IBEW
Join Us

Sign up for the lastest information from the IBEW!

Related ArticlesRelated Articles

Visit Our Media Department

Print This Page       Text Size:
News Publications

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 9, 2011                            

IBEW Supports Manchin-Coats Utility Clean Air Proposal

         Legislation Protects Environment, Promotes Jobs

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers strongly supports a bill introduced by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Dan Coats’ (R-Ind.) that sets a realistic time frame for utilities to comply with new Environmental Protection Agency clean air rules.

“This is common sense legislation that combines the needs of protecting the environment and preserving American jobs,” says IBEW President Edwin D. Hill.

Introduced today, the Fair Compliance Act of 2011 (S.1833) would extend and synchronize the compliance deadline for two proposed air toxin regulations – Utility MACT (Maximum Achievable Control Technology) and the Cross State Air Pollution Rule – to Jan. 1, 2017. This would give coal-fired utilities more time to invest in retrofitting plants to decrease emissions. Utilities will still be required to submit an implementation plan laying out how they will retrofit and retire plants in advance of the extended deadline.

“The extended deadline will not alter the stringency of the EPA’s rules in any way,” says Hill. “By giving companies more time to meet the agency’s standards, it will safeguard the reliability of the electrical grid and reduce job loss due to plant closures.”

The proposal will not only prevent job loss, but create new construction jobs retrofitting power plants, Hill says.

“Under the current deadline, too many companies will be forced to shut down their plants, unnecessarily pitting jobs against the environment. But by giving companies more time to invest in clean air technologies, this legislation will create more jobs for construction workers, who are suffering from some of the highest unemployment rates in the country.”

 

 

Contact: Jim Spellane 202-728-6014

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) represents approximately 725,000 members who work in a wide variety of fields, including construction, utilities, manufacturing, telecommunications, broadcasting, railroads and government.