UMA SEEKS EXTENSION OF TIME TO COMMENT ON CRITICAL EPA PROPOSAL
December 9, 2009
UMA’s Air Quality Committee has reviewed the proposal for EPA to not approve certain parts of the Utah PM10 State Implementation Plan and have found it to be not only complicated, but also very alarming for business and industry interests in the Beehive State. Their first action yesterday was to petition EPA for an extension of time to comment on the impacts of the proposed action. The letter from UMA president Tom Bingham follows.
Ms. Callie Videtich
Director-Air Program
Environmental Protection Agency
Region 8
Mailcode 8P-AR
1595 Wynkoop St.
Denver, CO 80202-1129
December 9, 2009
Re: Docket ID No. EPA-R08-OAR-2006-0013
Dear Ms. Videtich:
This letter is a request for an extension of the comment period on the proposed disapproval of Utah’s request to redesignate the Salt Lake County, Utah County and Ogden City PM10 nonattainment areas to attainment and to disapprove certain proposed State Implementation and Maintenance Plan provisions for those areas. 74 Fed. Reg. 62717 (Dec. 1, 2009). For the reasons set forth below, the Utah Manufacturers Association (“UMA”) requests an extension of the comment period until March 31, 2010.
The UMA consists of more than 850 Utah companies, many of which are subject to regulation under state and federal clean air statutes. In its December 1 proposal, EPA has identified a large number of issues that affect these Utah businesses, and it will require more than 30 days to properly assess the impacts of the proposed action on our member companies and to formulate meaningful comments. The fact that the comment period includes the holiday season further complicates our ability to submit comments within the current 30-day period.
Many of our member companies were involved in providing input to the Utah Division of Air Quality when the proposed revisions were developed for submittal to EPA in 2005. Files will need to be pulled and institutional memory will need to be tapped in order to respond to EPA’s proposed decision. All of this will take time.
We appreciate you consideration of our request.
Sincerely,
Thomas E. Bingham
President
December 9, 2009
Details of the Senate public option compromise announced by majority leader Harry Reid are very sketchy but many in Washington say the deal is a victory for Democrats and probably moves the reform package ahead in the arduous process. From what is known about proponents describe it as a measure that creates a new government-run insurance program that expands Medicare and would allow individuals 55 to 64 to buy into the program. Additionally, it would also set up a system that would allow the American public to buy private insurance similar to that offered to members of Congress.
OBAMA CARE AND ABORTION FUNDING
December 9, 2009 – Senator Robert Bennett
For over three decades, it has been illegal to use any federal funds to pay for abortions in the United States.
The Hyde Amendment, a law enacted in 1976 that prohibits taxpayer funding of abortion, has long been a target of the Democrats, but even when they’ve held significant majorities in Congress, they’ve been unable to repeal it.
Until now.
In the current health care bill, the so-called “Public Option” would provide federally funded insurance coverage for abortion. This would give the radical abortion proponents a chance to get rid of that pesky Hyde Amendment. That would pose a serious problem for most Republicans - and even a few Democrats.
Which leads us to yesterday’s vote.
Ben Nelson, a Democrat from Nebraska, teamed up with Senator Hatch to propose an amendment that would have prevented federal insurance from funding abortion. I co-sponsored the amendment, but it failed on a largely party-line vote.
On the one hand, it’s disappointing to lose this particular battle. But on the other hand, it may very well help us to win the war against this bill altogether.
Remember what the goal is here. We don’t want to make Obamacare just a little less awful; we want to kill it outright. So, ironically, by defeating this amendment, the Democrats have made it harder for Senator Nelson to vote for the final bill.
All forty Republicans are on board to prevent this bill from passing. All we need is one Democrat to join us. By bowing to the demands of the radical abortion lobby, the Democrats today may have helped push Senator Nelson to our side of the aisle on this issue.
CASH FOR CAULKERS PART OF OBAMA JOBS CREATION SUMMIT
December 9, 2009
NAM Board Member Ron Saxton of JELD-WEN, Inc. was present at the Obama Jobs Creation Forum last week and likes at least one idea discussed, the “Cash for Caulkers” Saxton said "a boom in replacements could help offset the big drop in new home construction. America has literally a billion, with a B, of single pane inefficient windows. Replacing even a fraction of those produces huge energy savings, as well as creating jobs, and those jobs can be created immediately."
NAM Board Member Ron Saxton of JELD-WEN, Inc. was present at the Obama Jobs Creation Forum last week and likes at least one idea discussed, the “Cash for Caulkers” Saxton said "a boom in replacements could help offset the big drop in new home construction. America has literally a billion, with a B, of single pane inefficient windows. Replacing even a fraction of those produces huge energy savings, as well as creating jobs, and those jobs can be created immediately."
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