(The Center Square) – Lawmakers behind legislation making its way through Congress say it would provide regulatory relief for Western communities that are sometimes penalized for emission outside their control under the federal Clean Air Act.
U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colorado, the primary sponsor of the Fire Improvement and Reforming Exceptional Events (FIRE) Act, argues reforms are needed so communities like the ones he represents north of Denver aren’t penalized for out-of-state pollution that causes bad in-state air quality.
The ozone attainment levels set under the federal law are costly for consumers and the economy, according to Evans.
“When the economy is gutted under the weight of regulations, that also has a negative impact on public health, because when people can’t have jobs or they can’t afford the cost of living because their energy sources are being strangled – they don’t have insurance, they don’t have discretionary income to be able to go to the doctor – that also increases negative health outcomes. We have a term for that: It’s called poverty,” Evans said during a recent House Energy and Commerce Committee meeting.
“When we strangle our energy economy through regulations that impacts the poverty rates,” he added.
Evans noted that over 70% of air pollution on the Front Range comes from other places, such as wildfires in Canada or pollution from overseas. The bill, H.R.6387, would “amend the Clean Air Act to require revisions to regulations governing the review and handling of air quality monitoring data influenced by exceptional events or actions to mitigate wildfire risk.”
U.S. Rep. Adam Gray, D-California, who’s co-sponsoring the legislation, said in a statement the bill would “protect communities in the Central Valley from strict air quality regulations following prescribed burns or wildfire pollution.”
“I commend the Energy and Commerce Committee for quick passage of the FIRE Act and call on Speaker Johnson to bring this bill to the Floor for a vote,” he added.
A coalition of health groups is opposing the bill, along with the Nonattainment Clarification for Economic Stability Act, saying in a letter to committee members that they are “both iterations of previous legislation that has been staunchly opposed by the health and medical community because they would unnecessarily allow states’ to claim exemptions to meeting air quality standards.”
