Republican lawmakers want to repeal state air quality rules. State Representative Jesse Kremer says the regulations are burdensome to businesses, and the bill would address that.
“This is like a ‘right the rules’ bill,” Kremer said during a committee hearing on the measure. “Getting rid of regualtion that potentially doesn’t need to be on the books anymore.”
The bill from Kremer and Senator Duey Stroebel would repeal all state air quality regulations by the end of 2018. They could be re-adopted, after review by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Kremer and Stroebel cited a 2004 report, that the state regulates 293 more pollutants than required by federal law, only 94 of which were actually emitted here in 2002.
Sarah Barry of Clean Wisconsin testified against the bill. She cautioned that if specific pollutants were removed from state oversight, “we won’t know what we don’t know. And with all the information we have now about air pollutant exposure, we should not defy common sense and go back to the drawing board by repealing these protections.”
