Rounds Chairs Hearing on EPA Regulations

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), chairman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight, today conducted a hearing to analyze the process by which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducts Regulatory Impact Analyses (RIAs) on the new regulations it imposes on the American people. The hearing, entitled Oversight of Regulatory Impact Analyses for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regulations, is in response to studies that show EPA has used incomplete, inaccurate and faulty data when analyzing the economic impact its rules will have on citizens and businesses. This has led to more than 3,300 final regulations being published by the EPA since President Obama took office and more than $42 billion in regulatory costs last year alone.

“Everybody desires clean air and clean water, but we have to ask whether there is a better way to achieve it without imposing burdensome regulations in which the costs outweigh the benefits,” said Rounds during his opening statement. “Due to the EPA’s failure to clearly and accurately quantify the costs and benefits of regulations, agencies are unable to make well-informed decisions.  Even more troubling, the public, American businesses and state and local governments are prevented from understanding the real impact of the regulation and meaningfully participating in the rulemaking process.”