Stephanie Salmon, Artemis Strategies; Jeff Hannapel & Christian Richter, The Policy Group, Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON ALERT


82 Representatives Sign Letter Supporting Foundry Exemption from UUU


INDUSTRY GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS CONTACTED HOUSE MEMBERS TO GAIN SIGNATURES.


A total of 82 U.S. Representatives signed a letter to the U.S. Environmen- tal Protection Agency (EPA) support- ing the industry’s efforts to obtain an exemption from the New Source Per- formance Standards (NSPS), Subpart UUU. Tis represents nearly 20 percent of the entire U.S. House. EPA currently is “interpreting” met-


alcasting facilities are subject to Subpart UUU because they operate sand reclama- tion units to reuse sand in the metalcast- ing process that meet the broad Subpart UUU “definition of calciners and dryers” that “process industrial sand.” In some situations, a metalcaster now may be forced to spend more than $80,000 for a continuous monitoring system, and an ad- ditional $10,000 annually for servicing the equipment on a regulation that was never intended to apply to metalcasting. Industry groups contend the ap-


plicability of NSPS Subpart UUU requirements was never intended to


ON THE HILL


House Approves Bipartisan Bill to Move Forward on Keystone The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Northern Route Approval Act (H.R. 3) with bipartisan support on May 22. The measure would expedite the Keystone XL Pipeline by eliminat- ing the need for a presidential permit for the pipeline application by Trans- Canada Corporation for the northern portion from the Canadian border to Steele City, Nebraska.


Republican lawmakers, industry groups and a number of unions are pressuring the White House to back Keystone, which is under federal review. Environmentalists have made stopping Keystone a top priority. Democratic lawmakers remain split on the issue.


The bill is unlikely to be voted on in


the Senate and if it was approved, Presi- dent Obama has promised to veto it.


Obama Nominates New OIRA Head President Barack Obama announced the nomination of Howard Shelanski for the top spot at the Office of Infor- mation and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.


Shelanski currently serves as the director of the Federal Trade Commis- sion’s Bureau of Economics and has been a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center since 2011. As head of OIRA, Shelanski would oversee the review of major draft rules, guidance and information collection requests coming out of federal agencies. Cur- rently, OSHA’s crystalline silica draft rule has been under review at OIRA for


more than two years. Various inter- est groups have applied continued pressure on OIRA to release the silica rule back to OSHA in order to formally begin the rulemaking process. With Congress mired in gridlock on many fronts, the Obama admin- istration has increasingly sought to accomplish its policy goals through regulatory action. The shift has added clout to the OIRA administrator role, and outside groups from across the political spectrum have awaited Obama’s selection with significant interest. More than 100 federal rules, ranging from air quality protections to proposed worker protections, cur- rently await review at OIRA.


For additional information, contact Stepha- nie Salmon, AFS Washington Off ice,


202/842-4864, ssalmon@afsinc.org. July 2013 MODERN CASTING | 15


apply to metalcasting facilities and the agency is over stepping its au- thority. Based on the original NSPS rule that dates back to the 1990s, metalcasting facilities were never listed as a regulated industry sector. In 2008, EPA proposed regula-


tory language to formally exempt metalcasters from Subpart UUU but never finalized the revision. Representative Chuck Fleishmann


(R-Tenn.), along with Representative Gary Peters (D-Mich.), took the lead on the bipartisan Dear Colleague letter.


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