Inhofe, Johanns Introduce Bill to Conduct Economic Analysis of EPA Rules
A week after a U.S. House committee passed a bill sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) in the House and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) in the Senate, Sens. Inhofe and Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) introduced a bill that would require an interagency federal panel to undertake a “cumulative economic analysis” of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations.
The so-called Comprehensive Assessment of Regulations on the Economy (CARE) Act essentially requires the EPA to “determine the total cost of several major rules the EPA is preparing to issue,” the senators said in a joint press release. The bill is necessary because, “to date, EPA has refused to conduct an analysis examining the total economic impact of its rules on jobs; retail electricity rates and gasoline prices; power plant closures; state and local governments; small businesses; electric reliability; and energy-intensive manufacturers,” they said.
The bill would establish a federal committee led by the Department of Commerce to conduct an economic analysis of rules. The committee would include, among others, the EPA administrator; the secretaries of Agriculture, Energy, Defense, and Labor; the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; as well as the chief counsel for advocacy of the Small Business Administration.
Rules examined would include, among others: Maximum Achievable Control Technology standards for power plants; National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter and ozone; New Source Performance Standards for greenhouse gases covering utilities and refineries; Prevention of Significant Deterioration preconstruction review permits for greenhouse gases; cooling water intake structures under 316(b) of the Clean Water Act; regional haze; and coal combustion waste under the Solid Waste Disposal Act.
Inhofe claimed the EPA’s promulgation of rules “at a break-neck pace” would hurt the economy. The recent EPA rule proposed as a replacement to the Clean Air Mercury Rule “could, by itself, shut down up to 20 percent of America’s coal-fired power capacity,” he said. "This bill is about transparency: the public needs to know the full cost of these rules and the impacts when they fill up at the pump and flip the light switch. It will also help guide and inform Congress as it decides how best to deal with the unprecedented barrage of rules coming out of EPA."
The new bill follows the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s passage by a 34-19 vote of the “Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011” (Upton/Inhofe bill) on March 15. The bill seeks to repeal the authority of the EPA to regulate GHG emissions under the Clean Air Act.
Republicans on the committee had the support of three Democrats—Mike Ross (D-Ark.), Jim Matheson (D-Utah), and John Burrow (D-Ga.). Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and other Democrats introduced several amendments to the bill, including those that asserted climate change is real and manmade. The amendments were defeated along party lines.
House Republicans are pushing to bring the bill to the House floor this spring.
Sources: POWERnews, Senate. Environmental and Public Works Committee, House Energy and Commerce Committee