A recent subcommittee hearing focused on two federal bills proposing to delay implementation of Obama administration air-quality standards.
The hearing, held by the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, looked at Senate Bill 263 and Senate Bill 452, both of which would allow more time to implement and enforce the National Ambient Air Quality Standards of the Clean Air Act.
During the hearing, members’ opinions were generally split down party lines, according to a report from the Automotive Service Association (ASA).
“In West Virginia and across the country, states have suffered job losses and economic devastation under the regulatory burdens of the previous administration,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said. Capito introduced Senate Bill 263. “The Ozone Standards Implementation Act will provide more clarity, more regulatory certainty and ease the economic burden of never-ending overreach.”
Conversely, subcommittee ranking member Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., opposed both measures.
“For decades, we have known there is a link between smog – also known as ozone pollution – from uncontrolled power plants, automobiles and other sources to serious health problems such as asthma attacks, heart attacks and other respiratory ailments,” Carper said. “More recently, medical professionals have also linked ozone pollution to early deaths. … The bills that are the subject of today’s hearing direct EPA and the states to ignore the health science for 10 years before having to think about cleaning up.”
The subcommittee took no action on the bills.
ASA noted that the environmental standards discussed at the hearing “are critically important for ASA members as states develop emissions plans and relative automotive policies.”
For more information about legislative actions affecting the automotive service industry, visit TakingTheHill.com.
