Friday, March 7, 2014

GOP and Conservadems continue deregulatory kick, pass bill undermining environmental review

Yesterday, the House voted to override the EPA's carbon pollution regulations.

On a deregulatory kick, the House then passed a second bill, the Responsibly and Professionally Invigorating Development Act (RAPID Act), which would establish hard (and arbitrarily chosen) deadlines on environmental reviews for construction projects. They presented this as "job creation" legislation when it is really just a way of undermining environmental regulations.

It passed 229 to 179.

12 Democrats voted for it:

John Barrow (GA-12)
Sanford Bishop (GA-02)
Jim Costa (CA-16)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Jim Matheson (UT-04)
Mike McIntyre (NC-07)
Patrick Murphy (FL-18)
Bill Owens (NY-21)
Scott Peters (CA-52)
Collin Peterson (MN-07)
Nick Rahall (WV-03)
Kurt Schrader (OR-05)

Hank Johnson (GA-04) offered an amendment to ensure that nothing in the bill limits public comment or participation in a decision-making process.

It failed 192 to 217.

4 Republicans voted for it: Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-08), Richard Hanna (NY-22), Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA-03), and Erik Paulsen (MN-03).

3 Democrats voted against it:  Jim Costa (CA-16), Bill Owens (NY-21), and Kurt Schrader (OR-05).

Jerry Nadler (NY-10) amendment offered an amendment to exempt from the bill any construction site for a nuclear facility being built in areas that are designated as an earthquake fault zone.

It failed 187 to 220.

3 Republicans voted for it: Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-08), Chris Gibson (NY-19), and Chris Smith (NJ-04).

5 Democrats voted against it:

John Barrow (GA-12)
Jim Costa (CA-16)
Patrick Murphy (FL-18)
Kurt Schrader (OR-05)
David Scott (GA-13)

Republican David McKinley (WV-01) offered an amendment to prohibit agencies from considering the social cost of carbon in project analyses.

It passed 222 to 188.

2 Republicans voted against it: Chris Gibson (NY-19) and Kenny Marchant (TX-24).

4 Democrats voted for it: Jim Matheson (UT-04), Mike McIntyre (NC-07), Collin Peterson (MN-07), and Nick Rahall (WV-03).

Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18) offered an amendment to eliminate the provision of the bill that says that if an agency does not meet the established deadline outlined in the bill, the project will be approved.

It failed 180 to 228.

1 Republican voted for it: Chris Gibson (NY-19).

10 Democrats voted against it:

John Barrow (GA-12)
Sanford Bishop (GA-02)
Jim Costa (CA-16)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Jim Matheson (UT-04)
Mike McIntyre (NC-07)
Patrick Murphy (FL-18)
Bill Owens (NY-21)
Collin Peterson (MN-07)
Peter Visclosky (IN-01)

The bill is not going to go anywhere. The Senate will not take it up. And the White House has already issued a veto threat:
"H.R. 2641 will increase litigation, regulatory delays, and potentially force agencies to approve a project if the review and analysis cannot be completed before the proposed arbitrary deadlines," it said.

No comments:

Post a Comment