Policy Solutions: Legislative Analyses

All Legislative Analyses Tagged health effects of pollution

Oppose the REINS Act: H.R. 10/S.299

Legislative Analysis

The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (“REINS”) Act (H.R. 10/S. 299), introduced by Rep. Davis (R-KY) and Sen. Paul (R-KY), would undo more than 100 years of safeguards by allowing just one chamber of Congress to block enforcement of existing statutory protections -- from worker safety, to public health, to Wall Street reform. This would make Congress the required arbiter of every technical question and business dispute, and would allow a single chamber of Congress to stop any regulation, no matter what the facts showed. The REINS Act would effectively rewrite virtually every environmental and other regulatory statute, making their requirements unenforceable. Get document in pdf.

The Clean Air Act
40 Years of Science-Based Public Health Protection

Legislative Analysis

The Clean Air Act was designed to curb air pollutants and address new dangers as they are identified by modern science. Some critics claim that EPA needs direction from Congress before responding to new pollution threats, like the gases that contribute to global warming. But as the Supreme Court affirmed in Massachusetts v. EPA, Congress directed EPA to act on the science without waiting for legislators to pass new laws. By acting on global warming pollutants, the EPA is following the law and the science just as Congress intended.

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