By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) from Alabama issued a written statement after Congress passed H.R. 6582, the American Energy Manufacturing Technical Corrections Act:.
Sen Sessions said, “The American Energy Manufacturing Technical Corrections Act will save jobs in Alabama by giving much-needed regulatory relief to our state’s manufacturer of walk-in freezer doors. I am very pleased that, with the action today in the Senate, the bill will now go to the President’s desk to be signed into law. I think this bill is a win-win for Alabama and the nation. America’s workers must be defended.”
Congressman Aderholt (R) from Haleyville said, “If we want to see economic growth in this country, it is critical that our nation’s policy and laws create a regulatory environment that fosters innovation and job creation. Due to an increase in overreaching, burdensome and unnecessary regulations over the past few years, too many small businesses have had to layoff employees, reduce production or even shut their doors. This is precisely what happened to HH Technologies, an innovative manufacturing company in Cullman County, Alabama. The federal government’s embrace of outdated technology prohibited a new and innovative solution to improved energy efficiency.”
Sen. Sessions, working with U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt and Sen. Richard Shelby (R) from Alabama, has been seeking a legislative fix to a federal requirement that dictated that walk-in freezer doors had to use foam insulation, and as a result, it triggered a steep drop-off in orders of other kinds of walk-in freezer doors including those made by HH Technologies, Inc., a family-owned business in Bremen, Alabama even though the HHT product has similar or better energy efficiency than the foam insulated doors.
On September 22, 2012, the Senate passed a bill to address this unnecessary regulatory mandate. Identical language was included in H.R. 6582, which passed the House this week by an overwhelming vote of 398–2. Sen. Sessions worked to ensure that the bill passed the Senate with unanimous consent on Wednesday. The bill now goes to President Obama’s desk for his signature.
Rep. Aderholt said, “Through House Republicans continued efforts to streamline and eliminate bureaucratic red-tape in Washington, like the legislation passed today, we can begin to jumpstart our nation’s economic growth and reinvigorate job creation. I thank my colleagues for supporting H.R. 6582 and look forward to seeing the bill become law.”
H.R. 6582 makes technical corrections to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 that would reduce regulatory burdens by correcting clerical errors made and eliminating any problems caused by the errors. Some of these corrections include: “updating the uniform efficiency descriptor for covered water heaters, clarifying language regarding regulatory treatment for small duct high velocity systems made by U.S. manufacturers, coordinating research and development of energy efficient technologies for the industry, and establishes a separate, less stringent standard for over the counter commercial refrigerators, that due to large glass windows are inherently less energy efficient than other commercial refrigeration products.”
Sen. Sessions is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
