Lower Energy Costs Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SARBANES. Madam Chair, I thank the chairman for yielding and recognizing me.

Madam Chair, I rise in strong opposition to the Republicans' energy bill.

I have deep concerns about this package overall in terms of its attack on our bedrock environmental laws. As a Marylander, I am particularly alarmed at changes to section 401 certifications under the Clean Water Act, which would endanger the health of the Chesapeake Bay.

To protect our environment and public health, States need to have the authority and tools to regulate pollution in their waters. One section of this bill would narrow States' ability to regulate pollution sources that impact downstream water quality.

This bill would also restrict the conditions and limitations that a State could place on clean water certification, further hampering a State's means of protecting its waters.

That has grave implications for a State's ability to set limits on how much of a particular pollutant a water body can accept while still meeting the State's overall water quality standards. These limits, known as total maximum daily loads, or TMDLs, are required to restore waters impaired by pollution, which is the case for the Chesapeake Bay and most of its tributaries.

That is why I filed an amendment, along with Congressman Bobby Scott, to ensure that this energy bill would not impact a State's authority to establish or implement a State-approved TMDL for an impaired waterway. Unfortunately, Republicans did not allow for this amendment to be offered on the floor today.

As this bill strips away environmental and public health protections across the board, we don't even have the most basic assurances that States will be able to design and execute their own plans to reduce waterway pollution.

For the Chesapeake Bay, this could be disastrous. The TMDLs are the guides by which the seven watershed jurisdictions work with EPA to continue making progress on the larger Chesapeake Bay Agreement.

It is gross negligence, as a matter of legislation, to roll back these key protections for these bodies of water. Tragically, rolling back these protections is the chief goal of this bill. That is what it is all about. For that reason, I encourage all of my colleagues to oppose it.

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