[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 9] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 12907-12908] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001 ______ speech of HON. JOE KNOLLENBERG of michigan in the house of representatives Monday, June 26, 2000 The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4690) making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2001, and for other purposes. Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, I would like to include in the Record for the Commerce/State/Justice Appropriations bill a letter with legislative history of the Clean Air Act reported by Congressman John Dingell who was the Chairman of the House Conference on the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990. No one knows the Clean Air Act like Congressman Dingell. He makes clear, and I quote, ``Congress has not enacted implementing legislation authorizing EPA or any other agency to regulate greenhouse gases.'' October 5, 1999. Hon. David M. McIntosh, Chairman, Subcommittee on National Economic Growth, Natural Resources, and Regulatory Affairs, Committee on Government Reform, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. Chairman: I understand that you have asked, based on discussions between our staffs, about the disposition by the House-Senate conferees of the amendments in 1990 to the Clean Air Act (CAA) regarding greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide. In making this inquiry, you call my attention to an April 10, 1998 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) memorandum entitled ``EPA's Authority to Regulate Pollutants Emitted by Electric Power Generation [[Page 12908]] Sources'' and an October 12, 1998 memorandum entitled ``The Authority of EPA to Regulate Carbon Dioxide Under the Clean Air Act'' prepared for the National Mining Association. The latter memorandum discusses the legislative history of the 1990 amendments. First, the House-passed bill (H.R. 3030) never included any provision regarding the regulation of any greenhouse gas, such as methane or carbon dioxide, nor did the bill address global climate change. The House, however, did include provisions aimed at implementing the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Second, as to the Senate version (S. 1630) of the proposed amendments, the October 12, 1998 memorandum correctly points out that the Senate did address greenhouse gas matters and global warming, along with provisions implementing the Montreal Protocol. Nevertheless, only Montreal Protocol related provisions were agreed to by the House-Senate conferees (see Conf. Rept. 101-952, Oct. 26, 1990). However, I should point out that Public Law 101-549 of November 15, 1990, which contains the 1990 amendments to the CAA, includes some provisions, such as sections 813, 817 and 819-821, that were enacted as free-standing provisions separate from the CAA. Although the Public Law often refers to the ``Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,'' the Public Law does not specify that reference as the ``short title'' of all of the provisions included the Public Law. One of these free-standing provisions, section 821, entitled ``Information Gathering on Greenhouse Gases contributing to Global Climate Change'' appears in the United States code as a ``note'' (at 42 U.S.C. 7651k). It requires regulations by the EPA to ``monitor carbon dioxide emissions'' from ``all affected sources subject to title V'' of the CAA and specifies that the emissions are to be reported to the EPA. That section does not designate carbon dioxide as a ``pollutant'' for any purpose. Finally, Title IX of the Conference Report, entitled ``Clean Air Research,'' was primarily negotiated at the time by the House and Senate Science Committees, which had no regulatory jurisdiction under House-Senate Rules. This title amended section 103 of the CAA by adding new subsections (c) through (k). New subsection (g), entitled ``Pollution Prevention and Control,'' calls for ``non-regulatory strategies and technologies for air pollution prevention.'' While it refers, as noted in the EPA memorandum, to carbon dioxide as a ``pollutant,'' House and Senate conferees never agreed to designate carbon dioxide as a pollutant for regulatory or other purposes. Based on my review of this history and my recollection of the discussions, I would have difficulty concluding that the House-Senate conferees, who rejected the Senate regulatory provisions (with the exception of the above-referenced section 821), contemplated regulating greenhouse gas emissions or addressing global warming under the Clean Air Act. Shortly after enactment of Public Law 101-549, the United Nations General Assembly established in December 1990 the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee that ultimately led to the Framework Convention on Climate Change, which was ratified by the United States after advice and consent by the Senate. That Convention is, of course, not self-executing, and the Congress has not enacted implementing legislation authorizing EPA or any other agency to regulate greenhouse gases. I hope that this is responsive. With best wishes, Sincerely, John D. Dingell, Ranking Member. ____________________