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HOUSE ACTION REVERSES COURSE ON ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRESS
Release Date: 06/22/2000
Contact Information:
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
JUNE 22, 2000
HOUSE ACTION REVERSES COURSE ON
ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRESS
The House of Representatives approved significant cuts to core environmental protection and public health programs late Wednesday and added anti-environmental riders, one of which would restrict the Clinton-Gore Administration from releasing air pollution information to American communities.
“The nation hasn’t seen this kind of anti-environment, anti-public health assault by the House of Representatives in several years,” said EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner. “This Administration has made real progress protecting public health and the environment. But this House action takes the nation backward. The result is less protection for drinking water, fewer cleanups of toxic waste sites, reduced enforcement of environmental laws and an extremely irresponsible gag order on EPA’s ability to inform the American people about the quality of the air they breathe.”
“Every weekday in the pages of USA Today, air pollution and health information is made available for major American cities. This vote by the House would make it impossible for EPA to provide millions of additional Americans in other parts of the country this same information,” Browner said. “Americans have a right to this information and we will fight to preserve that right.”
In addition to postponing vital health protections for millions of Americans, the air pollution rider delays the process of informing the public about areas of the country where air quality threatens public health.
Three additional anti-environmental riders will severely restrict the Administration’s effort to meet the Clean Water Act goal of making American waters fishable, swimmable and drinkable at a time when approximately 40 percent of American waters are falling short of that goal. First, the House would delay cleanups of PCB-contaminated sediments in rivers lakes and streams. Second, the House would prevent the Agency from fulfilling its responsibility under the Clean Water Act to work with states to develop specific cleanup plans for 20,000 polluted waterbodies. Third, the House voted to prevent the Agency from protecting the American public from arsenic in drinking water.
The spending portion of the bill approved by the House amount to a 10 percent cut to EPA's basic environmental and public health programs, which are the backbone of the Agency's work.
By reducing the amount available for Superfund cleanups, the House of Representatives is delaying the cleanup of toxic waste sites, which are currently being restored to communities at a record pace. The House also refused to endorse a number of important initiatives proposed by the President, including $50 million to clean up the Great Lakes, the drinking water source for 25 million Americans, and efforts to build a strong information system between EPA and the States.
Once again, the House failed to address the challenge of global warming by cutting in half the support for the Administration's Climate Change Technology Initiative. Reductions to the Agency’s enforcement funds seriously undermine the Agency’s ability to enforce compliance of environmental laws.
The House action did reverse committee action that restricted EPA efforts to combat pollution that is leading to global warming. The action made clear that the Kyoto proviso currently in the bill does not apply to activities that are otherwise authorized by law. This amendment reflects the FY 1999 compromise between Congress and the Administration, and reverses inappropriate restrictions included in this year's Committee report.
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