Environment

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) has written to David Connor, general manager of Sterilization Services of Tennessee (SST), seeking the company’s swift reduction in toxic ethylene oxide emissions from its facility in Memphis. The chemical is used to sterilize medical equipment and was last year determined to be more hazardous than previously known.

Congressman Cohen’s letter reads in part:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today spoke from the House floor in favor of the debt ceiling compromise, despite some provisions he doesn’t like, and then voted for it. While there was much in the measure that he didn’t like, such as a rollback of environmental regulations and added work requirements for SNAP recipients, he said, “As Members of Congress, we have tough decisions to make.”

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today introduced the bipartisan Benton MacKaye Scenic Trail Act, which would designate a 287-mile trail linking Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina as a National Scenic Trail. The trail which crosses mountains and valleys and passes alongside streams and waterfalls is on federal land for 95 percent of its length and would be administered by the U.S. Forest Service.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), whose redrawn district now includes parts of Tipton County, today applauded President Biden’s major disaster declaration for the State of Tennessee triggering the release of federal funds to help communities, including Tipton County, recover from severe storms, straight-line winds, and tornadoes that occurred March 1-3, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

WASHINGTON – Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-9), whose newly redrawn district now contains parts of Tipton County, today wrote Governor Bill Lee asking that he waive the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) testing for approximately 1,200 students in areas affected by recent storms, especially at badly damaged schools in Covington.

The letter reads in part:

WASHINGTON -- Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today announced that the University of Memphis will receive a $433,349 grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for a project entitled “Effect of ambient heat on chronic kidney disease and end-stage kidney disease among U.S. veterans” under the direction of School of Public Health Assistant Professor Abu Mohammed Naser Titu.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), whose newly redrawn district includes parts of Tipton County badly damaged by the weekend storms, vowed that he will work to see federal disaster assistance is made readily available. He noted that both Crestview Elementary and Middle Schools suffered destructive winds from a likely tornado, and made the following statement:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that the State of Tennessee’s Department of Environment and Conservation will be receiving $8.6 million to reclaim abandoned coal mines through the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.