The House on Wednesday continued to pick apart Obama-era environmental regulations, taking aim at a pair of rules limiting emissions from the brick industry and on indoor wood heaters.
In a 234-to-180 vote that included seven Democrats joining with the GOP, the House late Wednesday afternoon cleared a measure to delay implementation of harsher emissions limits on wood heaters until 2023. The rule was scheduled to take effect in 2020, and heater manufacturers had warned Congress they would be unable to comply with the new threshold in time to meet the deadline initially set by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2015.
The House-passed measure also suspended new emissions limits on brick and clay kilns until all lawsuits and judicial proceedings related to the rule are completed, meaning the regulation is on hold indefinitely.
While it looks unlikely that the Senate will follow the House’s lead in the near future, Wednesday’s vote was Republicans’ latest shot at the host of EPA regulations put in place during the Obama administration. Some of those regulations were sweeping changes in energy and environmental policy, such as the Clean Power Plan, which would’ve crushed coal-fired power plants across the country and sparked a major shift in how the nation generates electricity.
But many other rules were much smaller and targeted at specific small industries, including the brickmakers and wood heater manufacturers that Republicans say they’re saving with Wednesday’s vote.
“If the brick industry gets shut down because of these onerous rules, we’re going to start building buildings, Mr. Speaker, out of straw and sticks instead of bricks,” said Rep. Bill Johnson, Ohio Republican, during a floor speech just before the vote.
By allowing the industry to escape compliance until all legal challenges and appeals are through, Democrats say the GOP is simply inviting lawsuits filed with the sole purpose of pushing off the effective date.
“This would incentivize frivolous litigation simply to put off having to comply with the rule,” said Rep. Paul Tonko, New York Democrat.
On the wood heater portion of the bill, Republicans argued that the industry over the past several decades has already cut its emissions by more than 90 percent. Making another substantial cut by 2020, they said, is practically impossible and would’ve resulted in companies either being forced to lay off workers or charge dramatically higher prices for their units.
With wood heaters popular in many rural parts of the country, Republicans argued that such steep price hikes would’ve been devastating.
“EPA’s rushed 2020 deadline would raise the price of a new wood heater on those least able to afford it,” said Rep. Gregg Harper, Mississippi Republican.
But Democrats blasted the majority party for, in their words, favoring “special interests” such as the wood heater and brick industries over the health of American citizens. They argued that Wednesday’s vote was little more than a giveaway to business that will lead to more cases of asthma and cancer, and even to deaths.
“In bringing up these bills, the Republican-controlled Congress is granting favors to special interests at the expense of public health. Shocking, but not surprising,” said Rep. Alcee Hastings, Florida Democrat.
Republicans objected to the classification of small businesses that make brick-and-clay products and wood stoves, and consumers that use them, as special interests.
“The person who uses a wood stove to heat their home is not a special interest,” said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Virginia Republican.
Prior to the final vote, Republicans defeated a Democratic amendment, offered by Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida, that would’ve prohibited EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt from taking first-class flights. Mr. Pruitt has come under fire after reports last month that he spent thousands of dollars in taxpayer money on first-class seats rather than flying coach, as his predecessors did.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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