WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) called out the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its refusal to allow Arkansas to revise its plan to comply with federal air regulations that continue to be a moving target.
“The EPA is great until you disagree with them,” Boozman said at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing. “They talk about federal cooperation, but once you disagree then it tends to be their way.”
Boozman expressed his frustration with EPA’s rulemaking process that’s making it impossible for Arkansas and other states to comply with misguided air regulations.
“For it to be fair nationwide, then again, the states need to have the ability to be part of that decision-making and that hasn’t been the case in Mississippi and Arkansas,” Boozman said. “That’s not appropriate.”
Arkansas submitted its proposal in 2019. Last month, Arkansas filed a lawsuit challenging the EPA’s rejection of its State Implementation Plan (SIP) under the Clean Air Act. Boozman and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) blasted the agency’s decision and vowed to support the state’s efforts to appeal the move.
It’s estimated that nearly 50 Arkansas businesses will be at risk of closure as a result of the onerous federal plan’s implementation.
Categories: Environment
It would be nice if you were to inform us what the differences were between the two, and/or provide links, so we could read them for ourselves. As this article stands, we have absolutely no indication of just how bad the Arkansas plan was, nor how much pollution it wanted to continue to pump into our atmosphere, or how strict the EPA regulations are. I have little doubt the current or past administration was willing to do anything that would cost their donors, the ones who are polluting our atmosphere with god knows what, any more than the cheep “lobbying” fees it takes to keep them in line. I also highly doubt 50 Arkansas businesses will be at risk of closure. It may cost them to upgrade their systems, but I’m sure they would survive with one less boat or vacation home in the CEOs estate.
Reporting like this is useless to those of us who actually like to be informed on an issue. This is nothing but a spin piece for Boozman.