Some ill-intentioned activists recently criticized Sen. Susan Collins for introducing legislation that would bring sanity to a process gone wrong in the federal regulatory community. Unfortunately, their spin is misrepresenting the good work that Collins is doing to protect jobs and to assure realistic regulations are developed that can actually be implemented to improve our environment.

Collins’ bill provides much-needed business and legal certainty and the necessary time in which to make Boiler MACT (Maximum Available Control Technology) compliance investments. With the amendment receiving over 50 votes, it has bipartisan support, not just support from “industry lobbyists.”

Any claim that industry does not want to comply with the Boiler MACT rules is completely untrue, and Collins’ bill wouldn’t indefinitely delay them. What we do want is to have the opportunity to make investments in controls that can achieve the regulations’ limits and provide legal and business certainty.

Nearly 18,000 men and women and the communities we live in depend on the good-paying jobs that the forest products industry provides in Maine. We produce products that are used across the country and around the world.

Sen. Collins demonstrates true leadership every day in representing the interest of Mainers, and her Boiler MACT bill offers the chance to finalize a rule that protects both jobs and the environment.

We should be supporting her efforts, not criticizing them.

Joel Swanton of Holden is the Northeast region manager of the Forest Resources Association.

 


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