U.S. Senators Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Tim Scott of South Carolina, along with Congressman Morgan Griffith from Virginia, have expressed approval for the Senate’s passage of a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution. This resolution aims to overturn an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule regarding emissions standards in rubber tire manufacturing.
Senator Wicker stated, “The Biden administration forced needless regulations on American tire manufacturers and producers. Increasing the NESHAP standard puts an unnecessary financial and environmental burden on rubber manufacturing facilities.” He added that reversing this decision would “protect jobs and bring back the time-tested NESHAP rule.”
Senator Scott also commented, saying, “I am happy we are one step closer to eliminating the Biden-era NESHAP rule driven by radical environmentalism that did nothing but hurt workers and businesses across the nation.” He emphasized Republican leadership’s efforts to reduce government overreach.
Congressman Griffith echoed these sentiments: “House and Senate Republicans are acting decisively to repeal onerous regulations from the Biden EPA, like the rubber tire manufacturing rule.” He credited conservative leaders such as Senators Scott and Wicker for providing relief to America’s rubber tire manufacturers.
The resolution is supported by several other lawmakers including Senators Lindsey Graham, Shelley Moore Capito, Marsha Blackburn, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Tim Sheehy, and Representatives Gary Palmer, Derek Schmidt, Mike Bost, Claudia Tenney among others.
The Rubber Tire Manufacturing source category includes facilities producing various rubber components. In 2002, emissions limits were established for subcategories within this industry. A review in 2020 found existing standards adequate in protecting public health. However, following a court decision requiring further emission regulation reviews by the EPA under the Clean Air Act mandates, new standards were proposed in 2023.
Despite this proposal’s intentions to regulate unregulated hazardous air pollutants from certain subcategories within rubber processing pursuant to legal requirements highlighted in Louisiana Environmental Action Network v. EPA case findings—the EPA concluded no quantifiable public health benefits emerged from enforcing such rules which would also lead to increased CO2 emissions due to required technological installations costing millions annually without significant public health advantages.
