On behalf of the NAM, I encourage you to consider signing on to a letter urging Congress to support the inclusion of the EPA Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 as part of the conference agreement on the payroll tax-cut extension legislation (H.R. 3630). The EPA Regulatory Relief Act, otherwise known as the Boiler MACT legislation, is critical to preserving jobs in many manufacturing industries.

The legislation (which passed the House in October 2011) would stay the Boiler MACT rules, require the agency to develop achievable standards and extend the compliance time frame for existing boilers from three to five years.

All sign-ons must be received by noon on Friday, January 27.

Thank you for your support.

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Boiler MACT Sign-On Letter

Dear Senator/Representative;

We write to urge you to support the inclusion of the EPA Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 as part of the conference agreement on the payroll tax-cut extension legislation (H.R. 3630).  The EPA Regulatory Relief Act, otherwise known as the Boiler MACT legislation, is critical to preserving jobs in many manufacturing industries, and we urge you to help pass this important legislation.   

As you know, the House included H.R. 2250 in its payroll tax package on December 13, 2011, and the Senate version of the legislation, S. 1392, currently has 41 bipartisan cosponsors.

EPA’s recently revised rules still need more work to be achievable and affordable by businesses across America, and serious challenges still remain, including:

• Jeopardizing critically needed jobs. The overall capital cost of the Boiler MACT rule remains over $14 billion for manufacturers.  In the re-proposed rules, some standards became more stringent, and some limits may not be achievable, especially within the current three year compliance timeframe.  This jeopardizes over 200,000 critically needed jobs.

• Serious legal uncertainty.  The January 9, 2012 court decision overturning EPA’s stay of the March 2011 rules is yet another example of the continuing morass of uncertainty surrounding the rules.  There is also a troubling track record of courts overturning past Boiler MACT rules after determining EPA misclassified solid wastes – a problem the legislation would solve.

• Inadequate capital planning time. The rules do not provide enough time for capital planning and compliance given their complexity and competition for a limited pool of qualified domestic vendors and installers.  Businesses need five years to fully comply with the rules, not the two or three years in the current rules.

• Important biomass materials are still not listed as fuels. This means that the boilers burning these materials could be regulated under the onerous and stigmatizing incinerator standards, or the material would be land filled – a bad result for jobs and the environment.

• Inadequate time for EPA to finalize the rules. EPA’s current rulemaking schedule is so accelerated that it is unlikely all the comments and data that will be received during the current comment period can be fully analyzed and utilized given the highly intricate and complicated nature of the rules. Moving too fast increases the likelihood that the final rules will be overturned … again. 

Enactment of the EPA Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 is the best way to provide the time needed for the development and implementation of achievable Boiler MACT rules that will deliver the intended benefits. We urge you to protect and preserve U.S. manufacturing jobs by including this bill in the conference agreement to the payroll tax package.

Sincerely,

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