{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20141203064734/http://www.sessions.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=04CABF5A-13C1-426C-B760-72D36C6D1F87", "Sessions Leads Bipartisan Effort To Delay New Job-Crushing Regulations", "2014-11-20", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "AL", "Jeff Sessions", "S001141", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON\u2014U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions, Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee and Subcommittee on Clean Air & Nuclear Safety, led a bipartisan, bicameral letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy requesting a one-year compliance timeline for upcoming regulations on warm air furnaces. EPA initially proposed a 60-day compliance timeline that would have imperiled many small manufacturers, including in Alabama. EPA is due to finalize the regulations by February 3, 2015:\nA full text of the letter follows. To view it as a PDF, please click here.\nNovember 19, 2014\n\u201cThe Honorable Gina McCarthy\nAdministrator\nU.S. Environmental Protection Agency\n1200 Pennsylvania Ave NW\nWashington DC 20460\nRE:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The EPA\u2019s proposed New Source Performance Standards for warm air furnaces\nDear Administrator McCarthy:\nIn reviewing the proposed New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for warm air furnaces, we found that the proposal departs from prior regulations for similar sources under Section 111(b) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), and the timeline for compliance threatens unreasonable economic damage to furnace manufacturers in the United States.\u00a0\u00a0 The proposed rule, which under the provisions of the CAA must be finalized by EPA by February 3, 2015, would prohibit the manufacture or sale of any warm air furnace that is not certified by EPA within 60 days of the final rule\u2019s publication in the Federal Register.\u00a0\u00a0 That timeline is impossible to achieve without undue harm to market participants.\u00a0 We ask EPA to ensure the compliance timeline for warm air furnaces is at least one year in length.\nPrior to this proposal, EPA has never required emissions controls on warm air furnaces, and manufacturers will now be required to modify and submit their models to costly tests prior to certification.\u00a0 Mandating only 60 days to complete the necessary research and development, testing, and retooling of their manufacturing operations is beyond the capacity of many manufacturers.\u00a0 Additionally, EPA\u2019s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA)\u00a0 has informed industry that certification may be unavailable until the 60-day period has expired, and the certification and testing process for manufacturers is further complicated by EPA\u2019s drive to transition from crib to cordwood testing, a development that significantly complicates the testing process for these manufacturers.\u00a0 This situation leaves manufacturers no choice but to cease production during the period between the rule\u2019s finalization and availability of EPA certification.\u00a0\nMany of the warm air furnace models manufactured are sold to retail home-improvement and hardware stores, which purchase stock several months in advance.\u00a0 Because of their purchasing decision timeline, these stores will now be stuck with non-certified inventory, and under the proposed rule, it appears they will be prevented from selling it.\u00a0 Because the content of the final rule remains in flux, inventory stocked for sale throughout 2015 may have to be repurchased by manufacturers at the same time that they are undertaking costly research and development, testing, and certification work.\u00a0\nThe \u201cstandards of performance\u201d described in Section 111 of the CAA require a consideration of the cost of achieving the associated emission reductions.\u00a0\u00a0 In this instance, the 60-day timeline for compliance exacerbates the cost.\u00a0 The financial burden that the proposed rule threatens to places on warm air furnace manufacturers \u2013 in the form of uncertain certification resulting in production halts as well as manufacturers having to buy back furnaces from retailers \u2013 will force many out of business, decreasing consumer choice in the marketplace and increasing unemployment.\u00a0 This stands in contrast to EPA\u2019s first NSPS for woodstoves, promulgated in 1988, which allowed small manufacturers a year to attain compliance\u00a0 and staggered effective dates for all other manufacturers.\u00a0\u00a0 This year-long compliance timeline was set to explicitly ensure that manufacturers could surmount the financial and logistical challenges to certification.\nWe urge EPA to follow past precedence and ensure the compliance timeline for warm air furnaces is at least one year in length to give consumers, retailers, and manufacturers the certainty necessary to develop and manufacture compliant furnaces.\u00a0 Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.\nSincerely,\nU.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL),\nU.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA),\nU.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA),\nU.S. Senator Dan Coats (R-IN),\nU.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-ID),\nU.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA),\nU.S. Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO),\nU.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC),\nU.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK),\nU.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR),\nU.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN),\nU.S. Senator David Vitter (R-LA),\nU.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH),\nU.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN),\nU.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA),\nU.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN),\nU.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN),\nU.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV),\nU.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH),\nU.S. Senator John Thune (R-ND),\nU.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID),\nU.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO),\nU.S. Senator Joe Donnelly (D-IN),\nU.S. Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-TN),\nU.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-AL),\nU.S. Representative Brett Guthrie (R-KY),\nU.S. Representative Vicky Hartzler (R-MO),\nU.S. Representative Ann Wagner (R-MO),\nU.S. Representative Sean Duffy (R-WI),\nU.S. Representative Sam Graves (R-MO),\nU.S. Representative Billy Long (R-MO),\nU.S. Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR),\nU.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-AL),\nU.S. Representative Collin Peterson (D-MN),\nU.S. Representative Jason Smith (R-MO),\nU.S. Representative Robert Latta (R-OH),\nU.S. Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)\u201d", 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://web.archive.org/web/20141203064734/http://www.sessions.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=04CABF5A-13C1-426C-B760-72D36C6D1F87"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8893290068954229, "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"}