Democrats Seek Permitting Pause on New Petrochemical Facilities
Congressional Democrats are seeking a temporary pause on the permitting of new and expanded petrochemical facilities that produce plastic or convert it into other products such as fuel and feedstock, under bicameral legislation slated for introduction on Thursday.
The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Jared Huffman (Calif.) and Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.), aims to improve protections for poor and minority communities where many petrochemical facilities are located. It would direct the Environmental Protection Agency to use the moratorium to review and update regulations to ensure minimal air and water pollution on surrounding communities and provide affected residents with a meaningful say in the permitting of such facilities.
Additionally, it would ban new facilities from being built within five miles of a school, residence, or community building.
Huffman said “sadly,” no Republicans are co-sponsoring the bill yet. It isn’t likely the GOP-controlled House will take it up. Bloomberg Government obtained a draft of the legislation.
The bill, similar to previous legislation on plastic pollution from Huffman and Booker is the latest effort from Democrats to prioritize the health and economic well-being of people who live near facilities that convert and produce plastic as well as liquefied natural gas. Huffman also introduced the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act last year with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), a co-sponsor of the Huffman-Booker bill.
Republicans, industry, and some energy-state Democrats, have pushed back against the Biden administration’s January pause on new LNG export permits until the Energy Department completes an economic and environmental review. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm earlier this week told a Senate panel that review should be done “around the end of the year.”
Huffman will attend a global conference next week in Ottawa where participants will negotiate solutions for tackling plastic pollution, which presents a global crisis. Plastics are made from fossil fuels and in turn, can be converted back into them. Some types of plastics cannot be recycled, and a lot of it ends up in landfills—or worse, in the water.
Fenceline communities—communities that live immediately adjacent to highly polluting facilities—“are getting the full brunt of this,” Huffman said in an interview with Bloomberg Government. The California Democrat said he wasn’t “wildly optimistic” that a substantive agreement on reducing plastic would be reached in Ottawa. Still, Huffman said the “pressure” the Biden administration is feeling from young people on the issue is “good.”
By: Kellie Lunney
Source: Bloomberg Government
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