Displaying items by tag: Cement Sector Relief Act

US: The US House of Representatives approved the Cement Sector Relief Act of 2011 (H.R. 2681) on 6 October 2011. The House voted 262-161 in favour of the bill, with 25 Democrats in support.

If the bill becomes law the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be forced to repeal existing rules for toxic emissions from cement kilns and revise them. The bill would also give those facilities at least five additional years to comply.

The White House and top Senate Democrats strongly oppose the bill, but some Democrats in the Senate have supported delaying the cement regulations, leading supporters of the bill to be optimistic even though passage through the Senate appears unlikely.

Supporters of the bill say that the EPA has set emissions targets that will be difficult to achieve in practice and cause some cement manufacturers to close or scale down production during a recession. The Portland Cement Association stated that about 18 of 97 cement plants in the US would have to close as a result of the rules. By contrast the EPA said that 10 US cement-manufacturing facilities would have to be idled after the rule goes into effect in 2013, unless market conditions changed.

Several congressmen said during a debate on the bill that cement plants in their states could not meet the EPA requirements. "We want a regulation to be promulgated that you can actually achieve with real-world technology," said Texan Republican Representative Joe Barton.

Public-health groups and the EPA also argue that the bill directs the EPA to set standards that are less burdensome to the industry, limiting the agency's ability to impose tough rules if it believes they are necessary. The White House has said it strongly opposes the legislation and that US President Obama's advisers would recommend a veto.

US: Congressmen Steve Chabot (Ohio) and Geoff Davis (Kentucky) have sent an open letter to US President Barack Obama regarding his visit to the Cincinnati area in northern Kentucky. Noting that the President chose a ready-mix concrete plant as the location for his remarks, Chabot and Davis have urged the President to support the Portland Cement Association (PCA)-backed Cement Sector Relief Act of 2011 (H.R. 2681) that is currently moving through the House of Representatives.

If enacted, H.R. 2681 would stop the federal government from imposing what the industry and the PCA see as excessive regulations, previously described as 'avalanche' of legislation, on cement manufacturers, threatening thousands of American jobs.

The EPA estimates that just one of the three proposed rules could threaten 12 of the US's 100 cement plants, which represent 11% of the nation's cement production capacity. According to experts at the Southern Methodist University, "Should 10% of the domestic industry disappear the direct, indirect and induced job losses would exceed 15,000. This figure does not include possible job losses in the huge construction sector that might occur in the face of higher concrete prices."

US: The US House of Representatives has introduced the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 (H.R. 2681). The proposal directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop 'achievable and workable standards' for the nation's cement manufacturing facilities and replace a series of complex rules affecting the sector that are projected to impose significant cost increases, forcing plant shutdowns and job losses. The bill was offered by a group of both Republican and Democrat Representatives from across the US.

Members introducing the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 issued the following statement, "Cement is essential for the construction of our nation's buildings, roads, bridges, tunnels and crucial water and wastewater treatment infrastructure. This is a sector that provides jobs here at home, jobs we could lose in the face of regulations that are technically or economically unachievable."

"The EPA's current rules threaten to shut down 20% of the nation's cement manufacturing plants in the next two years, sending thousands of jobs permanently overseas and driving up cement and construction costs across the country. Our goal is to ensure effective regulations that protect communities both environmentally and economically."

"This legislation would give the EPA time to develop achievable standards that protect public health without threatening jobs or the global competitiveness of America's industries. We look forward to working with our colleagues on both sides of the aisle and the administration to see this legislation become law."

The Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act would; 1) Provide EPA with at least 15 months to re-propose and finalise achievable rules for cement manufacturing facilities; 2) Extend compliance deadlines from three to at least five years to allow facilities adequate time to comply with standards and install necessary equipment; 3) Direct the EPA, when developing the new rules, to adopt definitions that allow cement-manufacturing plants to continue to use alternative fuels for energy recovery and; 4) Direct the EPA to ensure that new rules are achievable by cement manufacturing facilities in the US and impose the least burdensome regulatory alternatives consistent with the President's Executive Order 13563.

The new rule is in response to the EPA's three 'interrelated, complex rules' impacting the nation's 100 cement plants. While the EPA estimates that the MACT Cement Rule (dealing with hazardous pollutants in airbourne emissions) will impose USD2.2bn in total capital costs when it is introduced in 2013 but the Portland Cement Association (PCA) estimates that the capital costs for MACT could exceed USD3.4bn, more than half of the industry's annual income (USD6.52bn) and that the 'Standards of Performance and Emissions Guidelines for Existing Sources: Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incineration Units,' (CISWI) rules would impose costs of another USD2bn, causing 18 plants to close with the loss of 3000 - 4000 direct jobs and a further 12,000 - 19,000 in the wider construction sector.