Monday, Oct. 10, 2011 | 12:26 p.m.
The crusade against the Environmental Protection Agency’s "job-killing regulations” has been a Republican cause, but last week Rep. Shelley Berkley and a small band of House Democrats joined the effort.
Berkley was one of 25 Democrats to vote for a bill that would force the EPA to rewrite rules on cement manufacturing to make them less burdensome to the industry.
According to a study by the Portland Cement Association, an industry lobbying force in Washington, unless the rules are rewritten, it will force 18 of the nation's 97 cement plants to close their doors.
Which ones? Well, they can’t say. “It’s an anti-trust issue,” explained PCA Vice President Andy O’Hare.
Nevada is home to two cement companies, according to the California Nevada Cement Association: one in Henderson owned by Tokyo-based Mitsubishi, and one in Fernley, owned by Texas-based Centex Construction Products.
The bill passed the House by a vote of 262-161; it has yet to be taken up in the Senate.
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