EPA has no bigger fan in the Senate than me. I believe the quality of life in the U.S., the health of the public and the environment, and even the health of our economy have been increased immeasurably by the work of the Environmental Protection Agency.
My bill, which would advance EPA information management reform, is offered in the spirit of continuous improvement. Furthermore, the bill addresses a problem that is largely of Congress's making the fragmentation of EPA's environmental programs.
The intent of EPA's creation three decades ago was to gather the federal government's many environmental programs into one agency to eliminate their piecemeal nature. However, today we have at EPA an air office, a water office, a waste office, and a pesticide office, each of which do excellent and essential work in their own bailiwick, but do not always work together as well as we wish they would.
One byproduct of this piecemeal approach is additional administrative burden borne by businesses reporting environmental information to EPA. For example, a workgroup convened under EPA's Common Sense Initiative discovered that 48 different EPA reporting and recordkeeping requirements might apply to one given manufacturer.
What's the price of requiring a business to find and read through 48 complicated requirements to find those handful which apply? There's obviously an economic cost to the business, but there's also needless confusion.
The result of the cost and confusion is, in some cases, undercompliance and even, inaccurate information. And when we weaken EPA's information base, we weaken the very foundation of sound environmental policy.
Obviously, nobody wants such a situation, either within EPA or without. EPA itself has tried for over 20 years, under Republican and Democratic Administrations, to fix the fragmentation. If their efforts have fallen short, Congress must take some of the responsibility. After all, Congress wrote the air, water, waste, and pesticide laws, each with its distinct approach, and has rarely examined the intersections.
My bill will complement the existing laws. Under it, EPA will continue to implement the laws, but present itself to industry with one voice. Doing so will not only lighten the load for hundreds of thousands of businesses, it will improve environmental information, and, with it, environmental policy. This is a win-win bill, which is endorsed by business and environmental organizations, and by EPA itself.
Today we will hear about excellent work being done by both EPA and state agencies on this issue. My bill will ensure that this work comes to fruition.
Mr. Chairman, just as you have graciously granted us this hearing, I hope you will also give us the opportunity to report this bill out of Committee, so we can seek its enactment.
Mr. Chairman, my bill is one of four bills we will be discussing today, two of which I've cosponsored. The other bill amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act, which is in the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee for which I am the Ranking Member.
I would like to briefly note that, although I remain an advocate for giving communities a meaningful voice at all hazardous waste sites, there are some technical issues which I would like to see resolved before we take action on the bill.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to take another moment to reflect on what will be the last time I participate in a hearing of the Environment and Public Works Committee. I am enormously proud to have served on this committee for over 16 years.
It's been a special honor to have served with you, Mr. Chairman. At the risk of repeating some of the things I said at our committee meeting last week, I want to say that, since becoming Chairman of the Committee, you have demonstrated true leadership qualities.
While we may not have agreed on every issue, you have shown fairness and respect in dealing with the many different interests that those of us on this Committee represent. After I am gone I hope that you will continue the proud tradition of New Englanders from your side of the aisle who have led this Committee: the late Senator Chafee and Senator Stafford during my tenure.
I know that they would be very proud of the work you are doing to continue their legacies.
I want to thank you and Senator Baucus for all of your assistance in passing the Beach bill. I've been working on this legislation to protect our coastal waters for nine years.
It's wonderful to see it finally moving toward enactment. There are so many other issues I've worked on with the members of this Committee to protect our environment: cleaning up toxic waste sites, bringing brownfields sites back to productive use; stopping ocean dumping of sewage sludge and plastics,
making sure citizens have the right-to-know about what toxic chemicals are in their communities; protecting the public health from radon gas; and improving transportation in our nation.
I also want to thank the members of my staff who have worked very hard to help advance my environmental agenda: Amy Maron, Nikki Roy, Lisa Haage, and Mitch Warren.