With the backing of oil and gas industry trade groups, Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw is leading an effort to scrap recently toughened EPA air pollution regulations on refineries, chemical plants and thousands of other industrial facilities.
“Yet again, EPA is creating a costly ‘solution’ for a problem that doesn’t exist,” Crenshaw said in a news release announcing the introduction Friday of H.J.Res. 123, which would roll back rules released last month intended to bolster safeguards against accidental air releases that can cost lives and cause significant property damage.
He singled out provisions aimed at discouraging refineries from using highly toxic hydrofluoric acid to make high-octane gasoline. “Why?,” Crenshaw asked rhetorically. “Because the radical environmentalists of this administration believe modern science and civilization are a scourge, not a benefit.”
The regulations apply to almost 12,000 facilities, which must file “risk management plans” because they store or use dangerous chemicals. Besides major industrial operations, those include agriculture supply distributors, water treatment plants, and food and beverage manufacturers.
