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Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Senate EPW Works for the Environment, Public

Yesterday was a busy day for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The panel approved legislation which would force EPA to decide on California's request to implement its own vehicle emissions standards. (More on California's request here.)

The bill — introduced by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) — would also prevent delay from occurring in the future by giving EPA a 180 day window to decide on future requests.

The committee approved the bill 10-9 on party lines. The bill will now move to the Senate floor. A House committee is considering similar legislation.

The EPW Committee yesterday also approved a bill which would overturn an EPA regulation easing reporting requirements for the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The bill would restore the stronger reporting thresholds that were in place for almost twenty years and remove EPA's authority to alter the program's reporting requirements without the approval of Congress.

That bill will also move to the Senate floor. Find out more and urge your senators to vote in favor of the bill by clicking here.