Dingell calls for support of 
EPA in light of budget cuts

Legislation
introduced 

in state gov 

to regulate 
 

breath tests

Budget cuts to EPA 
funding could lay 
off 435 Ann Arbor-
based employees 

By JENNIFER MEER

Summer Managing News Editor

On Monday afternoon, U.S. 

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D–Michigan) 
addressed a crowd of approximately 
70 media personnel, Environmental 
Protection Agency employees and 
environment advocates on the 2000 
block of Traverwood Drive, outside 
the EPA office in Ann Arbor. The 
purpose of the press conference 
was to draw attention to severe cuts 
in EPA funding under the Trump 
administration that could threaten 
the closure of the National Vehicle 
and Fuel Emissions Laboratory — a 
part of the Ann Arbor facility that 
employees 435 people.

The NVFEL, part of the EPA’s 

Office of Transportation and Air 
Quality, is a facility that provides 

emission 
testing 
services 
for 

vehicles and engine programs, 
among other things, according to its 
website. It also certifies vehicles and 
engines that meet federal emissions 
and fuel economy standards.

In a letter to Trump, dated April 

19, Dingell voiced concern for the 
closure, asking the president to 
reconsider the “misguided idea” 
when making his final budget 
proposal to Congress. 

“Cutting EPA’s fuel economy 

and 
vehicle 
emissions 
budget 

would create uncertainty, cost jobs, 
and could potentially allow other 
nations to gain a competitive edge 
in this critically important work,” 
she wrote.

Dingell, 
who 
toured 
the 

laboratory prior to speaking, said 
the work she observed inside 
“confirmed” 
what 
she 
knows 

happens every day at the EPA. 

“To the employees — the working 

men and women here — the work 
you do here every single day keeps 
our air clean to breathe and keeps 
our nation on the cutting edge,” 
she said. “You are our true public 

servants and your work here has got 
to be protected.”

Dingell 
noted 
the 
Trump 

administration is planning to cut 
EPA funding by $2.6 billion, a 31 
percent decrease — the largest 
percentage cut of any agency in the 
president’s budget.

She added it became evident 

through a leaked budget document 
that Trump is proposing drastic 
cuts to the EPA’s fuel economy 
and vehicle emission programs, 
possibly resulting in the closure of 
the NVFEL — an act she deemed 
“unacceptable.”

“We need to understand what 

we have here in Ann Arbor, among 
us,” she said. “It is the world’s 
premier environmental compliance 
and 
transportation 
research 

center. This facility does critical 
work every single day to reduce 
the vehicle emissions and ensure 
that the United States remains at 
the forefront of innovation in this 
critical field, and that is critical 
to our staying competitive and 
creating jobs in this country.”

MAX KUANG/Daily

U.S representative Debbie Dingell (D-Mich) speaks at the EPA Press Conference outside the EPA in Ann Arbor on Monday. 

ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Ann Arbor, MI

Weekly Summer Edition
michigandaily.com

INDEX

Vol. CXXVIV, No. 72 | © 2017 The Michigan Daily 
michigandaily.com

NEWS ....................................
OPINION ............................... 
ARTS ......................................
CLASSIFIEDS.........................
MiC.........................................
SPORTS................................

NEWS
Health care 

Students respond to GOP 

Healthcare reform passage 

in the House.

>> SEE PAGE 8

NEWS
Cancer detection

University researchers pro-

vide guidelines for prostate 

cancer detection.

>> SEE PAGE 2

OPINION
Campus climate

“I am seemingly protected/

guarded by the ‘support’ of 

the administration...”

>> SEE PAGE 5

ARTS
TV: ‘Silicon 
Valley’ interview
Josh Brener discusses 
real life Silicon Valley

>> SEE PAGE 5

SPORTS
Betsa’s legacy

The ace right-hander 

leads Michigan into the 

postseason.

>> SEE PAGE 12

inside

2
4
6
8
9
10

Proposed bill would 
only apply to minors 

not behind wheel

By REMI MURREY 

For the Daily

The Senate Judiciary Committee 

has passed a new bill which, if 
implemented, will require police to 
attain a warrant when performing a 
preliminary chemical breath analysis 
on people younger than the age of 
21. The bill will specifically apply to 
minors who are not driving.

House Bill 4213, proposed by 

state Rep. Peter Lucido (R–Shelby 
Township) 
would 
amend 
the 

Michigan Liquor Control Code to 
prohibit the administration of a 
preliminary breath analysis if a minor 
did not consent to it and require a 
police officer to seek a court order 
for such test. The new bill would also 
eliminate tickets and fines, and two 
points will no longer be added onto a 
minor’s driving record for refusing to 
submit to a breath test.

In a Facebook post, Lucido 

emphasized the bill would not apply 
to youth behind the wheel, but rather 
in situations such as house parties or 
walking down the street.

“Again, the bill would apply 

specifically to people who were NOT 
DRIVING,” he wrote. “Currently 
under state law, police can ask people 
under 21 to take breath tests in almost 
any scenario — at a party they break 
up, as passengers in a car they pull 
over or walking down the street — 
with probable cause.”

University students such LSA 

senior Breanna Sullivan believe the 
law would be good to enact, adding on 
that a minor’s driving record should 

GOVERNMENT

See DINGELL, Page 3
See BREATH TEST, Page 3