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Bishop Supports Bipartisan Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act

October 6, 2011

Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) joined a bipartisan majority of his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives in voting for H.R. 2681, the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011. The legislation seeks to protect cement and construction jobs by requiring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue new, more reasonable regulations that give adequate time for the industry to comply with new emission standards. More specifically, the legislation would require the EPA to revamp its regulations covering domestic cement production to make them less burdensome and delay the compliance deadline for at least five years after the effective date in the final rule. The final vote was 262 to 161.

“With many of our domestic industrial sectors still slowly recovering, it is essential that Congress work in a bipartisan manner to eliminate regulations that threaten to shutdown American plants, increase construction costs and curtail the creation of new jobs,” said Congressman Bishop. “Our domestic cement industry plays an essential role in ensuring the vitality of our nation’s transportation and construction jobs. By providing this industry with relief from excessive regulations, Congress is helping to secure jobs in one of America’s most critically important manufacturing sectors.”

The Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act will save cement and construction industry jobs by:

• Providing EPA with at least 15 months to re-propose and finalize an achievable Cement Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rule for cement manufacturing facilities.

• Giving regulated facilities at least five years to comply with any new EPA emission rules and install necessary equipment.

• Directing EPA, when developing the new rules, to consider compliance costs, energy requirements, feasibility, non-air quality health and environmental impacts, availability of equipment and potential net employment impacts.

• Directing EPA to ensure that new rules are achievable by cement manufacturing facilities in the United States.

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