WASHINGTON – American Forest & Paper Association President and CEO Donna Harman today issued the following statement regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to stay the Boiler MACT and CISWI rules.
“As expected, the EPA has agreed to seek additional information and to postpone the effective date of the Boiler MACT and incinerator rules. These rules have been plagued from the outset by inadequate information and analysis as to the potential effects on the businesses, municipalities, universities, hospitals and other institutions that operate boilers.”
“Businesses need certainty to operate and plan for compliance, and these rules still must undergo significant changes to make them technically achievable and to ensure the President’s directive to find the most cost-effective method of regulating that is consistent with the law. A stay of the rules is an important first step and will give the Administration another opportunity to take into account the job-destructive aspects of the rules issued in February. Ultimately, we believe legislation will be necessary to give EPA the full amount of time they requested and were denied by the Court.
“We appreciate EPA’s prompt response to the request from 18 organizations to stay the rules, and we plan to fully engage in the reconsideration process to help make these rules more achievable. In addition, we will also continue to work with Members of Congress on legislation this year to address our concerns with this rule and to reduce the serious business uncertainty created by the rules.”
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The American Forest & Paper Association is the national trade association of the forest products industry, representing pulp, paper, packaging and wood products manufacturers, and forest landowners. Our companies make products essential for everyday life from renewable and recyclable resources that sustain the environment. The forest products industry accounts for approximately 5 percent of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP. Industry companies produce about $175 billion in products annually and employ nearly 900,000 men and women, exceeding employment levels in the automotive, chemicals and plastics industries. The industry meets a payroll of approximately $50 billion annually and is among the top 10 manufacturing sector employers in 47 states. Visit AF&PA online at www.afandpa.org.
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