Climate, Public Health Under Attack in U.S. House of Representatives

WASHINGTON — This week the U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote on H.R. 277, the REINS Act, and H.R. 288, SOPRA. Both bills directly and broadly threaten public health and the environment.

“Our federal agencies must be able to protect our health and safety and reasonably enforce laws written by Congress,” said Elizabeth Gore, Environmental Defense Fund’s senior vice president for political affairs. “These bills threaten the health and well-being of millions of Americans by subjecting science-driven protections to partisan gridlock.”

The REINS Act would obstruct the federal government from carrying out actions mandated by Congress, including laws with strong bipartisan support, and could prevent implementation of critical public health, safety or environmental protections. The REINS Act would require both the House and Senate to approve major rules, including rules mandated by existing law, within 70 days.

If one or both chambers failed to approve a rule, the rule would not take effect and would be tabled until the next congressional session. Congress could prevent existing laws from being carried out, resulting in gridlock at an unprecedented scale. This would effectively give one chamber of Congress veto power over any new significant public health, safety or environmental protections, no matter how non-controversial or sensible they may be.

SOPRA would hinder agencies’ ability to protect the public by allowing judges to substitute their own policy interpretations for agencies’ expert determinations, creating regulatory uncertainty and reversing decades of established precedent.

In a Statement of Administration Policy issued today, President Biden said that SOPRA, “would undermine separation of powers, a fundamental element of our government, by attempting to jettison longstanding principles concerning judicial review of agency interpretation and implementation of laws and regulations.”

President Biden has committed to vetoing both bills if they arrive on his desk.

The House could vote on the REINS Act and SOPRA as early as Wednesday afternoon.