{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/republicans-block-cooper-amendment-advocating-community-input", "Republicans Block Cooper Amendment Advocating Community Input", "2017-07-18", "2017", "2017-07", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Jim Cooper", "C000754", "cooper.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-5) this week proposed an amendment to the Ozone Standards Implementation Act that would have ensured states have the option of including local land use policies \u2013 such as zoning and local ordinances \u2013 in State Implementation Plans (SIPs).\nSIPs are state-approved, long-term plans required for meeting federal air quality standards, such as controlling smog and other harmful pollutants. But existing law is ambiguous on including local land use policies in these SIPs.\nRepublicans blocked Rep. Cooper\u2019s amendment from reaching the House floor. Under Rep. Cooper\u2019s amendment, states would have retained final decision-making power over whether to include local input. However, the amendment\u00a0would have given local communities greater input as states decide how land is allocated for various purposes.\nA recent example involves the planned gas compressor station in Joelton, Tenn., where Rep. Cooper led a vocal yet unsuccessful charge to deny an industrial company\u2019s plans to do business in a residential community. Rep. Cooper\u2019s amendment would not have retroactively affected that case, but it would have applied to similar matters in the future.\n\u201cThis has affected us in Middle Tennessee, but it\u2019s a problem everywhere in America,\u201d Rep. Cooper said. \u201cThere are good people in local communities and their concerns matter. They shouldn\u2019t be steamrolled in the process.\u201d\nCatholic nuns in Pennsylvania confronted similar issues \u2013 recently documented in The Washington Post \u2013 when they built a chapel in a cornfield to block the path of a proposed gas pipeline.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/republicans-block-cooper-amendment-advocating-community-input"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.0549120381474495, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}