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Washington, D.C. – Representative Dale E. Kildee announced that $4 million has been appropriated for Casting Emissions Reduction Program (CERP) in the Defense Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2005, which passed through the U.S. House today. The funding was added to the House bill at the request of Congressman Kildee. The House-passed Defense Appropriations Bill now awaits action by the Senate and subsequent signing into law by the President.
“I am very pleased that we have now been able to secure funding for this program for the last two years” said Rep. Kildee. “This program is important to our workers at the Saginaw Plant, our environment and our national defense.”
CERP is a cooperative research and development agreement between the federal government (U.S. Army, Industrial Ecology Center in conjunction with the EPA) and U.S. Automobile Manufacturers (Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Daimler-Chrysler Corporation) under the auspices of the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (USCAR). CERP is a pollution prevention program focused on developing sustainable industry objectives for replacement materials and methods in metal casting industries to reduce foundry emissions.
CERP will help American foundries meet new environmental regulations, improve their international competitiveness and keep the manufacturing of parts for defense machinery in the U.S. Additionally, this funding will help ensure that thousands of jobs in auto parts foundries are maintained.
Last year, Kildee obtained $4 million for the CERP program in the Defense Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2004. |
