NATURAL RESOURCES AND TH1 ENVIRONMENT 963 



The Brown-Fuqua colloquy did not completely smooth out the 

 relationship between NASA and EPA, or jurisdictional struggles which 

 ensued over which agencv should take the lead in R. <S: D. relating to 

 the politically explosive issue of what was happening to the ozone 111 

 the upper atmosphere. NASA, through its friends on the Science 

 Committee, continued to push to broaden its jurisdiction in this area. 

 Brown, strongly supported by Esch, acted as the defender of the less 

 politically popular EPA. Meanwhile, Brown and his staff touched 

 base frequently with the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. 

 He was able to fend oil an attempt by Milford to gut the bill when 

 markup time arrived in the full committee on October 9, 1975. 



The wide publicity on aerosol spray cans and their effects on the 

 ozone layer thrust the issue into the forefront of public discussion 

 more and more as time went on. The bill reported by the Science 

 Committee was merged in with the Clean Air Act amendments which 

 passed the House, but failed to clear the conference committee in 1976. 

 A new bill was eventually signed by President Carter in 1977, essen- 

 tially embodying the recommendations of both the Science and Inter- 

 state and Foreign Commerce Committees. 



SULFATES IN THE ATMOSPHERE 



It was a characteristic of the Brown subcommittee to keep several 

 balls in the air at the same time. While the ozone fight was going on, 

 another issue which occupied the subcommittee was oversight on the 

 R. & D. relating to sulfates in the atmosphere. Brown, along with 

 Ottinger, had introduced legislation early in 1975 to address the public 

 health problems resulting from the increased use of energy, especially 

 coal. During four days of hearings in July 1975, the subcommittee 

 analvzed sulfate emissions from stationary sources, as well as assessing 

 the nature and adequacy of EPA's control technology and strategy. 

 The sharp issues of automotive emissions revealed the strength of the 

 influence of the automobile industry on the opening day of the hearings 

 when Esch declared: 



I think that the hearings will address a fundamental question which is of great 

 significance to the country and especially Michigan, and that is: Does the Federal 

 bureaucracy, without sufficient research hasib, have the authority to impose regula- 

 tions that have a major negative economic and environmental impact upon our 

 citizens? 



I think it has become increasingly clear that with the catalytic converter this 

 was the case where thousands ot Michigan workers have been thrown out of work 

 primarily because of the consumer concern over emission control. 



Esch concluded that "it's time the Federal Government end its 

 adversary relationship with the automobile industry." 



