41 Senators Send Letter Objecting to EPA Boiler/CISWI MACT Rules’ Impact on Economy/Jobs

September 28, 2010

A bipartisan group of forty-one senators sent a letter to EPA yesterday expressing concern regarding EPA’s proposed rules relating to hazardous air pollutants emissions standards for:  (1) industrial, commercial and institutional boilers, process heaters – the Boiler MACT rule and (2) commercial and industrial solid waste incineration units – the CISWI rule. Industrial boilers and process heaters burn fuels such as natural gas, coal and oil to produce heat or electricity; CISWIs burn solid waste.
 
In their letter, the Senators expressed concern that EPA’s regulatory analysis understated the significant economic impacts of the proposed rule, including many small businesses, potentially imposing “tens of billions of dollars in capital costs at thousands of facilities across the country.”
 
For the Boiler MACT rule alone, based upon conservative assumptions, IHS Global Insight estimates that a loss of 340,000 jobs and $20.7 billion in domestic output. (http://www.cibo.org/pubs/boilermact_jobsstudy.pdf) .
 
The Senators asked EPA to reconsider in its rulemaking the balance set forth under Section 101 of the Clean Air Act:
 
· “to protect and enhance the quality of the Nation’s air resources so as to promote the public health and welfare and the productive capacity of its population.” (emphasis added)
 
The following Senators signed the letter: Collins, Landrieu, Wyden, Alexander, Bayh, Voinovich, Murray, Snowe, Lincoln, Bon, Casey, Corker, Klobuchar, Shelby, Pryor, Wicker, Begich, Chambliss, McCaskill, Risch, Warner, Burr, Mikulski, Crapo, Inouye, Coburn, Webb, Sessions, Nelson, Inhofe, Merkley, Cochran, Graham, Isakson, Kohl, Cornyn, Vitter, Hutchinson, LeMieux, Brown, and Hagan.
 
Below is a copy of the final letter that went to EPA.