As the House debated the merits of elevating the Environmental Protection Agency to a Cabinet department, a substitute amendment was introduced by Rep. Hastert (R-IL) that would have simply elevated the agency, but would have eliminated other strengthening provisions in the original bill.

One of the measures that would have been deleted was a provision for a new Bureau of Environmental Statistics, which would function as an independent arm of the department in gathering data to determine environmental quality and its effect on public health. The Bureau would have the power to collect and disseminate to the public environmental data without the approval of the department secretary. This measure was opposed by the Administration because the bureau director would not be a presidential appointee, but environmentalists supported this attempt to "depoliticize" the Department.

Another important measure in the bill reaffirmed the power of the new Environmental Protection Department to enforce compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) at federal facilities, including nuclear weapons production plants, which would make them subject to the same environmental regulations imposed on private individuals, businesses, and state and local governments. The substitute amendment was rejected 161-266 on March 28. No is the pro-environment vote. The House then overwhelmingly passed the bill.