Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

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

Mr. Chairman, my amendment would prohibit funds for the EPA's proposed Risk Management Plan rulemaking for the remainder of this year.

This RMP is the EPA's program implementing section 112(r) of the 1990 Clean Air Act that requires facilities that use certain materials to develop a plan to prevent accidental releases.

Safety is at the very core of the chemical industry, and industry stakeholders have worked cooperatively with the EPA to achieve a dramatic 60 percent reduction in accidental releases in the 20 years of the RMP program, to date.

While the EPA has proposed several changes, many of the new regulations they have put forward are highly problematic and could actually lead to an increased likelihood of an incident.

The EPA has raced ahead of the other agencies participating in the Federal interagency working group created to improve chemical safety and security, and it is no longer working in coordination with the other Federal agencies involved in this process.

Yet the EPA is moving to finalize the rule, even though changes planned to OSHA's similar program, the process safety management program, are still in their early stages. This lack of coordination has the potential to create duplicative rules for individuals and companies struggling to comply with multiple Federal oversight programs.

I urge Members to adopt my amendment.

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

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source