The Hill News

Two Republican congressmen are pressing President Obama to scale back regulations on concrete manufacturers. 

Reps. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) and Geoff Davis (R-Ky.) argue that new rules are excessively burdensome and drive up the price of projects like Cincinnati's Brent Spence Bridge, which the president will visit Thursday.

Obama is touring public works and infrastructure projects in swing states to drum up support for his proposed jobs plan and budget. In Kentucky, the president has taken a particular focus on bridges; closures in Louisville and Cincinnati have snarled traffic throughout the state. 

Obama also plans to speak from a concrete plant in Cincinnati, which the congressmen seized upon to criticize new rules from the Environmental Protection Agency that regulate the concrete manufacturing process. 

"We note that you have chosen a ready-mix concrete plant in Cincinnati as the location for your remarks, and we write today in hopes that you will use your visit today to express your support for legislation moving through the House that would stop the federal government from imposing excessive regulations on cement manufacturers that threaten thousands of American jobs," the congressmen said in a letter to Obama.

The EPA says that the new rules will eliminate 92 percent of mercury and fine-particle emissions from cement kilns and estimates that they may save between 960 and 2,500 lives. The agency also says that the rules could prevent hundreds of cases of bronchitis and 1,500 heart attacks.

The congressmen argue that the adoption of the rules will cost $2.2 billion and threaten to close twelve of the nation's one hundred concrete plants. They also believe the regulations could mean the lost of 15,000 manufacturing jobs, and more in the construction sector, where cement prices would rise more than 5 percent.

But the EPA argued when the rule was proposed that the health benefits outweigh the immediate economic costs. The congressmen say that the regulations "go too far and do more harm than good."

Instead, the congressmen propose pushing back the implementation of the rules and considering allowing states to decide how to enforce the regulations. The House is scheduled to vote on such a bill within the next month.

"[The bill] will allow the EPA additional time to develop a more balanced and effective approach that will protect public health and the environment without imposing unnecessary economic harm on American businesses and workers," they wrote.