A proposed House Republican rewrite of a key Clean Air Act program sparked an outcry by Democrats at a Thursday hearing.
The debate in the House played out after EPA’s landmark decision last week to tighten soot standards, which was blasted by Republicans as harmful to business. At the same time, health professionals, climate experts and Democrats have been rallying support for the rule.
The overview by the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing and Critical Materials was the first official forum for lawmakers to weigh in on both that change and the GOP blueprint for revamping the decades-old framework for setting ambient air quality standards.
“Practical reforms” are needed to ensure the framework “works in a way that makes sense,” subcommittee Chair Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) said at the outset after warning that the newly tightened standard would hurt American manufacturers by making it harder for them to get air permits for new projects.
