by Janet Kopenhaver,AWPA Director of Government Affairs
ENVIRONMENTAL &
REGULATORY AFFAIRS
n Administration Seeks Changes to
TRI Program
The White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has sent EPA a
set of recommendations calling for it to implement procedural changes
that would make pollution data from the toxic release inventory (TRI)
more readily available to the public and other government officials.
TRI is a database, updated annually, of all toxic emissions into the
environment from industrial facilities.
The OMB recommendations suggest that EPA assign chemical and other
plants that report to TRI with an identification number. This would
enable quicker access to emissions records for each site. Facilities
are now listed in TRI according to their total emissions, in
comparison with others.
The White House also recommends that EPA unveil the data earlier than
April, which is when it is traditionally published. Official numbers
for the year 2000 will not be released until this spring, almost a
year after EPA received the data.
• Ergonomics Legislation
Two senators who have been vocal in the fight to protect workers from
repetitive stress injuries introduced an ergonomics bill. Senators
John Breaux (D-LA) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) filed the bill and quickly
won an endorsement from labor officials. This bill would require the
administration to issue a final regulation within two years to address
"work-related musculoskeletal disorders and workplace ergonomic
hazards." The Administration had recently made the ergonomics rule
voluntary.
OTHER LEGISLATIVE
• Senate Schedule
With only a few legislative weeks left in the congressional calendar
until the summer recess scheduled to begin July 29, and the likelihood
that appropriations will dominate the post-August session, the Senate
faces a daunting scheduling task as a number of major bills pile up on
its docket.
Among the items that are likely to require Senate floor time ? either
because the Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) said they would get it
done or because political reality demands it - are welfare
reauthorization, supplemental spending bill, permanent repeal of the
estate tax, energy bill, and the trade promotion authority conference
report.
Between the week after the Memorial Day recess and the Fourth of July,
Senator Daschle hopes to get to the minimum wage legislation and the
estate tax bill.
�
House of Representatives
Breaks Trade Logjam
House Republican leaders plan to attach a controversial measure to the
supplemental spending bill that would satisfy the demands made by
several House Republicans from the south to get their vote for Trade
Promotion Authority (TPA) in December.
During the TPA vote, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL), House
Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) and House Majority Whip Tom DeLay
(R-TX) signed a letter drafted by Rep. Jim DeMint (R-SC) that promised
they would not place any trade bills on the House floor until the
Trade and Development Act of 2001 is amended to require that all US
knit and woven fabrics undergo all dyeing, finishing and printing
procedures in the United States. DeMint said the $29.4 billion
supplemental spending bill is expected to include language that
satisfies this agreement. If this agreement had not been reached,
House GOP leaders would have been unable to bring up the revised TPA
bill, or any other trade bills, to the floor for a vote.
House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Charles Rangel (D-NY)
was infuriated by this agreement. He argued that it would force the US
to renege on a commitment to the Caribbean set forth in the Trade and
Development Act. Rangel has stated that he will aim to defeat the
dyeing and finishing provision by any and every means available.
Lane Still
Waiting
Nearly two months after the White House announced her nomination to
the US International Trade Commission (ITC), Charlotte Lane is still
awaiting word on when her confirmation hearing before the US Senate
will be scheduled. Lane stated recently that she has been told the
delay is because of the deliberative pace of Congress, not because of
any partisan politics. Lane would fill the remainder of an unexpired
nine-year term, through September 16, 2009.
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