Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Energy and the Environment
Durbin, Duckworth Introduce Sweeping Environmental Justice Bill
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), introduced sweeping legislation to address the environmental injustices that harm communities of color, low-income communities, and indigenous communities around the country. The Environmental Justice Act of 2019 would require federal agencies to mitigate environmental injustices through agency action and would strengthen the legal protections of those affected by environmental … Continue Reading
July 23, 2019
Durbin, Duckworth, Lipinski, Foster, Schneider, Casten Press EPA For Strict Ethylene Oxide Standards
WASHINGTON - In light of recent developments regarding the potential re-opening of the Sterigenics facility in Willowbrook, Illinois, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Dan Lipinski (D-IL-03), Bill Foster (D-IL-11), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), and Sean Casten (D-IL-06) today urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set new, strict national standards for facilities emitting ethylene oxide (EtO) as soon as possible. The members … Continue Reading
June 26, 2019
Durbin, Duckworth, Bustos, Underwood Meet With FEMA Acting Administrator Gaynor
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with U.S. Representatives Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17) and Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14), today met with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Acting Administrator Peter T. Gaynor to push his agency to do everything in its power to help Illinois recover from and prepare for disasters. The members also urged Gaynor to improve the state application process for Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program (PDM) … Continue Reading
June 25, 2019
Durbin, Grassley, Bipartisan Group Of Senators Urge EPA To Update Ethanol Science To Improve Trade
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), both members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today led a bipartisan group of Senators urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update an outdated environmental analysis on ethanol in order to improve foreign sales opportunities. Peer-reviewed science conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has affirmed U.S. ethanol lowers greenhouse gas emissions between 39 … Continue Reading
June 13, 2019
Durbin, Davis Introduce Bill To Study Possible National Park For Julius Rosenwald
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Danny K. Davis (D-IL-07) today introduced a bill that honors Julius Rosenwald-the former part-owner of Sears, Roebuck and Company-for his work in establishing Rosenwald Schools to promote African American education in the rural South. The Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools Study Act would require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resources study of the sites associated with the life and legacy of Julius … Continue Reading
June 13, 2019
Durbin, Duckworth Work To Bring Fairness to FEMA Disaster Declaration Process
WASHINGTON - Following historic and severe flooding affecting one-third of Illinois, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced the reintroduction of the Fairness in Federal Disaster Declarations Act. The bill would reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) disaster declaration process to make it more transparent and equitable to small and rural communities in larger states like Illinois. Due to FEMA's disaster declaration process, states like … Continue Reading
June 11, 2019
On Senate Floor: Durbin Discusses Trip To Alton, Illinois To View Flood Damage
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today recounted his trip this past weekend to Alton, Illinois, on the Mississippi River and Winchester, Illinois, near the Illinois River to see first-hand the effects of severe flooding that has reached historically high levels and duration. Durbin thanked local volunteers, first responders, charitable organizations, and officials at Illinois' state government agencies for their emergency response efforts. Durbin … Continue Reading
June 03, 2019
Durbin Discusses Historic Flooding With IEMA Acting Director
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke to Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) Acting Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau to get an update on how IEMA is responding to historic and ongoing flooding throughout Illinois. Durbin thanked first responders for their bravery and pledged to do everything he can in the Senate to ensure the federal government is being responsive to the needs of Illinois counties still at-risk of dangerous flooding. "It was good to speak with Acting … Continue Reading
May 31, 2019
Durbin Statement On E15 Gasoline Rule
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today released the following statement after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule allowing the sale of E15 - gasoline containing as much as 15 percent ethanol-to be sold year-round. "Though I am pleased the EPA has finally issued this new rule for the sale of E15 gasoline, I remain concerned that the Trump Administration is issuing carve outs for … Continue Reading
May 21, 2019
Durbin, Duckworth Urge Treasury To Issue Carbon Capture Tax Credit Guidance
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) have joined a bipartisan group of Senators in requesting guidance from the Department of Treasury for the implementation of the carbon capture utilization and storage tax credit program under the FUTURE Act. In a letter to Secretary Steve Mnuchin, the Senators requested that Treasury issue an interim rule to allow carbon capture projects, which often have a long lead-time, to get underway and assign more staff to the … Continue Reading
May 15, 2019
Durbin, Duckworth, Lipinski, Foster, Schneider, Casten, Underwood Ask EPA To Inspect All Region 5 Facilities Using Ethylene Oxide
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Dan Lipinski (D-IL-03), Bill Foster (D-IL- 11), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), Sean Casten (D-IL-06), and Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) today called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to immediately conduct inspections of all Region 5 facilities - including Medline Inc. in Waukegan, Illinois, and Vantage Specialty Chemicals Inc. in Gurnee, Illinois, which use ethylene oxide (EtO) for … Continue Reading
May 01, 2019
Durbin, Quigley, Rubio, Duckworth, Rooney Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Legislation To Map Urban Flooding & Help FEMA Better Assess Risks
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Mike Quigley (D-IL-05) and Francis Rooney (R-FL-19) today introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Flood Mapping Modernization and Homeowner Empowerment Pilot Program Act of 2019 to enhance the mapping of urban flooding to prevent associated damage. The legislation will help give cities and towns the tools they need to address flooding in a local context and then encourage the … Continue Reading
April 11, 2019
Durbin, Duckworth, Lipinski, Schneider, Underwood Ask FDA About Alternatives To Ethylene Oxide For Medical Equipment Sterilization
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Dan Lipinski (D-IL-03), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), and Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14), today asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about any actions it has taken, or plans to take, to examine and evaluate alternate, non-cancer causing medical equipment sterilization methods for use in the United States. In a letter to the FDA, the members highlighted the alarmingly high levels of ethylene oxide … Continue Reading
April 10, 2019
Durbin Opposes Bernhardt Nomination To Be Interior Secretary
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement regarding the nomination of David Bernhardt to be Secretary of the Interior: "President Trump's nominee to serve as Interior Secretary, David Bernhardt, has spent his career lobbying against conservation policies in order to enrich Big Oil companies. He favors fossil fuel interests over the environmental, health, and safety interests of the American people. Americans deserve an Interior … Continue Reading
April 10, 2019
Durbin Opposes Bernhardt Nomination To Be Interior Secretary
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement regarding the nomination of David Bernhardt to be Secretary of the Interior: "President Trump's nominee to serve as Interior Secretary, David Bernhardt, has spent his career lobbying against conservation policies in order to enrich Big Oil companies. He favors fossil fuel interests over the environmental, health, and safety interests of the American people. Americans deserve an Interior … Continue Reading
April 09, 2019
Durbin, Grassley, Blunt, Baldwin, Bustos, Smith Lead Effort To Fund The Modernization Of Locks Along Upper Mississippi & Illinois Rivers
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Roy Blunt (R-MO), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), along with U.S. Representatives Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17) and Jason Smith (R-MO-8) led a bipartisan, bicameral letter to Senate and House appropriators urging the inclusion of funding for the Navigation and Ecosystem Restoration Program (NESP) in the Fiscal Year 2020 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bills. NESP, which was authorized in Title VIII of the Water Resources … Continue Reading
April 01, 2019
Durbin, Duckworth, Foster, Lipinski, Schneider, Casten, Underwood Call On EPA To Use Its Authority & Prevent Use Of Ethylene Oxide At Sterigenics
WASHINGTON - In response to an Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) report that detailed evidence that residents of Willowbrook, Illinois, have higher incidences of certain cancers associated with exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO) in comparison to the rest of the state, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Bill Foster (D-IL-11), Dan Lipinski (D-IL-03), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), Sean Casten (D-IL-06), and Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) today … Continue Reading
March 26, 2019
Durbin: Republicans Need To Drop The Stunts And Work With Democrats To Address Climate Change
WASHINGTON - Ahead of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) sham vote in the Senate on a bill that he does not support - the Green New Deal, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called out his Republican colleagues for continuing to deny the science behind climate change and refusing to work with Democrats on a bipartisan basis to tackle this mounting crisis. "You either believe it or you don't believe it - is there such a thing as climate change? Are we going … Continue Reading
March 15, 2019
Durbin Asks CDC To Assist With Ethylene Oxide Emissions In Illinois
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today asked Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield to assist in efforts to protect residents of Illinois from ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions-a known carcinogen-especially those that live near the Sterigenics medical sterilization facility in Willowbrook. Currently, Sterigenics is under a seal order from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for unacceptably high EtO emissions. Director Redfield said he had … Continue Reading
March 13, 2019
Durbin Meets With Willowbrook Residents To Discuss Ethylene Oxide Emissions At Sterigenics
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with residents of Willowbrook, Illinois, who have been impacted by ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions from the Sterigenics medical sterilization facility in their community. Currently, Sterigenics is under a seal order from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for unacceptably high EtO emissions. "Ethylene oxide emissions are a cause for serious concern in Willowbrook, and today I heard directly from residents who have had enough with … Continue Reading