Representative Bill Cassidy (R-LA) sponsored H.R. 1582, the Energy Consumers Relief Act of 2013, which would undermine the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to promulgate important safeguards under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Safe Drinking Water Act. The bill would strip the EPA of the authority to finalize vital protections and instead hand over that authority to the Secretary of Energy, who leads a department with a completely different mission than the EPA’s focus on protecting human health and the environment.  This costly and duplicative regulatory review process would also eliminate transparency since the Department of Energy is not required to disclose its rulemaking methodology. On August 1, the House approved H.R. 1582 by a vote of 232-181 (House roll call vote 432). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The Senate took no action on this legislation.