Washington, D.C. - Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, responded to today's announcement that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will reduce the regulatory burden on Portland cement makers and delay the compliance deadline for two years, saying that this is the latest in a long list of Agency actions that have had to be reined in because EPA exceeded its authority. This announcement follows a federal court ruling last December that halted a part of the 2010 Portland Cement rule, sending EPA back to revise particulate matter emissions limits for existing and new kilns.
"Today's announcement that EPA will reduce the regulatory burden on Portland Cement kilns is certainly a step in the right direction, but it is the latest in a growing list of regulatory actions that the Agency had to revise because it exceeded its authority," Senator Inhofe said. "Today's news comes on the heels of EPA being forced to reconsider its Boiler MACT standards and a court stay of the Cross State Rule - and of course, we are still awaiting a court decision on EPA's greenhouse gas regulations. These are all rules that will destroy millions of jobs and cause electricity prices to skyrocket while providing little, if any, public health benefits.
"This should be a wake-up call to the Senate to start doing its job to rein in an agency that is clearly out-of-control. The House has managed to pass bipartisan legislation to stop many of EPA's overreaching actions - now it's time for the Senate to do the same."
