Carter Moves to Block EPA Vendetta against U.S. Cement Industry

Watch CSPAN Replay: Carter, Davis, Westmoreland Revive Congressional Review

(WASHINGTON, DC) – The EPA scheme to undermine domestic production of Portland cement hit a legal pothole this week as Congressman John Carter (R-TX) revived the Congressional Review Act to file a resolution of disapproval against the proposed rule.

The Republican Conference Secretary on Tuesday introduced H.J. Res. 100, which would disapprove the new proposed EPA regulations calling for greatly restricted production of Portland cement, the most-used material in construction worldwide. If the regulations are allowed to become effective, industry analysts predict U.S. manufacturers will be forced to move production to China and elsewhere, where there are few if any environmental standards.  

The U.S. cement industry currently employs 153,000 workers, with $1 trillion dollars in annual sales.  While even the EPA concedes their new rule would cost over 15,000 industry jobs lost to overseas competitors, industry analysts say the regulations could lead to the complete collapse of American cement production by 2013, severely undermining the overall U.S. economic recovery.  Ironically, the rule also is estimated to result in an increase in global air pollution as producers move to countries without the current high U.S. air quality standards.

Carter, joined on the House floor last night by Congressmen Geoff Davis (R-KY) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), called for Congress to renew its oversight authority over federal rulemaking agencies by exercising its right to block onerous federal regulations under the Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. § 801(a)(2)(A) (CRA).

The CRA became law in 1996 but has fallen into disuse under a Democrat Congress.    The law mandates that all federal agencies must submit major new regulations to the House and Senate for a 60-day review period before they take effect.  Congress can vote to block the proposed rule under a resolution of disapproval during that period, and if signed by the President, the regulation is void.  Congress can also vote to override a Presidential veto on a resolution of disapproval.

“Folks at home see these awful infringements on their rights and pocketbooks and think Congress is at fault, when in fact it is usually federal bureaucrats writing regulations that Congress never contemplated when passing legislation,” says Carter, a former Texas judge.  “There’s no better public example of this than the current TSA scandal over strip-searching and groping airline passengers with no more probable cause than the use of public transportation.  While the Portland cement scheme doesn’t have the same media appeal, it will certainly have as great an economic impact on working Americans unless Congress stands up and fights for the people against the out-of-control bureaucrats in Washington.”