. Public health harms also exact an economic

toll. For example, increased hospital admissions on bad ozone

days increase health care costs borne by states and local

governments. Ozone pollution also harms public welfare by

damaging trees and reducing crop yields by interfering with

the ability of plants to produce and store food and making

them more susceptible to disease, insect pests, and other

stressors. Ozone can also inhibit the ability of plants and

trees to mitigate harms from climate change.

To protect against these and other adverse impacts and ``to

promote the public health and welfare and the productive

capacity of its population,'' the Act aims ``to protect and

enhance the quality of the Nation's air resources.'' 42

U.S.C. Sec. 7401(b)(1). To achieve this goal, the Act

requires EPA to adopt primary standards for certain criteria

pollutants, such as ozone, at a level that protects public

health with an ``adequate margin of safety.'' 42 U.S.C.

Sec. 7409(b)(1). The Act also requires EPA to adopt secondary

standards at a level that protects the public welfare from

``any known or anticipated adverse effects.'' 42 U.S.C.

Sec. 7409(b)(2). The Act mandates that EPA review the air

quality standards for each criteria pollutant every five

years and revise the standards as advances in science

warrant. As Justice Scalia explained for a unanimous Supreme

Court, EPA's review must set the primary and secondary

standards based on the scientific evidence, and may not

consider implementation costs or other economic consequences.

Whitman v. Am. Trucking Ass'ns, 531 U.S. 457, 465 (2001).

Rather, implementation decisions are a matter for states,

which are empowered to evaluate the costs and co-benefits of

potential implementation strategies and determine, in light

of those costs and co-benefits, which strategies are most

suitable for them. See Union Elec. Corp. v. EPA, 427 U.S.

246, 266 (1976).

To ensure that our residents and natural resources enjoy

the benefits of the clean air that the statute demands, our

offices have advocated in rulemakings and litigation that EPA

set standards that protect public health and welfare with an

adequate margin of safety, as the Act requires. E.g.,

Mississippi v. EPA, 744 F.3d 1334 (D.C. Cir. 2013) (State

petitioners, including New York, California, Connecticut,

Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico,

Oregon, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia,

successfully argued for remand of secondary ozone standards);

American Farm Bureau Fed. v. EPA, 559 F.3d 512 (D.C. Cir.

2009) (State petitioners and amici, including New York,

California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland,

Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania Department of

Environmental Protection, Rhode Island, and the District of

Columbia, successfully argued for remand of primary fine

particulate matter standards); Murray Energy v. EPA (D.C.

Cir. 15-1385) (State amici., including California Air

Resources Board, Delaware Department of Natural Resources,

Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the

District of Columbia, filed a brief supporting the 2015

primary ozone standard against attempts to weaken it).

The ozone rule promulgated by EPA in 2015 strengthened the

primary standard of 75 parts per billion (ppb) to 70 ppb. 80

Fed. Reg. 65,292 (Oct. 26, 2015). This level was at the high

end (i.e., less stringent) of the 65-70 ppb range that EPA

proposed in 2014. EPA's independent science advisors, the

Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, cautioned that this

level may offer little margin of safety, particularly for

sensitive subpopulations. Therefore, in comments on the

proposal, several of our states urged EPA to adopt a primary

standard lower than 70 ppb to protect public health with an

adequate margin of safety. However, even tightening the

standard from 75 ppb to 70 ppb will result in important

public health benefits. For example, EPA conservatively

estimated that meeting the 70 ppb standard nationally (not

including California) will result in net annual public health

benefits of up to $4.5 billion starting in 2025. These

national benefits include preventing approximately: 316 to

660 premature deaths; 230,000 asthma attacks in children;

160,000 missed school days; 28,000 missed work days; 630

asthma-related emergency room visits; and 340 cases of

acute bronchitis in children.

Under current law, states will develop and submit their own

plans to attain the 2015 standard by 2020 or 2021. But H.R.

806 would delay this deadline until October 2026 and delay

other similarly related deadlines, postponing even further

the life-saving benefits of attaining clean air. The bill

should be rejected on these grounds alone.

In addition, H.R. 806 would undermine the protection of

health and welfare from the dangers of all criteria air

pollutants by weakening the national ambient air quality

standards process for updating standards based on the most

recent scientific evidence. Instead of requiring that

standards be reviewed--and as necessary, revised--every five

years based on the latest scientific evidence on the harms to

public health and welfare from exposure to criteria

pollutants, H.R. 806 would require updates only once a

decade.

The bill would also eliminate the Act's requirement that

air quality standards be set solely based on adequate

protection of public health and welfare. Specifically, the

bill would authorize the EPA Administrator to also consider

``likely technological feasibility'' in establishing primary

and secondary standards. This provision appears designed to

allow EPA to weaken standards nationwide if it thinks a

single area might be incapable of meeting them. But if that

were ever the case, the Act already provides relief

mechanisms for the affected area. In addition, the bill

undermines the Act's existing protections by creating a

loophole that allows EPA to treat hot or dry weather as an

``exceptional event'' excusing an area's nonattainment.

Finally, the bill appears to be based on a misunderstanding

of the Act's balance between federal and state authority. The

bill directs EPA to cherry-pick hypothetical state

implementation strategies and only evaluate their adverse

side-effects, and, potentially, use that evaluation to weaken

ambient air quality standards. But EPA cannot know at the

time it sets standards what strategies states will choose, or

how individual states will value their beneficial side-

effects. Those considerations should remain separate from the

standard-setting process.

In summary, ozone pollution remains a serious and

persistent problem for our nation, posing a particular risk

to the health of children, the elderly and the sick, as well

as individuals who spend time outdoors. Because H.R. 806

would represent a significant step backward in combatting

ozone and other dangerous criteria pollutants, we urge you to

oppose the bill. Thank you for your attention to this

critical matter.

Sincerely,

Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General of New York, Lemuel

Srolovic, Chief, Environmental Protection Bureau, Michael J.

Myers, Assistant Attorney General, Environmental Protection

Bureau.

Xavier Becerra, Attorney General of California, David A.

Zonana, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Jonathan Wiener,

Deputy Attorney General.

George Jepsen, Attorney General of Connecticut, Matthew I.

Levine, Kirsten S.P. Rigney, Scott N. Koschwitz, Assistant

Attorneys General, Office of the Attorney General.

Matthew P. Denn, Attorney General of Delaware, Ralph K.

Durstein, III, Valerie S. Edge, Deputy Attorneys General,

Delaware Department of Justice.

Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of Illinois, Matthew J.

Dunn, Gerald T. Karr, James P. Gignac, Assistant Attorneys

General, Environmental Enforcement Division.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General of Iowa, Jacob Larson,

Assistant Attorney General.

Brian Frosh, Attorney General of Maryland, Roberta R.

James, Assistant Attorney General.

Maura Healey, Attorney General of Massachusetts, Christophe

Courchesne, Chief, Carol Iancu, Assistant Attorneys General,

Environmental Protection Division, Office of the Attorney

General.

Hector Balderas, Attorney General of New Mexico, Bill

Grantham, Assistant Attorney General.

Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General of Oregon, Paul

Garrahan, Attorney-in-Charge, Natural Resources Section,

Oregon Department of Justice.

Josh Shapiro, Attorney General of Pennsylvania, Office of

the Attorney General.

Patrick McDonnell, Acting Secretary, Pennsylvania

Department of Environmental Protection.

Peter Kilmartin, Attorney General of Rhode Island, Gregory

S. Schultz, Assistant Attorney General.

Thomas J. Donovan, Jr., Attorney General of Vermont,

Nicholas F. Persampieri, Assistant Attorney General.

Mark Herring, Attorney General of Virginia, John W. Daniel,

II, Deputy Attorney General, Matthew L. Gooch, Assistant

Attorney General, Environmental Section.

Bob Ferguson, Attorney General of Washington, Katharine G.

Shirey, Assistant Attorney General.

Karl A. Racine, Attorney General for the District of

Columbia.

Mr. Chairman, the second document I include in the Record is a letter from the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, again, opposing the bill.

Office of the Commissioner, New York State Department of

Environmental Conservation,

Albany, NY.

Re H.R. 806, Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2017.

Hon. John Shimkus, Chairman,

Subcommittee on the Environment, Committee on Energy and

Commerce, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Hon. Paul D. Tonko, Ranking Member,

Subcommittee on the Environment, Committee on Energy and

Commerce, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Honorable Chair Shimkus and Representative Tonko: The

State of New York strongly opposes the ``Ozone Standards

Implementation Act of 2017,'' which will substantially harm

public health to the detriment of New Yorkers and residents

of many other states. The proposed bill would restrict the

efficacy of the Clean Air Act in a way that would delay

implementation of critical health-based standards for

protecting the public from harmful ground-level ozone and

other dangerous air pollutants. The result of this proposed

bill would be the significant postponement of health and

environmental benefits for nearly a decade, inevitably

resulting in increased illness and deaths from air pollution.

Introduction

The Clean Air Act (``Act'') addresses the critically

important issue of protecting the health and welfare of all

Americans from excessive levels of air pollution. It

establishes a federal-state partnership under which EPA,

informed by established science, sets National Ambient Air

Quality Standards (NAAQS) at a level necessary to protect

public health, and states develop and implement plans for

achieving those standards. This collaborative process has

significantly reduced pollutant concentrations to the great

benefit of the public. Importantly, the process provided by

the sections 109 and 110 of the Act recognizes that air

pollution knows no boundaries and that air quality in many

states, including New York, is impacted by emissions from

sources located upwind.

Section 109 of the Act ensures that implementation of the

Act is guided by established science; it charges the Clean

Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) with reviewing the

latest ``state of the science'' relating to public and

environmental health, and conveying its findings to the

Administrator. Based on that information, the Administrator

establishes the NAAQS at a level necessary to protect public

health within a reasonable margin of safety. Under Section

110 of the Act, States then develop plans to achieve air

quality that meets the standard in those areas that do not

meet the standard, known as ``nonattainment'' areas.

In its latest review, CASAC determined that the existing

2008 ozone NAAQS was insufficiently protective of public

health, particularly for at-risk groups including children,

older adults, people of all ages who have lung diseases such

as asthma, and people who are active outdoors. Based on

CASAC's scientific findings, EPA determined that implementing

the 2015 ozone NAAQS would help prevent a range of harmful

health effects each year, including 320 to 660 premature

deaths; 230,000 asthma attacks in children; 160,000 days when

kids miss school; 28,000 missed work days; 630 asthma-related

emergency room visits; and 340 cases of acute bronchitis in

children. EPA has identified additional serious health

threats from ozone including cardiovascular disease (e.g.,

heart attacks, strokes, heart disease, congestive heart

failure); potential harm to the central nervous system; and

potential reproductive and developmental harm. The health

benefits from meeting the 2015 ozone NAAQS exceed the costs

of controls by 2 to 4 times.

Like many other states, New York strongly supported EPA's

strengthening of the ozone NAAQS in 2015. This support comes

even though New York faces a substantial burden of achieving

ozone attainment in the New York City metropolitan area.

This-burden, however, is outweighed by the need to address

the serious public health impacts. In New York City,

approximately 1 in 10 emergency room visits for asthma are

attributable to ozone pollution. Rather than seek to delay

its ozone attainment efforts, New York strives to bring the

New York City metropolitan area into attainment as

expeditiously as possible, in order to provide its residents

with cleaner and more healthful air to breathe.

Delaying public health benefits of the 2015 ozone NAAQS

The proposed legislation would harm public health by

delaying the implementation of the 2015 ozone NAAQS (and its

corresponding health benefits) for eight years and further

postponing any future standard for several years beyond when

they are necessary. Current law requires EPA to designate

states under the 2015 ozone NAAQS according to their

monitored air quality by October 2017, and states not meeting

the standards would have a number of years to reach

compliance proportional to the severity of their ozone

problems. However, this legislation would defer action so

that designations would not be made until October 2025, thus

postponing even the beginning of planning efforts until after

attainment would otherwise have been achieved under the

current structure of the Act. For New Yorkers and other

Americans, this would result in a substantial delay in their

ability to breathe clean and healthful air.

Even worse, this proposed bill compounds this public health

harm by allowing the construction of new power plants and

factories without considering their impact on a region's

ability to achieve compliance with the NAAQS. Under current

law, such new and modified facilities located in areas

designated nonattainment are subject to a control technology

review under the Clean Air Act's nonattainment new source

review program, which requires a demonstration of control

technology that would consider the ``lowest achievable

emission rate,'' resulting in the most stringent emission

limit for a certain source class. This bill would eliminate

these new source reviews, which are critical for advancing a

nonattainment area toward NAAQS compliance.

Together, these aspects of the legislation will have even

worse additional adverse impacts on states like New York that

are victimized by upwind air pollution. First, this

legislation will impair New York's relief from ozone

transport from upwind locations. EPA modeling indicates that

between 75% and 94% of the ozone in the New York City

metropolitan area comes from sources outside of New York.

Although New York will continue actions to reduce emission of

ozone precursors, it cannot achieve healthful ozone levels

without a substantial reduction in emissions from states

located upwind, which are responsible for most of New York's

ozone levels. Many of these states encompass areas that are

currently monitoring as nonattainment, and these areas would

have to achieve emission reductions under current law if

designated nonattainment. Postponing a nonattainment

designation for the New York City metropolitan area will have

the unacceptable effect of postponing the ``good neighbor''

obligation of upwind areas to reduce their significant

contribution to New York's nonattainment until sometime after

the nonattainment designation.

Moreover, postponing compliance with nonattainment New

Source Review in areas that would otherwise be designated as

nonattainment with the ozone NAAQS establishes an inequitable

outcome for New York and other states that have already been

designated nonattainment. Under this proposed bill, new

industrial facilities in areas currently designated

nonattainment with the 2008 ozone NAAQS or in the Ozone

Transport Region--including all of New York--will have to

comply with nonattainment NSR requirements, yet facilities

located in regions with comparable or worse air quality and

much higher emissions will not have to do so for a decade or

more. As such, states that would otherwise be designated

nonattainment would gain an unfair advantage in attracting

business development under this bill.

Delaying public health benefits from reducing other criteria pollutants

Aside from ozone, provisions of this proposed bill would

affect future NAAQS reviews for all criteria pollutants, thus

compounding negative public health impacts. For example, the

bill would irresponsibly extend the NAAQS review time from

five years to ten for all criteria pollutants. Retaining the

five-year review schedule ensures that the Administrator

reviews the relevant state of the science while it is timely

and germane. Health science moves quickly; by the time one

NAAQS revision is reaching completion, other pertinent

clinical studies are being published.

This proposed bill weakens public health protection by

making cost and technological feasibility larger factors in

the establishment and implementation of NAAQS. The Supreme

Court has already upheld the notion that the consideration of

costs has no place in the setting of a NAAQS (Whitman v.

American Trucking Associations, Inc., 2001). Instead,

questions of technological and economic feasibility are

considered at the stage of implementing the NAAQS. For

example, the Act's nonattainment area classifications

recognize that areas with more difficult ozone pollution

problems require more time to comply. Unfortunately, Section

3(b) of the proposed bill would change the long-standing

practice of how an Administrator determines the NAAQS by

allowing him or her to analyze, as a secondary consideration,

the likely technological feasibility of a revised NAAQS.

Section 3(c) would expand CASAC's role to providing advice to

the Administrator on adverse economic effects (among others)

prior to the setting of the NAAQS. Taken together, these

proposed revisions would have the effect that NAAQS would no

longer be set at levels that are protective of public health

and welfare.

Finally, the proposed bill unnecessarily redefines ordinary

expected conditions as ``exceptional events'' that need not

be considered by a state in demonstrating attainment. The

intent of the ``extraordinary event'' exception is to allow a

state to discount NAAQS exceedances that result from one-

time, unpredictable, and uncontrollable events such as

wildfires. The proposal, however, would allow commonplace

conditions such as stagnant air masses and ``meteorological

event[s] involving high temperatures or lack of

precipitation'' to be considered exceptional. In their ozone

planning, states should anticipate these conditions, which

are expected to occur each year and promote the formation of

ozone when public health is at the greatest risk.

We also disagree with the proposal to allow sources to

avoid nonattainment new source review until release of the

implementation guidance. EPA's delay in issuing guidance

should not be an excuse to allow new sources in nonattainment

areas to contribute to further air quality degradation. In

addition, the bill's reduction of the time allotted for

states to formulate and submit attainment plans from the

current three years to one year reflects a misunderstanding

of the laborious process for developing these plans.

Conclusion

The Clean Air Act is a bipartisan success story. Citizens

across the country have benefited from the Act's clean air

requirements over the last few decades. People can breathe

easier due to the clean air standards that have resulted from

rigorous reviews that are guided by the latest scientific

evidence. Passage of this proposed bill would deprive the

American people of those benefits, worsen air quality and

harm public health substantially.

Sincerely,

Basil Seggos.

Mr. Chairman, the third document I include in the Record is a letter signed by 15 medical and public health organizations, again, opposing the bill.

July 17, 2017.

Dear Representative: Clean air is fundamental for good

health, and the Clean Air Act promises all Americans air that

is safe to breathe. The undersigned public health and medical

organizations urge you to oppose H.R. 806, the so-called

``Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2017.'' A more

fitting name for this legislation would be the ``Smoggy Skies

Act,'' as it delays lifesaving standards to reduce ozone

pollution, or smog, and permanently weakens the Clean Air

Act.

Clear, up-to-date, scientific evidence documented the need

for greater protection from ozone pollution, and drove the

stronger limit on ozone that the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) finalized in 2015. To meet the

updated standard, the states have clear authority and plenty

of time to plan and then work to reduce pollution under the

Clean Air Act's long-established, balanced implementation

timeline. Despite those facts, the Smoggy Skies Act imposes

additional delays and sweeping changes that will threaten

health, particularly the health of children, seniors and

people with chronic disease.

The Smoggy Skies Act also reaches far beyond implementation

of the current ozone standards. It permanently weakens the

Clean Air Act and future air pollution health standards for

all criteria pollutants. Specifically, the Smoggy Skies Act

weakens implementation and enforcement of all lifesaving air

pollution health standards, including those for carbon

monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulate matter,

and sulfur dioxide. It would also permanently undermine the

Clean Air Act as a public health law.

The Clean Air Act requires that EPA review the science on

the health impacts of carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen

dioxide, ozone, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide air

pollutants every five years and update these national ambient

air quality standards according to the current science. The

Smoggy Skies Act would lengthen the review period of the air

pollution health standards from once every five years to once

every ten years for all criteria pollutants. As the science

continues to evolve, the public deserves that their

protections be based on the most up-to-date science,

certainly not a schedule that is twice as long as they

currently have under the law. The work that EPA and states do

to clean up air pollution should be based on the best and

most current science.

Emerging research adds crucial information to our

understanding of the impacts that air pollution has on human

health, and EPA should not have to wait a decade to

incorporate it. For example, on March 29, 2016, a newly

published study, Particulate Matter Exposure and Preterm

Birth: Estimates of U.S. Attributable Burden and Economic

Costs showed new information linking particulate air

pollution to nearly 16,000 preterm births per year. Under the

Smoggy Skies Act, EPA would have to wait as much as a decade

to consider such new evidence when setting standards. Ten

years is far too long to wait to protect public health from

levels of pollution that the science shows are dangerous or

for EPA to consider new information.

In the 2015 review of the ozone standard, EPA examined an

extensive body of scientific evidence demonstrating that

ozone inflames the lungs, causing asthma attacks and

resulting in emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and

premature deaths. A growing body of research indicates that

ozone may also lead to central nervous system harm and may

harm developing fetuses. In response to the evidence, EPA

updated the ozone standards. While many of our organizations

called for a more protective level, there is no doubt that

the updated, 70 parts per billion standard provides greater

health protections compared to the previous standard.

The Smoggy Skies Act would delay implementation of these

more protective air pollution standards for at least eight

years. This means eight years of illnesses and premature

deaths that could have been avoided. Parents will not be told

the truth about pollution in their community and states and

EPA will not work to curb pollution to meet the new

standards. The public has a fundamental right to know when

pollution in the air they breathe or the water they drink

threatens health, and Congress must not add eight years of

delay to health protections and cleanup.

Furthermore, the American public overwhelmingly supports

upholding these more protective limits on ozone. A 2017 poll

found that by a 2-to-1 margin, Americans believe Congress

should leave EPA's updated standards in place, showing clear

public opposition to the Smoggy Skies Act.

The Smoggy Skies Act would also permanently weaken

implementation of the 2015 and future ozone standards. The

Act would delay implementation to a date when the evidence

shows that most states would meet the standard with cleanup

measures already in place. It would also reduce requirements

for areas with the most dangerous levels of ozone. Areas

classified as being in ``extreme nonattainment'' of the

standard would no longer need to write plans that include

additional contingency measures if their initial plans fail

to provide the expected pollution reductions. The Clean Air

Act prioritizes reducing air pollution to protect the

public's health, but the Smoggy Skies Act opens a new

opportunity for communities to avoid cleaning up,

irrespective of the health impacts.

Further, the bill would greatly expand the definition of an

exceptional event. Under the Clean Air Act, communities can

demonstrate to EPA that an exceptional event, such as a

wildfire, should not ``count'' in determining whether their

air quality meets the national standards. This bill would

recklessly expand the definition of exceptional events to

include high pollution days when the air is simply stagnant--

the precise air pollution episodes the Clean Air Act was

designed to combat--and declare those bad air days as

``exceptional.'' Changing the accounting rules will undermine

health protection and avoid pollution cleanup.

Additionally, the bill would permanently weaken the Clean

Air Act. The Clean Air Act is one of our nation's premier

public health laws because it puts health first. The Act has

a two-step process: first, EPA considers scientific evidence

to decide how much air pollution is safe to breathe and sets

the standard that is requisite to protect public health with

an adequate margin of safety. Then, states work with EPA to

develop a plan to clean up air pollution to meet the

standard. Cost and feasibility are fully considered in the

second phase during implementation of the standard.

This bill states that if EPA finds that ``a range of

levels'' of an air pollutant protect public health with an

adequate margin of safety, then EPA may consider

technological feasibility in choosing a limit within that

range. Further, the bill would interject implementation

considerations, including projections of adverse economic and

energy effects, into the standard setting process. These

changes will permanently weaken the core health-based premise

of the Clean Air Act--protecting the public from known health

effects of air pollution with a margin of safety.

These changes would reverse the intention of the Clean Air

Act explicitly included by its bipartisan authors in

Congress: that basing the standard on the protection of

public health would push technology to develop new tools and

techniques to reduce emissions. They understood that pushing

the cleanup technology to meet the urgent need to protect

health would help to expand job development and growth. They

were correct, as the emission control industry today has

helped the nation meet stronger standards in creative, cost-

effective ways.

The text also explicitly states that the Smoggy Skies Act

does not authorize any additional funds to be appropriated to

EPA for its work carrying out the bill's provisions. Forcing

EPA to perform the additional work of implementing this bill

with no additional resources could put the agency's current,

lifesaving work at further risk.

Finally, an amendment adopted in committee would eliminate

key enforcement provisions under the Clean Air Act. As

amended, the bill could perpetuate poor air quality in

communities with the highest pollution levels indefinitely.

The provision waives the obligation for states with areas

heavily polluted by ozone or particulate matter to write

effective plans to attain the health standards. Currently, if

an area with unhealthy air fails to write an adequate plan to

meet air pollution standards, EPA can impose sanctions.

Because that enforcement provision exists, EPA has almost

never needed to use it--states wrote effective plans. As

amended, the Smoggy Skies Act would bar EPA from using this

key enforcement tool for especially polluted areas,

essentially eliminating the obligation for states to write a

meaningful pollution cleanup plan that can demonstrate

meeting the health standards.

The Smoggy Skies Act is a sweeping attack on lifesaving

standards that protect public health from air pollution. This

bill is an extreme attempt to undermine our nation's proven

clean air health protections. Not only does it delay the

long-overdue updated ozone standards and weaken their

implementation and enforcement, it also permanently weakens

the health protections against many dangerous air pollutants

and the scientific basis of Clean Air Act standards.

Please prioritize the health of your constituents and vote

NO on the Smoggy Skies Act.

Sincerely,

Allergy & Asthma Network

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

American Academy of Pediatrics

American Lung Association

American Public Health Association

American Thoracic Society

Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America

Center for Climate Change and Health

Children's Environmental Health Network

Health Care Without Harm

National Association of County & City Health Officials

National Environmental Health Association

National Medical Association

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Trust for America's Health.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, I include a letter signed by 121 environmental and other groups opposing the bill.

March 21, 2017.

Dear Senator/Representative, on behalf of our millions of

members, the undersigned 121 organizations urge you to oppose

the ``Ozone Standards Implementation Act'' (H.R. 806, S.

263). The innocuous-sounding name is misleading: this

legislation would actually systematically weaken the Clean

Air Act without a single improvement, undermine Americans'

46-year right to healthy air based on medical science, and

delay life-saving health standards already years overdue.

This bill's vision of ``Ozone Standards Implementation''

eliminates health benefits and the right to truly safe air

that Americans enjoy under today's law. First, the

legislation would delay for ten years the right to safer air

quality, and even the simple right to know if the air is safe

to breathe. Corporations applying for air pollution permits

would be free to ignore new ground-level ozone (aka smog)

health standards during these additional ten years. For the

first time the largest sources of air pollution would be

allowed to exceed health standards. The bill would also

outright excuse the parts of the country suffering the worst

smog pollution from having backup plans if they do not reduce

pollution. The most polluted parts of the country should not

stop doing everything they can to protect their citizens'

health and environment by cleaning up smog pollution.

This bill is not content to merely weaken and delay

reductions in smog pollution. It also strikes at our core

right to clean air based on health and medical science. The

medically-based health standards that the law has been

founded on for 46 years instead could become a political

football weakened by polluter compliance costs. This could

well result in communities being exposed to unhealthy levels

of smog and soot and sulfur dioxide and even toxic lead

pollution. The bill would also double the law's five-year

review periods for recognizing the latest science and

updating health standards, which are already frequently years

late; this means in practice that unhealthy air would persist

for longer than ten years.

The legislation also weakens implementation of current

clean air health standards. The bill expands exemptions for

``exceptional events'' that are not counted towards

compliance with health standards for air quality, even when

air pollution levels are unsafe. This will mean more unsafe

air more often, with no responsibility to clean it up.

Requirements meant to ensure progress toward reducing smog

and soot pollution would shift from focusing on public health

and achievability to economic costs. Despite the bland name

``Ozone Standards Implementation Act,'' this bill represents

an extreme attack on the most fundamental safeguards and

rights in the Clean Air Act.

Since 1970, the Federal Clean Air Act has been organized

around one governing principle--that the EPA must set health

standards based on medical science for dangerous air

pollution, including smog, soot and lead, that protect all

Americans, with ``an adequate margin of safety'' for

vulnerable populations like children, the elderly and

asthmatics. This legislation eviscerates that principle and

protection. We urge you to oppose H.R. 806 and S. 263, to

protect our families and Americans' rights to clean air.

Sincerely,

350KC; 350 Loudoun; Alaska Community Action on Toxics;

Alton Area Cluster UCM (United Congregations of Metro-East);

Brentwood House; California Latino Business Institute; Center

for Biological Diversity; Central Valley Air Quality (CVAQ)

Coalition; Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility;

Chicago Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Citizens for Clean Air; Clean Air Watch; Clean Water

Action; Cleveland Environmental Action Network; Climate

Action Alliance of the Valley; Connecticut League of

Conservation Voters; Conservation Voters for Idaho;

Conservation Voters of South Carolina; Dakota Resource

Council; Earth Day Network; Earthjustice; Earthworks;

Environment Iowa; Environment America.

Environment Arizona; Environment California; Environment

Colorado; Environment Connecticut; Environment Florida;

Environment Georgia; Environment Illinois; Environment Maine;

Environment Maryland; Environment Massachusetts; Environment

Michigan; Environment Minnesota; Environment Missouri;

Environment Montana; Environment Nevada; Environment New

Hampshire; Environment New Jersey; Environment New Mexico;

Environment North Carolina.

Environment Ohio; Environment Oregon; Environment Rhode

Island; Environment Texas; Environment Virginia; Environment

Washington; Environmental Defense Action Fund; Environmental

Entrepreneurs (E2); Environmental Law & Policy Center;

Ethical Society of St. Louis; Faith Alliance for Climate

Solutions; Florida Conservation Voters; Fort Collins

Sustainability Group; Gasp; GreenLatinos.

Health Care Without Harm; Iowa Interfaith Power & Light;

Jean-Michel Cousteau's Ocean Futures Society; KyotoUSA;

Labadie Environmental Organization (LEO); Latino Donor

Collaborative; League of Conservation Voters; League of Women

Voters; Maine Conservation Voters; Maryland League of

Conservation Voters; Michigan League of Conservation Voters;

Moms Clean Air Force; Montana Conservation Voters Education

Fund.

Montana Environmental Information Center; National Parks

Conservation Association; Natural Resources Defense Council;

NC League of Conservation Voters; Nevada Conservation League;

New Mexico Environmental Law Center; New York League of

Conservation Voters; Northern Plains Resource Council; OEC

Action Fund; Ohio Organizing Collaborative, Communities

United for Responsible Energy; Oregon League of Conservation

Voters; Partnership for Policy Integrity; PennEnvironment.

People Demanding Action, Tucson Chapter; Physicians for

Social Responsibility; Physicians for Social Responsibility,

Maine Chapter; Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los

Angeles Chapter; Physicians for Social Responsibility,

Arizona Chapter; Physicians for Social Responsibility, SF Bay

Area Chapter; Physicians for Social Responsibility, Tennessee

Chapter; Physicians for Social Responsibility, Wisconsin

Chapter; Powder River Basin Resource Council; Public Citizen;

Public Citizen's Texas Office; RVA Interfaith Climate Justice

Team; Safe Climate Campaign; San Juan Citizens Alliance;

Sierra Club.

Southern Environmental Law Center; Texas Campaign for the

Environment; Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services;

Texas League of Conservation Voters; The Environmental

Justice Center at Chestnut Hills United Church; Trust for

America's Health; Union of Concerned Scientists; Utah

Physicians for a Healthy Environment; Valley Watch; Virginia

Organizing; Virginia Interfaith Power & Light; Voces Verdes;

Voices for Progress; Washington Conservation Voters; WE ACT

for Environmental Justice; Western Colorado Congress; Western

Organization of Resource Councils; Wisconsin Environmental

Health Network; Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters;

Wisconsin Environment; Wyoming Outdoor Council.

Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ellison).

Mr. Chair, two points on the review and the standards. Certainly not every review would require a change in standards, and I think that needs to be made clear here. When we talk about the difficulty of having to respond or achieve the standards that have been established and then they go stronger, well, on your way to 70 parts per billion, you are going to be moving through 75 parts per billion as you reduce those particulates that get emitted into our air. It is only logical that you could move along and continue to improve those standards.

This is about maintaining a quality of life, enhancing a quality of life, cutting into, for public health policy purposes, the devastating impacts of air pollutants and their relation to our public health.

Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Barragan).

Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I want to remind my colleagues, having just heard from a Californian, that California has nearly 3 million residents with asthma, including 650,000 children. Why on Earth would we want to put them at further risk by going backward? I suggest that we keep that in mind as we vote on this measure.

I heard the comment made about unachievable or unrealistic standards. Well, how is it that we have been making progress through the years? We have been growing jobs, and we have been cleaning the air. How is it that that was deemed unrealistic and unachievable?

Mr. Chairman, I believe in the pioneer spirit of this great country. I believe in her intellect. I believe in the passion to do the right thing. And I think that will continue to motivate us as we listen to scientists who tell us about the standards that we ought to achieve.

On our way to 75 parts per billion, we know that it is continued progress if we achieve 70; and if we listen to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, they will tell us that the air, for safety, with the safety factor, we should be closer to 60. So we have much more room for progress, and we have the technological wizardry to make that happen. Our children and generations unborn are counting on us.

As has been stated many times over today, this is a move in a backward direction. We are concerned on this side of the aisle about H.R. 806. We need to know that the standards that are out there are achievable, that those standards drive technological improvement.

We can grow the economy and clean the air. They are not mutually exclusive. In fact, we have proven that they are inclusive.

Mr. Chair, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this effort of opposition to H.R. 806. It is, as many have called it, an effort that will continue to hold back progress.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, my amendment strikes subsection (b) of section 3, which would allow the EPA to consider technological feasibility when determining what level of pollution is safe.

Health-based standards are the cornerstone of the Clean Air Act-- health-based. The EPA sets NAAQS at levels sufficient to protect the public health, essentially, the level of ambient air pollution that is safe to breathe.

While costs are not considered in establishing these standards, costs can be--and are considered--in developing plans to achieve the necessary pollution reductions to meet the standards.

Unfortunately, H.R. 806, as currently drafted, would change the longstanding criteria for establishing an air quality standard from one that is based solely on protecting public health to one that includes a consideration of the technological feasibility. This issue has been long debated and settled by Congress.

Since passage of the Clean Air Act in 1970, including the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, Congress has excluded technological feasibility considerations from standard setting to ensure that public health--and public health alone--would determine the standards for air quality.

In 1970, on the passage of the Clean Air Act, Senator Ed Muskie from Maine said: ``The first responsibility of Congress is not the making of technological or economic judgments--or even to be limited by what is or appears to be technologically or economically infeasible. Our responsibility is to establish what the public interest requires to protect the health of persons. This may mean that people and industries will be asked to do what seems to be impossible at present time. But if health is to be protected, these challenges must be met.''

For approaching five decades, that has been the guiding tenet of the Clean Air Act: what is in the betterment of public health.

Guided by this principle, our Nation has experienced a 70 percent reduction in key air pollutants while tripling the size of the economy.

I believe that a great deal of this success can be credited to American innovation. Despite assertions that achieving clean air was not feasible, American ingenuity has consistently risen

to the challenge and made our country the leader in both clean air and clean air technology.

Unquestionably, these standards have driven innovation, creating a thriving domestic pollution control industry.

So I ask my colleagues who are in favor of this measure: What is it about a can-do attitude that you don't get? Why is it that you have a lack of trust in the power of American ingenuity?

Had these standards not been ambitious and focused solely on public health, we may still be relying upon the technology from the 1970s and breathing the poor air quality from that era along with it.

Available technologies cannot and should not determine what we can have in terms of clean air. Let's have the scientific and medical experts guide us, and I have confidence that our engineers and innovators will find that way. The history of those protections that we enjoy has been to set ambitious, but achievable, goals. We have achieved those goals, and we have much cleaner air to show for it. Let's not roll back this process.

Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I think the insertion of discretion of the Administrator at the EPA as to the technological and economical availability, achievable qualities being inserted into this bill tells me--my interpretation is that the Administrator may not--the Administrator may not, may not--side with the residents--with the people of this country and their right to breathe clean air.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill, H.R. 806.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, H.R. 806, the Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2017, is about ensuring effective implementation of our air quality standards.

We have learned that timelines and procedures established almost 30 years ago can be counterproductive today, resulting in unnecessary costs, regulatory delay, and economic uncertainty.

H.R. 806 ensures we will continue to deliver effective environmental protections, with reforms that will also help expand economic opportunity in communities around the Nation.

H.R. 806 removes barriers to the planning and permitting of new or expanded manufacturing facilities and to related economic activity essential for building out America's infrastructure.

The bill's reforms reflect practical improvements to the law suggested by State and local regulators, who have confronted the growing challenges of implementing multiple air quality standards under multiple implementation plans and under tight statutory deadlines. As a result, these challenges have increased, and it has become more difficult for many areas to enable the economic expansion needed for their communities. This bill takes several sensible steps to fix this situation.

First, it extends the date for final designations for the 2015 ozone standards to 2025. This allows States time to implement the 2008 ozone standards and other measures to improve air quality. The provisions align requirements for new source construction permitting with this phased ozone schedule, which will reduce permitting delays and still ensure the use of the best available emissions control technologies. The provisions would require timely issuance of implementation guidelines by EPA so States can plan effectively.

Second, the bill aligns the air quality standard setting with how the process works in practice, and it ensures fuller information about regulatory impacts. For example, it updates the mandatory review of air quality standards to reflect past experience by extending the requirement to 10 years, and preserves the EPA administrator's discretion to issue revised standards earlier, if necessary. The bill ensures the administrator, prior to revising an air quality standard, obtains advice from the EPA's Independent Science Advisory Committee about any adverse effects on jobs, welfare, and other economic impacts related to implementing the standards.

Finally, the bill takes several steps to address some of the problems communities face when working to meet the standards. For example, it ensures that, for certain ozone and particulate matter nonattainment areas, States are not required to include economically infeasible measures in their plans; it ensures that States may seek relief with respect to certain exceptional events, including droughts; and it directs EPA to examine the impacts of foreign emissions on standards compliance, ozone formation, and identify effective control strategies, including ways to facilitate EPA review to avoid unnecessary penalties for foreign emissions.

The bill also helps communities with most severe air quality challenges that are doing the most to clean up their air by providing a reasonable way to avoid burdensome and unnecessary sanctions, which harm their ability to grow their economies and create jobs.

The provisions of H.R. 806 represent important steps to update the Clean Air Act to reflect what we have learned over the past 25 years since its last major revisions.

There is more work to be done to modernize environmental laws, but ensuring orderly implementation of air quality standards is an important place to start and essential in our environment and our economy.

Mr. Chair, I urge all Members to support this important bill today, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Olson), the author of the legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith), the chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to highlight a few specific things.

One is the standards established by the EPA remains unchanged. The real premise of this bill is the fact that, when the 2008 standards came out, it took the EPA 7 years to get to the guidelines for how local communities and businesses could comply. While that was occurring, they ratcheted down a new set of standards.

So when we talk, this is really more about having our citizens and our communities be able to comply with the rules and regs before a new rule and reg gets in place.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs).

Mr. Chairman, let me just remind my colleagues that--why 10 years? I mean, that is a good question.

When the 2008 standards came out, it took the administration 7 years, to 2015, to tell people how to even implement the 2008 standards. Then, 3 months later, they say: Oh, no, we are going to have a new standard set at 2015.

So this debate doesn't reduce or roll back. It says, let's let the EPA establish standards and then give communities time to comply. That is all this bill does.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. McKinley).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).

Mr. Chairman, let me just remind folks that what is going on here is that we have a 2008 standard that we were told 7 years afterwards: Here is how you comply.

That same year, we get new standards saying: Oh, no, no, no. You have got new standards lower than what it took us 7 years to define.

That is really the debate. We are not eliminating standards, we are not rolling back standards, we are just saying: Give us a break. Give us time to comply with the 2008 standards before you even force down the 2015 standards. Nothing in this bill rolls back either of those standards.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to my colleague from South Carolina (Mr. Sanford).

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), the majority leader of the House.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I would first of all like to thank my colleague from New York who serves as the ranking member of the committee. We have done some good work together that we look forward to bringing to the floor in a more amicable setting. Obviously, this one is not. I wish it could have been, but so the public policy world goes.

Let me, in my remaining time, highlight some of the organizations that are supporting our action. Through the committee process, we had the Farm Bureau, the American Petroleum Institute, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, the Portland Cement Association, National Association of Manufacturers, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce express the need to reform and modernize the Clean air Act in order to encourage economic growth and job creation, because we understand that what has, also, a major impact on health and welfare is our citizens having good-paying jobs.

There is a focus on what we are trying to do as Republicans through the legislative process, and we want to reduce the tax burdens, to ease the regulatory burdens, and to create jobs so that all of our citizens are able to achieve their economic goals and aspirations.

We also received a letter today that I include in the Record from over 145 organizations and over close to 20 State chambers of commerce.

July 18, 2017.

Hon. Mitch McConnell,

Majority Leader, U.S. Senate,

Washington, DC.

Hon. Paul Ryan,

Speaker, House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Hon. Chuck Schumer,

Minority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.

Hon. Nancy Pelosi,

Minority Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Majority Leader McConnell, Speaker Ryan, and Minority

Leaders

Schumer and Pelosi: The undersigned, which represent a

diverse group of industries from across the country, write to

express our strong support for H.R. 806 and S. 263, the

``Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2017.'' This

legislation provides a common-sense approach for implementing

national ambient air quality standards, recognizes ongoing

state efforts to improve air quality through a reasonable

implementation schedule for the 2015 ozone standards,

streamlines the air permitting process for businesses to

expand operations and create jobs, and includes other reforms

that bring more regulatory certainty to federal air quality

standards. Additionally, the undersigned support language

including certain elements of H.R. 806 and S. 263 included in

the Fiscal Year 2018 Interior, Environment and Related

Agencies Appropriations bill.

We have significant concerns that the 2015 ozone standards

overlap with existing state plans to implement the 2008 ozone

standards, leading to duplicative and wasteful implementation

schedules, and unnecessary and severe economic impacts. The

new ozone standards were promulgated in October 2015, only

months after states received their final guidance from the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on how to implement the

2008 ozone standards. This delay was the result of the Obama

administration's decision to halt work on the 2008 ozone

standards during a 2010-2011 reconsideration period. The EPA,

however, did not account for this self-imposed delay when

issuing the 2015 ozone standards, thereby imposing

duplicative costs and burdens of implementing multiple

standards simultaneously. This is particularly wasteful as

the EPA itself projects that nearly the entire country would

attain the 2015 ozone standards simply by being provided an

opportunity to fully implement already-planned measures like

their state implementation plans for the 2008 ozone

standards. Local economies also face severe impacts, as

analysis of data indicates that the 2015 ozone standards

could expand nonattainment to more than 950 counties if

planned reductions are not allowed time to take effect,

subjecting large parts of the country to costly nonattainment

control requirements.

Notwithstanding concerns expressed by thousands of elected

officials, state agencies, businesses, community groups, and

other stakeholders, the EPA issued the 2015 ozone standards

without addressing the overlap with the 2008 ozone standards

and the enormous impacts that dual implementation would have

on limited state resources, permitting, and the economy. It

is now up to Congress to address these issues, and that is

why we support H.R. 806 and S. 263. By better aligning the

2015 ozone standards with the 2008 ozone standards and their

associated emissions reductions, H.R. 806 and S. 263 will

help prevent unnecessary nonattainment designations and cost

burdens, without sacrificing environmental protection. The

legislation's permitting relief and other reforms are also an

important step towards national ambient air quality standards

that balance environmental protection and economic

development.

In sum, H.R. 806 and S. 263 and the related appropriations

language provide a common-sense plan that maintains continued

air quality improvement without unnecessarily straining state

and local economic resources.

We strongly encourage Congress to act quickly on this

critical legislation.

Alabama Petroleum Council; Alaska Chamber; Alliance of

Automobile Manufacturers; Alliance of Wyoming Manufacturers;

Aluminum Association; American Chemistry Council; American

Coatings Association; American Coke and Coal Chemicals

Institute; American Farm Bureau Federation; American Forest &

Paper Association; American Fuel & Petrochemical

Manufacturers; American Iron and Steel Institute; American

Petroleum Institute; American Road & Transportation Builders

Association (ARTBA); American Wood Council; Anderson Area

Chamber of Commerce; Apache Junction Chamber of Commerce; API

New York; API Ohio; API South Carolina.

Ardagh Group, Glass North America; Arizona Chamber of

Commerce and Industry; Arizona Mining Association; Arkansas

Petroleum Council; Ascension Chamber of Commerce; Associated

Petroleum Industries of Michigan; Associated Petroleum

Industries of Pennsylvania; Association of American

Railroads; Baton Rouge Area Chamber; Buckeye Valley Chamber

of Commerce; Carefree Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce; Cedar

City Area Chamber of Commerce; Chandler Chamber of Commerce;

Chemical Industry Council of California; Chemical Industry

Council of Illinois; Chemistry Council of New Jersey;

Colorado Association of Commerce & Industry; Colorado Oil &

Gas Association; Colorado Petroleum Association; Colorado

Petroleum Council.

Colorado Wyoming Petroleum Marketers Association;

Connecticut Petroleum Council; Consumer Energy Alliance;

Consumer Specialty Products Association; Council of

Industrial Boiler Owners (CIBO); CVR Energy, Inc.; Delaware

Petroleum Council; East Valley Chambers of Commerce Alliance;

Fashion Jewelry & Accessories Trade Association; Flexible

Packaging Association; Florida Petroleum Council; Fountain

Hills Chamber of Commerce; Georgia Chemistry Council;

Georgia Petroleum Council; Gilbert Chamber of Commerce;

Glass Packaging Institute (GPI); Global Cold Chain

Alliance; GPA Midstream Association; Grand Rapids Area

Chamber of Commerce; Greater Bakersfield Chamber of

Commerce.

Greater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance, Inc.; Greater

Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce; Greater Coachella Valley

Chamber of Commerce; Greater Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce;

Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce; Greater Phoenix

Chamber of Commerce; Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce;

Illinois Petroleum Council; Independent Petroleum Association

of America; Indiana Petroleum Council; Industrial Energy

Consumers of America (IECA); Industrial Environmental

Association; Industrial Minerals Association--North America;

Institute of Makers of Explosives; Institute of Shortening

and Edible Oils; Iowa Association of Business and Industry;

Kansas Petroleum Council; Kentucky Association of

Manufacturers; Kentucky Chamber of Commerce; Kentucky

Chemical Industry Council.

Lodi District Chamber of Commerce; Louisiana Association of

Business and Industry; Louisiana Chemical Association;

Manufacture Alabama; Maryland Petroleum Council;

Massachusetts Petroleum Council; Mesa Chamber of Commerce;

Michigan Chemistry Council; Minnesota Petroleum Council;

Missouri Petroleum Council; National Asphalt Pavement

Association; National Association of Chemical Distributors;

National Association of Manufacturers; National Cotton

Council; National Council of Farmer Cooperatives; National

Lime Association; National Mining Association; National

Oilseed Processors Association; National Tooling and

Machining Association; Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and

Industry.

New Jersey Petroleum Council; New Mexico Association of

Commerce & Industry; New York State Chemistry Council; North

American Die Casting Association; North Carolina Petroleum

Council; North Orange County Chamber; Ohio Chamber of

Commerce; Ohio Chemistry Technology Council; Oklahoma State

Chamber; Oregon Women In Timber; Owens Illinois, Inc.; Oxnard

Chamber of Commerce; Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and

Industry; Petroleum Marketers Association of America;

Portland Cement Association; Precision Machined Products

Association; Precision Metalforming Association; Queen Creek

Chamber of Commerce; Rancho Cordova Chamber of Commerce; Roof

Coatings Manufacturers Association (RCMA).

Salt Lake Chamber; San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership;

Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce; South Carolina Chamber

of Commerce; South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance; Tempe

Chamber of Commerce; Tennessee Chamber of Commerce &

Industry; Tennessee Petroleum Council; Texas Association of

Manufacturers; Texas Oil and Gas Association; The Fertilizer

Institute; Treated Wood Council; Truck and Engine

Manufacturers Association; Tucson Metro Chamber; Tulsa

Regional Chamber; U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Utah Petroleum

Association; Virginia Chamber of Commerce; Virginia Petroleum

Council; West Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce.

West Virginia Chamber of Commerce; West Virginia

Manufacturers Association; West Virginia Petroleum Council;

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce; Wisconsin Petroleum

Council; Wyoming Petroleum Marketers Association; Yuma County

Chamber of Commerce.

If I may, in the middle paragraph it says: ``We have significant concerns that the 2015 ozone standards overlap with existing State plans to implement the 2008 ozone standards, leading to duplicative and wasteful implementation schedules, and unnecessary and severe economic impacts. The new ozone standards were promulgated in October of 2015, only months after States received their final guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency on how to implement the 2008 ozone standards.''

Mr. Chairman, I couldn't say it any better than that. This is not, as I have said a couple of times, a rolling back of our regulations. This is identifying the fact that 2008 standards were implemented. It took 7 years to do the implementation guidelines, and when those guidelines came out 3 months after that, the Federal Government, through the EPA said, oh, we are going to now ratchet it down 5 more parts per billion, which leads you to believe that people are trying to comply.

Other benefits of this bill address the fact that you could be in the remotest parts of the country and fall against the EPA and ozone standards based upon nothing that you can do. We have communities that are trying to comply, are doing great work, but they are receiving emissions outside of their control. Plus, they will be penalized for that.

So we look forward to continued debates. I know that there have been amendments offered that we will consider.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate my colleague, and I don't question her passion and her evaluation of her perception about what we are doing.

But again, as I have said in general debate, nothing in this bill rolls back the 2008 standards; nothing rolls back the 2015 standards. The attempt is to say: Why is it so difficult to believe that we should meet the 2008 standards and give our communities time to do that before we throw on them a new 2015 standard? So that is the basic premise.

This amendment would allow the advisory panel to nullify one of the central provisions of the bill, section 2(a), which allows States to fully implement the 2008 ozone standards for which EPA only issued the implementing regulations in 2015 before turning to 2015.

So EPA says meet the 2008 standards. Delay, delay, delay; don't know how to do it; no guidelines. 2015 comes, they say meet the 2008 standards; 3 months later, oh, but now we have got 2015 standards we want you to comply with. That is the basic premise of this bill.

Ozone air quality will continue to improve under H.R. 806. Regarding the 2015 standards, the EPA projects the vast majority of U.S. counties will meet the 2015 ozone standards by 2025 just with the rules and programs now in place or underway.

The bill ensures hundreds of counties are on track to meeting the 2015 standards, and that can come into compliance without being subjected to additional regulatory burdens, paper requirements, or restrictions, which will not do anything to improve public health.

The bill also does not limit States from imposing more stringent emission requirements if a State finds that such a condition exists in section 2. Nowhere does the bill authorize States to increase their emissions. This is not about continuing to improve air quality in a manner that doesn't require the States to duplicate paperwork requirements.

Since 1980, ozone levels have declined 32 percent, and as we talk about in the environmental process, the low-hanging fruit has been picked. It gets more and more difficult as you start reducing the standards time, effort, energy, and technology.

So with the reduction of 32 percent by 1980, the EPA projects air quality ``will continue to improve over the next decade as additional reductions in ozone precursors from power plants, motor vehicles, and other sources are realized.''

Nothing in the pending bill prevents these improvements to air quality from being realized.

Mr. Chairman, I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, under the Clean Air Act, section 319 provides relief to areas that violate National Ambient Air Quality Standards due to unusual or naturally occurring events as that they cannot control.

Section 3(h) would add--and I would argue strengthens the definition--droughts and extraordinary stagnation to the act's definition of an exceptional event.

Let me give you an example. In 2012, there was a major drought in the Midwest. Now, I am from corn country, and

we don't irrigate our corn because we have got great soil, and we have got weather conditions for most of the years that provide plentiful rain for that to happen. But that didn't happen in 2012. It was an extraordinary event. It was a drought.

Now the question is posed: Should we punish the communities for an extraordinary event; i.e., a drought that is out of the control of any human being?

It is an ``extraordinary event.'' This language would provide reasonable relief for States in this condition, particularly those in the Western United States for, as I said, events beyond their control.

Nothing in H.R. 806 does away with the detailed statutory requirements under section 319(h) of the Clean Air Act for demonstrating ``an exceptional event.'' Nor does anything in the bill do away with the detailed regulatory procedures and guidelines that the EPA has laid out for demonstrating exceptional events or the requirements to measure air quality or to make that air quality data available to the public.

This provision simply ensures citizens in areas experiencing unusual or natural occurring events beyond their control do not become subject to penalties or sanctions under the Clean Air Act as a result of those events.

Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate my colleague. Again, he was on the floor when I talked about the great work I do with subcommittee members. Obviously, this is part of the debate where we are agreeing to disagree.

I will just say that air quality standards are put in place so that there are things that we can effect and we can deal with through mobile emissions, as you would probably know about, as stationary sources.

Exceptional events, such as droughts, are out of our control. That is why we think it should be placed into the language. We do believe it strengthens the provision of the law, doesn't weaken it.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, the subject of H.R. 806 is criteria pollutants and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards program, not the hazardous air pollutants programs, which my colleague is referring to.

These two programs are addressed under different sections of the Clean Air Act. The whole title is Clean Air Act, but you have one section here dealing with national ambient air quality, and then you have another section on hazardous air aspects, which is what my colleague is trying to address. Criteria pollutants are addressed under section 107 and 110 and part C and D of title 1 of the Clean Air Act, while hazardous air pollutants fall under section 12.

This amendment, moreover, is wholly unrelated to the purpose of H.R. 806, which is to provide State regulators with additional time and flexibility, as we have heard throughout this debate, to implement ozone and other standards for criteria pollutants.

H.R. 806 makes process-related reforms to address practical implementation challenges identified by State regulators. This amendment would make substantive changes relating specifically to regulation of the oil and gas sector.

This amendment would make significant changes to the Clean Air Act that did not receive any Energy and Commerce Committee consideration during the markup of this bill.

The amendment would also circumvent the established regulatory process for listing new hazardous air pollutants set forth under the Clean Air Act.

Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, to my colleague from Colorado, sitting in with the Rules Committee yesterday, the question was asked: Would you accept this amendment or would you not? I said: I appreciate my colleagues on the Rules Committee. They will do the due diligence in agreeing which amendment comes to the floor or not.

So it is good to see the Rules Committee has so much comradery and comity that they would allow someone from the committee to offer an amendment on the bill, but I still have to object because it splits this bill and tries to bring in air issues that are in the hazardous air program and jam it into this one where, basically, what we are trying to do is send a signal and allow communities to meet the 2008 standards before a new 2015 standard gets placed upon them 3 months after they do the implementing guidelines.

It is really a process, a bill that makes it easier for people to comply. It really helps EPA more easily be able to evaluate the data and move us forward to a cleaner environment.

Mr. Chair, I reluctantly hold my position that we should vote against the Polis amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank my colleague for his impassioned discussion, especially of his area. We all have a lot of friends here. It is hard for the public to believe I am on both sides of the aisle, so it

saddens me to have to speak in opposition to this amendment.

This is doing, similarly, what I had to address with Congressman Polis in that it is taking a bill in which we are trying to streamline the processes and then somehow creating a grant program out of the money. I don't know where this money is coming from, whether it is coming from the supposed savings from nonimplementation.

But as my colleague from Texas mentioned, the process, as you followed through the committee, is to say: How do you force people who are just told how to comply with 2008 standards, how do you then turn around and give them 2015 standards when they were just told how to comply 3 months prior?

And so what we have tried to do in this piece of legislation is to say let's allow people to move forward on 2008 while making sure that the 2015 standards occur with a deadline of 2025. That is the basic premise.

And it also addresses the issue of, and I know, there are parts of the country where they can do all that they can do and they are not going to meet the standards because of what is being imported from other regions, maybe, in your case, from Asia or from San Francisco or those areas. So how do you end up punishing an area when they are doing everything that they humanly can do?

There is some great, obviously, statistics that you have shared of the success in that region, although they are still stressed under the current standards.

So your amendment would eliminate the widely supported reforms in this bill. And I read, and we will have submitted for the Record, the 145-plus organizations that support it, plus the five or ten that we addressed earlier from the markup, and then really kind of apply only to a few parts of the country versus the entire country as a whole.

Across the Nation, States and communities struggle to implement these standards, and we are trying to streamline that process. This amendment would deprive communities across the Nation of the benefits of H.R. 806. It would reduce red tape, relief from the sanctions and penalties for emissions that are outside their control, as I said earlier, and streamline the implementation of the standards.

Mr. Chair, I appreciate my friend and colleague. I know it is a tough environment we are trying to address, especially some of those concerns.

Mr. Chair, I still urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I agree with my colleague that this doesn't rise to the standard of the other bills that we will be bringing in a bipartisan manner, and we kind of raised that initially at the beginning. And it is, I think, to both of our losses.

But having said that, my colleague, Congressman Olson, the author of the bill, did get a couple Democrats to sponsor the primary piece of legislation, and there is a Senate companion bill, S. 263, which we hope will be passed by the Senate. So we are a little more optimistic that this can get over the finish line than Mr. McNerney might be, but, again, we will continue to work together where we can work together, and respectfully disagree when we have disagreements.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to recommit.

Mr. Speaker, to my colleagues and friends, I appreciate the debate. Those who followed it here, just a couple of points.

The question is: Why are we here today?

In 2008, the EPA established ozone standards, and then it took the EPA 7 years to tell communities how to comply with those 2008 standards. It is the truth. I am just telling you the truth.

Three months later, after they told the communities how to comply, they said: Now we are going to give you 2015 standards.

That is why we are here. We are just here trying to say that if the EPA is going to establish standards, then they ought to say: We are going to give you the guidelines on how to comply now, not 7 years later.

So what this bill does is allow communities to meet the 2008 standards. It doesn't roll back any standards. It says meet the 2008 standards. In fact, we don't even say roll back the 2015 standards. We just say, give the communities time to comply with the 2015 standards.

This motion is a distraction. Let's reject it, and move to pass the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, this is an easy amendment to argue because it makes so much sense.

I am going to ask to strike section 6 of the bill. Let me read that section: ``No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the requirements of this Act and the amendments made by this Act. Such requirements shall be carried out using amounts otherwise authorized.''

In other words, they are going to be carried out without any funds.

Mr. Chairman, I am going to move forward here and make the statement that the administration and House Republicans continue to add to the EPA's workload while cutting funding and hampering State and local agencies from providing the resources needed to protect public health.

This is surely unreasonable. In the case of H.R. 806, it will continue to obstruct the EPA's ability to advance and improve our Nation's air and water quality. My congressional district has extremely poor air quality, which has caused a variety of health issues for my constituents.

This bill does weaken the Clean Air Act. Specifically, it targets the implementation and enforcement of air pollution health standards. It also negatively impacts the budget for programs necessary to ensure that Americans can breathe clean air.

This bill is in stark opposition to the public's overwhelming support of the Clean Air Act. According to the Center for American Progress, the Trump administration's EPA budget, which cuts more than $2 billion from the Agency's budget, shifts the cost of implementing clean air standards to the States. All of these cuts would be harmful to the 649,000 children and more than 2 million adults with asthma living in California.

Every State agency that testified before the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the Environment stated

that more, not less, money is needed and that the Clean Air Act was working to protect the public's health and safety.

I represent one of the worst air quality regions in the Nation, the San Joaquin Valley, and yet the San Joaquin Valley air district has been a leader in utilizing EPA grants and expertise to achieve emissions reductions from mobile sources, showing that this funding is beneficial. The valley continues to set emission levels to record lows and has reduced air pollution by over 80 percent. This data proves that the Clean Air Act works and creates a better standard of living for all Americans.

The American Lung Association issued a State of the Air report for 2017 in the State of California. Most of its 28 counties received an F for air quality. We should be striving for better air quality.

Grants like the EPA's Targeted Air Shed Grants and Diesel Emission Reductions Act help thousands of agriculture, trucking, and other businesses acquire low-emitting tractors, trucks, and other equipment. This funding generates jobs and manufacturing here in the United States. These Federal funds have a great track record of benefiting our region, and it is a good investment.

EPA estimates that for every dollar spent on DERA, more than $20 in health benefits are generated. That is $20 of health benefits for every dollar invested. All 50 States have these programs.

I also want to highlight how this bill, combined with other efforts by the Trump administration, will continue to negatively impact air quality and public health.

Our States have made tremendous progress and a significant investment toward addressing climate change and public health. However, the Ozone Standards Implementation Act would take a step backward, destroying much of the progress, leading to a greater harm to public health and our economy.

I urge a ``yes'' vote on this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, how much time is remaining?

Mr. Chair, I appreciate my colleague and friend from Texas pointing out that we have counties in San Joaquin Valley that have extreme ozone problems, but to ask to do more with less is not reasonable. It is the DERA grants given to the counties from the EPA's budget that have allowed the agencies to have the 80 percent reduction in air pollution.

So taking that money away is not going to help. It is going to make matters worse. Our agencies aren't going to be able to do the things that they have been able to do, and they are not going to be able to continue those things. So I think saying that we can't put more money into air pollution reduction is not the answer. We need to be able to spend money to do this.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, H.R. 806 does have a couple of provisions that would be helpful to the air district in my region to avoid economic sanctions for failing to meet certain standards when very specific criteria are met. However, the underlying bill, as a whole, is completely unacceptable and has been called the most irresponsible attack on the Clean Air Act health standards ever introduced.

The Clean Air Act works. It saves lives. It has improved the environment. I am privileged to represent a portion of the San Joaquin Valley which, as was pointed out in the prior amendment, has extreme ozone problems.

We produce more than half of the Nation's fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Unfortunately, the valley has recently been rebounding from an economic downturn and is continually hurt by poor air quality. Action is needed.

This amendment seeks to address the serious health issues that are a direct result of the poor air quality in the San Joaquin Valley and other regions that are most at risk. The amendment provides a grant program for areas that are in nonattainment of PM 2.5, extreme nonattainment of ambient air quality standards, and those with high rates of asthma and unemployment. It requires a dollar-for-dollar matching from the districts receiving the grant.

California has 7 of the top 10 most polluted metropolitan areas and 11 of the worst 25 nationwide. There are millions of people at risk in the valley and south coast due to high levels of PM 2.5 and ozone, including children, seniors, and those with chronic illnesses. San Joaquin Valley counties received F grades for their air quality by the American Lung Association.

Our kids deserve to be healthy, attend school, and live in a clean air environment. Studies have shown that high-quality air standards would prevent thousands of premature deaths in the valley and that it would work to prevent heart attacks, emergency room visits, and missed school- and workdays.

One study estimated that in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale area, about 2.9 million people missed work or schooldays and were otherwise negatively affected from conducting normal activities due to poor air quality.

Valley children miss hundreds of thousands of days of school each year, and about one in five living in the valley has asthma. Illnesses related to poor air quality cost the valley billions, annually.

H.R. 806 will be a step backward. That is why I have offered this substitute amendment that would allow the EPA to target and work with our Nation's most affected regions, like those in the valley and the south coast. This is about addressing our environment, the air we breathe, and helping those most at risk.

At the same time, California has been cleaning the air. Its economy has continued to grow. In 2016, California's nonfarm employment increased by 2.6 percent, compared to 1.7 percent nationwide. In 2009, California's clean energy industry created $2.7 billion and employed 123,000 people. By 2020, we expect it to grow to over $140 billion with 345,000 employed. California's success is proof that H.R. 806 is unnecessary.

I urge adoption of my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, clearly everybody wants clean air, and I don't doubt that for a second, and I appreciate the effort that is being made to streamline the implementation of clean air. But my questions are: Is this going to be a message bill? Or is this something we are actually going to get signed into law?

And my answer rhetorically is that if you want to get something signed into law, you really have to work on both sides of the aisle.

Now, there are a couple provisions in the bill that I think are completely objectionable. There may be room for compromise. The 10-year extension seems out of bounds to me. Technology moves much faster than 10 years. The idea that technical achievability can be taken into account really does lose sight of the important aspect of the Clean Air Act, which is that we want to protect people's health.

So among other things, if you want to actually get something done, if you want to actually work across the aisle and get something that we may get signed into law, work with us. Otherwise, I am going to have to put forward this amendment that replaces the ozone 805 and replaces it with something that actually works.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleague for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to the Republican's ``Smoggy Skies Act'' that will gut America's landmark Clean Air Act.

Since Congress passed the Clean Air Act almost 50 years ago, American progress on clean air has gone hand in hand with growth in jobs and businesses. But that is at risk under this bill today because polluters want to take shortcuts and shift the costs to hardworking American families and other businesses. Republicans are helping them get this done through this ``Smoggy Skies Act.''

Coming from the State of Florida, I understand very well how air pollution hurts jobs and economic growth. Americans everywhere, regardless of their ZIP Code, deserve an EPA and a Congress working to clean up air pollution, not boost polluter profits at our expense. In Florida, we probably would not be the tourist mecca that we are without the Clean Air Act.

When you look across the globe at other countries and people are deciding, ``Where am I going to take my vacation? Where am I going to take my trip?'' they are very discerning about countries that do not have the same kind of consumer protections.

I have seen, since the time I was a little girl, vast improvement in air quality back home in the Tampa Bay area, to the point of it used to be, in the early morning, you would walk outside and you could smell and taste it. Now we have very few days of smog and pollution.

But still, Congress should protect the pocketbooks of American citizens, not the profits of polluters because we have pockets of real pollution problems all across America. Approximately 125 million Americans still live in areas with dangerous levels of air pollution.

Air pollution costs our families money as smoggy skies aggravate asthma, COPD, bronchitis, lung disease, and the ability to work outside. Improving ozone standards can help avoid premature deaths, childhood asthma attacks, and missed school days.

I encourage you all to google the New England Journal of Medicine study that came out at the end of last month that said dirty air is very costly and has a deadly impact on many Americans still, especially our older neighbors and younger people with asthma and other respiratory illnesses. It said air pollution hastens death in America.

Harvard researchers determined that, after reviewing years of health records of more than 60 million Medicare beneficiaries in specific air quality levels, we are still in trouble. I took that as a direct warning to this Congress not to roll back the Clean Air Act and air pollution protections.

The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to take a look at air quality every 5 years, but under this bill, nope, it will be every 10 years. So polluters win and citizens pay more.

The Clean Air Act codifies a citizen's right to know when they are breathing dirty air, but under this bill, nope, citizens will not have a right to know. Again, the polluters win and citizens pay more.

Just like Mr. Tonko said, America is the world leader in ingenuity, technology, and science, but not under this GOP bill. Polluters will win, science will lose, and citizens will pay more.

This is a costly shame, and I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, my amendment seeks to ensure that American families aren't forced to pick up the costs of air pollution that should be rightfully borne by polluters. My amendment seeks to protect kids across America, our older neighbors, and the most vulnerable to smog and dirty air.

My amendment says that the Republicans' ``Smoggy Skies Act'' will not take effect if the EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee finds negative impacts on individuals with asthma, bronchitis, COPD, and other health conditions, particularly in children and our older neighbors, pregnant women, folks who work outdoors, and those in working-class communities.

Mr. Chairman, Americans value their health and they value America's landmark Clean Air Act. Earlier this year, the American Lung Association released a new poll showing that 61 percent of all Americans support stronger smog standards and clearly oppose this dirty-air policy.

Harold P. Wimmer, national president and CEO of the American Lung Association, said: ``More than half of all Americans breathe polluted air, putting them at risk of asthma attacks, respiratory infections, and premature death.''

The public wants clean, healthy air. It is no surprise that American voters strongly support maintaining safeguards to protect their health from the dangers of ozone pollution.

I have seen great improvement in the air quality over my lifetime back home in Tampa, Florida. We have heard in front of our committee and heard from folks through social media, from Democrats and Republicans here today, how much they value clean air and how much progress we have seen. Yet, according to the Florida KIDS COUNT Data book, in 2016, asthma emergency department visits reached over 48,000 in my State, and hospitalizations are in the thousands and thousands. That takes a toll, and it is very costly. Florida is not alone. This affects all Americans.

Mr. Chairman, you might have heard during general debate that I referenced a new, very important study that came out at in the month of June in the New England Journal of Medicine. Here is a press report that summarizes the study.

The title of the story is: ``U.S. Air Pollution Still Kills Thousands Every Year, Study Concludes.

``The air Americans breathe has been getting cleaner for decades.

``But air pollution is still killing thousands in the U.S. every year. . . .

`` `We are now providing bullet-proof evidence that we are breathing harmful air,' says Francesca Dominici, a professor of biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who led the study. `Our air is contaminated.'

``Dominici and her colleagues set out to do the most comprehensive study to date assessing the toll that air pollution takes on American lives.

``The researchers used data from Federal air monitoring stations as well as satellites to compile a detailed picture of air pollution down to individual ZIP Codes. They then analyzed the impact of very low levels of air pollution on mortality, using data from 60 million Medicare patients from 2000 to 2012.''

They said: ``About 12,000 lives could be saved each year . . . by cutting the level of fine particulate matter nationwide by just 1 microgram per cubic meter of air below current standards.

Dominici said: `` `It's very strong, compelling evidence that, currently, the safety standards are not safe enough.' ''

And yet, Republicans want to take us backwards. They are going to side with polluters over the health of American families, and I think that is wrong.

The proposed rollbacks by the Trump administration and this Republican Congress are simply a costly, dirty air policy. Repealing clean air rules will bring about disastrous health and economic damage to not only the folks I represent back home in Florida, but all across the country.

So let's be clear. Ozone, or smog, is a corrosive gas that forms when emissions from smokestacks and tailpipes cook in the heat and sunlight. It triggers asthma and other respiratory illnesses. It is very expensive. It is not fair for Republicans to let polluters off the hook and shift costs to hardworking American families.

So if you believe in clean air in our great country, support my amendment. If you believe environmental protection based on science, support my amendment. If you want to stand with American families over polluters who seek shortcuts, support the Castor amendment.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chairman, I thank my friend from the land of Lincoln for the time to speak on this important bill this afternoon.

Mr. Chairman, I remember Houston in 1972, 45 years ago. Just like today, we were the heart of America's energy and chemical industries. But back then, there were far too many days I could not see downtown from my home 25 miles away because of smog, ozone.

We have made amazing progress, Mr. Chairman. All of America has made progress. Now it is rare when I can't see downtown from 40 miles away. I am raising my family in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. I don't want to see my hometown's air get any worse--or anyone else's, for that matter.

I want that progress to continue. That is why this bipartisan bill, H.R. 806, keeps us moving forward with more breathable, cleaner air.

Nothing in this bipartisan bill changes any air quality standard. Nothing in this bill puts costs before science when EPA sets a new standard.

I will say that again because there is a lot of misinformation out there. This bill explicitly says that EPA can never ignore health data and can never put money ahead of safety.

This commonsense bill is about listening to our job creators back home. It is about giving local officials the tools they need to make air rules work. It is about making sure that our communities aren't penalized for pollution they can't control. It is about making sure that, when EPA sets a standard, they have to put out the rules to comply with that standard to our local communities at the exact same time.

Mr. Chairman, this is commonsense, bipartisan legislation. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 806 so we can keep cleaning up America's air while growing our economy.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, Texans like me believe that facts are little, persistent things. With all due respect to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, apparently, facts are annoying little things. Here are the facts about section 3(b) of my bill:

Section 3(b) states that if the EPA Administrator, in consultation with the EPA's independent scientific advisory committee, finds a range of levels of air quality that are needed to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety, then ``the Administrator may . . . ''-- the Administrator may, not shall, not must, may--``as a secondary consideration, likely technological feasibility in establishing and revising the national primary ambient air quality standard for this pollutant.''

Again, it clearly says may, not shall, not must, but may.

H.R. 806 does not change the Clean Air Act's requirement that standards be based on the protection of public health. Again, H.R. 806 does not change the Clean Air Act's requirement that standards be based on the protection of public health. This bill simply clarifies that the EPA Administrator has the discretion to consider technological feasibility when choosing among a range of levels identified and supported by science as protective of public health.

This is a clarification for all future Administrators--Democrat or Republican--that Congress considers technical feasibility to be a reasonable part of the decisionmaking process with policy choices. These policy choices must be made among a range of scientifically valid options.

Again, facts are little, persistent things, and these are the facts about section 3(b) of H.R. 806.

Mr. Chairman, I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chair, first of all, I appreciate my colleagues's challenge back in the San Joaquin Valley. It is a very tough place with ozone.

Fresno County is extreme for ozone, the San Joaquin Valley; Kern County is extreme for ozone, the San Joaquin Valley; Kings County is extreme for ozone, the San Joaquin Valley; Madera County is extreme for ozone, the San Joaquin Valley; Merced County is extreme for ozone, the San Joaquin Valley; San Joaquin County is extreme for ozone, the San Joaquin Valley; Stanislaus County is extreme for ozone, the San Joaquin Valley; Tulare County is extreme for ozone, the San Joaquin Valley. That is a tough problem for your own district in the San Joaquin Valley, but your amendment does not fix this problem in any way.

Under this bill, the amount of resources that EPA needs to review proposed nonattainment designations and approving complex State implementation plans under 2015 ozone standards will be greatly reduced. EPA will do more with less. Therefore, EPA will be able to carry out the new requirements of this bill within existing authorizations, helping out the San Joaquin Valley.

This amendment is unnecessary because the bill will reduce the implementation costs by eliminating redundant and overlapping Federal regulatory requirements. Less red tape means lower implementation costs.

States testified that the bill will reduce the cost of EPA in their existing ozone programs while continuing to improve air quality and reduce ozone emissions. Our States have an excellent track record for cost-effective emission reductions over the last several decades.

The State of Maine sums up the point of this bill exactly, and they have very little ozone problems. The director of Maine's Bureau of Air Quality testified before our committee:

The changes, as proposed, in H.R. 806 to delay final

designations under the 2015 standard until 2025 and to extend

the timeframe for standard review from 5 to every 10 years,

including concurrently published clearly defined implementing

regulations, would allow the due process to be followed and

fulfilled. This would more effectively and efficiently

utilize Federal, State, and individual facility resources to

establish a standard and work for the improvement of air

quality and the protection of the people of our Nation.

This amendment is unnecessary. I urge my colleagues to oppose it, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, this bill ensures that EPA has the money to help the San Joaquin Valley and every part of America that is nonattainment for ozone with the funds they need as quickly as possible. EPA will be more and more and more efficient. I urge opposition to this amendment.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.