House Again Votes to Weaken Health, Safety, Environmental Protections

WASHINGTON (February 4, 2015)--The House once again today voted to weaken environmental, health, safety and consumer safeguards for the public by approving the Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act, which would impose layers of bureaucratic red tape on the laws that protect Americans against pollution and food contamination, and subject proposed new safeguards to endless litigation and delays. The White House has threatened to veto the bill.

Scott Slesinger, legislative director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, made the following statement:

“This is extreme legislation to suffocate the federal government’s efforts to give Americans what they repeatedly say they want-- cleaner air, cleaner water and safer food.  Implementing these protections should be made more efficient, not less. Like the ‘small business’ regulatory bill that is up for a vote tomorrow, this is part of a big polluter-backed assault on the very foundations of our system of public health and safety protections.”