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tific data, more transparency and considerations of feasibility and economic impact.


• Prevent EPA from setting more stringent ozone standards until at least 85% of counties in “nonat- tainment” achieve compliance with the current standard.


• Require the EPA to consider feasibility and economic impacts


when deciding where to set the ozone standards, two things the EPA currently is barred from considering under the Clean Air Act.


• Mandate the EPA use only direct air quality monitoring in desig- nating any counties as being in nonattainment with the ozone NAAQS.


MODERN INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED


Today’s infrastructure systems in the U.S. are failing to keep pace with current and expanding needs of the economy, and investment in infrastructure is faltering. The American Society of Civil Engineers has given America’s infrastructure a D+ grade as aging roads and bridges continue to fall into disrepair, causing congestion and bottlenecks for the freight transportation network. The nation is also in need of $2 trillion of spending over the next 25 years to restore and expand the drinking and wastewater infrastructure. Signed into law in 2014, the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) provides low-interest federal loans for up to 49% of large drinking water, wastewater and water reuse projects to help the nation renew, improve and rehabilitate its aging infrastructure. However, as written, the law prohibits tax exempt bonds from funding the remaining 51%, taking away a cost effective tool for communities that seek WIFIA loans. If the ban were repealed, utilities could use lower-cost, tax-exempt debt for the non-WIFIA share of project costs, lowering the overall cost of the program.


Bipartisan measures in the House and Senate aim to establish long-term reauthorization of highway and transit programs with increased investments supported by stable revenue sources. The bills are the Responsibly and Professionally Invigorating Development (RAPID) Act (H.R. 348), introduced by Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.), and the Federal Permitting Improvement Act of 2015 (S. 280), introduced by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).


The bills would streamline and improve the federal permit- ting process to obtain environmental permits and approv- als for projects in a timely manner by reducing the statute of limitations to challenge an environmental review under NEPA from six years to 150 days. The measures also would provide for concurrent reviews by agencies, rather than serial reviews, and requires agencies to reach out to accept comments from stakeholders early in the approval and review process. Both bills were approved out of committee but await floor action.


Proposed Crystalline Silica Standard


In September 2013, OSHA


proposed a comprehensive new regulatory structure for the control of crystalline silica, including drastically reducing the silica permissible expo- sure limit (PEL). Te U.S. metalcast- ing industry uses millions of tons of silica sand per year in the production


Bipartisan measures in the House and Senate aim to establish long-term reauthorization of highway and transit programs with increased investments supported by stable revenue sources.


22 | MODERN CASTING June 2015


Photo by Mariordo (Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz)


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