WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) today issued the following statement regarding the Obama Administration’s announcement that the president will veto H.R. 4795, the Promoting New Manufacturing Act, if sent to his desk. The House is expected to vote on Rep. Scalise’s bill Thursday.
“President Obama’s threat to veto the Promoting New Manufacturing Act is irresponsible and is further proof that he does not want to work with Congress in a bipartisan way to create jobs,” Rep. Scalise said. “This bipartisan jobs bill serves as a check and balance against job-killing radical regulations by increasing transparency, cutting through unnecessary red tape, and forcing unelected bureaucrats to use real science to prove that their regulatory proposals can actually be achieved in the real world. By bringing transparency to the convoluted permitting process and reining in the EPA, we can jumpstart our nation’s economy and get our country back on track.”
The Promoting New Manufacturing Act:
- Reduces costly construction permitting delays that impede the construction of new facilities by requiring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide guidance on how to comply with new or revised air quality standards.
- Increases transparency by making public the number of Clean Air Act New Source Review (NSR) preconstruction permits issued annually and the timelines for the full permitting process.
- Promotes the efficient processing of permits by requiring the EPA to provide Congress with an annual report on the actions being taken by the agency to expedite the permitting process.
All across the United States there are hundreds of proposed manufacturing facilities not being constructed because they are held up in burdensome permitting processes and bureaucratic red tape. According to the American Chemistry Council (ACC), there are currently 180 announced manufacturing projects that will contribute an estimated $115 billion to the U.S. economy. By 2023, the ACC estimates, these new investments could generate tens of billions in chemical industry exports and hundreds of thousands of permanent jobs. In Louisiana alone, there are 39 proposed projects worth $28.6 billion, that will create 46,000 new jobs and support an additional 22,000 jobs.
In June of this year, H.R. 4795 passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee with bipartisan support.