U.S. representatives in the House and Senate are urging Congressional leaders to enact legislation that would call for the Environmental Protection Agency to re-propose and finalize new "achievable" rules for cement manufacturing facilities that will not have the same crippling impact as the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) rules that are now on the books.
Legislation was introduced in the House last week that would provide the EPA with at least 15 months to re-propose and finalize achievable rules for cement manufacturing facilities. The legislation also calls for extending the compliance deadline from 2013 to at least three to five years and redirecting the EPA in developing new rules.
In addition, 24 Senators presented a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, requesting that the leadership consider balanced legislation that gives cement producers sufficient time to recover from the recession and comply with regulations. The letter notes that if Congress does not act, this single EPA rule change could cost the industry $3.4 billion in compliance cost, representing approximately half of the industry's annual revenues.
(More on Congressional efforts to ease cement regulation . . . )
