Legislative Letters

Re: Oppose H.R 998, 1004, & 1009 – Assaults on Environmental Safeguards in the Guise of “Regulatory Reform”

Feb 27, 2017

Dear Representative:

On behalf of our millions of members, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) works to turn environmental values into national, state, and local priorities.  Each year, LCV publishes the National Environmental Scorecard, which details the voting records of members of Congress on environmental legislation.  The Scorecard is distributed to LCV members, concerned voters nationwide, and the media. 

LCV urges you to vote NO on H.R. 998, the SCRUB Act, H.R. 1004, the Regulatory Integrity Act, and H.R. 1009, the OIRA Insight, Reform, And Accountability Act. LCV joins our partners in the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards—an alliance of consumer, public health, labor, good government, environmental, and scientific groups—in strongly opposing this trio of extreme bills that have far-reaching and damaging consequences for vital public health and environmental safeguards.

H.R. 998, the SCRUB Act, would jeopardize critical environmental safeguards that have been in place for decades and would make it extremely difficult to develop new standards in response to threats to public health and the environment. This legislation creates a regulatory review commission that would disregard the public benefits of environmental safeguards and only consider the cost to industries. By creating a misguided “cut-go” system for safeguards, this bill would result in key public health protections being eliminated. 

H.R. 1004, the Regulatory Integrity Act, would significantly hinder communications between federal agencies and the public and would discourage agencies from using social media platforms. This legislation would reduce government transparency and would leave the public less informed about government activities. The vague guidelines about what public communications are allowed would result in agencies being less willing to share key information with the public.  

H.R. 1009, the OIRA Insight, Reform, And Accountability Act, would endanger clean air and clean water protections by opening them up to more litigation. The bill would effectively rewrite dozens of laws in which congress mandated that agencies prioritize public health, safety and the preservation of clean air and water over concerns about industry profits. 

LCV urges you to REJECT H.R. 998, 1004, & 1009 and will strongly consider including votes on these bills in the 2017 Scorecard. If you need more information, please call my office at (202) 785-8683 and ask to speak with a member of our Government Relations team.

Sincerely,

Gene Karpinski

President