January 14,1977
Page 1192
By Mr. MUSKIE :
S. 251. A bill to amend the Clean Air Act, as amended; to the Committee on Public Works.
By Mr. MUSKIE (for himself, Mr. RANDOLPH, Mr. STAFFORD, and Mr. BAKER) :
S. 252. A bill to amend the Clean Air Act, as amended; and
S. 253. A bill to amend the Clean Air Act, as amended; to the Committee on Public Works.
CLEAN AIR ACT AMENDMENTS
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, last year the Congress was unable to complete action on legislation to amend the Clean Air Act. We have now been asked to act quickly to deal with pressing issues, the most visible of which is the question of auto emission standards.
I do not know whether it will be possible in a short time period to move a new bill to the President, but I am willing to try. In order to expedite that process, I am introducing today three bills, one of which is identical to the bill which the Senate passed last August 5; another of which is, in all practical respects, similar to the conference report which was brought to the Senate on September 30, and the third which is similar to legislation I offered last year which extended clean air authority, and modified the auto NOx emission standards.
As the Members will note, none of the dates in the Senate-passed bill and the conference report of last session have been changed. In many places, the title "Clean Air Amendments of 1976" appears. There are timetable adjustments which would have to be made in the legislation if any of these provisions were adopted this year. I introduce the bills unchanged to emphasize that they are working documents.
Mr. President, last year I told the Senate that I viewed as minimal the need to amend the Clean Air Act. I still hold that view. I am introducing two of these bills today, with Senators RANDOLPH, STAFFORD, and BAKER, not because we support all, or any, of the provisions of each, but because they represent much work, much compromise, and much thought of the House and Senate committees involved. They will be the subject of hearings on February 9, 10, and 11. They will be reviewed again. The first bill, as passed by the Senate, will be the agenda for committee markup sessions scheduled to begin after the Lincoln Day recess. The second bill is only offered to provide an opportunity to build a record in the event we get to conference with the House on a bill similar to that which was passed by that body last year.
I would be happy and satisfied to bring to the Senate today the bill we passed last year and defend it. I would be happy to bring the conference agreement to the Senate and defend it. And because those alternatives may not be wholly acceptable as written, I will try, as a result of the hearings and the markups that follow, to bring a new bill to the Senate and defend it.
I only caution my colleagues that time is running out. We have worked 2 years on clean air amendments. We have held 56 days of hearings on clean air issues over the past 6 years. We know the issues and the implications of most of the alternatives. We are not likely to know a great deal more whether we legislate today or 2 months or 2 years from now. But our job is to legislate and I am prepared to move as fast as the Senate will permit.
I hope Senators will act immediately to let the committee know their views on the minimum number of issues which demand action so we can soon get down to the business of reviewing the Clean Air Act.
Because there is little time and because there will be only a limited opportunity to take oral testimony, I would hope potential witnesses would immediately write to the Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution, the Committee on Public Works, indicating areas on which they would like to comment so that a hearing schedule can be developed.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to include in the RECORD at this point a copy of a letter which was addressed to the members of the Committee on Public Works, which sets forth the schedule for Clean Air Act considerations. This schedule has been tentatively approved by the Committee on Public Works.
There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
JANUARY 13, 1977.
Much interest has been expressed in the plans of the Subcommittee as regards Clean Air Amendments. I have discussed this matter with Representative Paul Rogers, and the public Works Committee staff has met to discuss alternatives.
In order to expedite consideration of this important legislation, I propose the following:
1. Introduction of the Senate-passed bill and the Conference Report (I may also introduce a separate auto emission bill) ;
2. Hearings on February 9, 10, and 11 to take testimony on these bills and such other recommendations as witnesses may desire;
3. Full Committee mark-up sessions on February 21, 22 and 23 with the Senate passed bill as the agenda;
4. Attempt to report a bill before March 15.
This procedure has been discussed with Chairman Randolph and Senators Stafford and Baker. It is intended to speed the process while not precluding any Member from initiating any amendments or examining any witness. However, if we are to get this job done expeditiously so that we can turn to the much-needed review of the Clean Water Act, a tight time schedule must be followed and Members will have to commit blocks of time to the hearings and mark-ups.
If you concur with this approach I will instruct the staff to announce the hearings and begin to schedule as many witnesses as request to appear and can be accommodated during the days set aside, taking into account the commitment of Members to participate.
I would be happy to discuss this further and am open to alternative suggestions. I would like to introduce these two bills as soon as possible and make an announcement of hearings at the same time so that a schedule can be worked out and witnesses will have an opportunity to prepare testimony.
Sincerely,
EDMUND S. MUSKIE
Chairman, Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution.