WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) sponsored legislation to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from finalizing any major regulation until the agency analyzes the economic impact of its current regulations, which is currently required under Section 321(a) of the Clean Air Act.
"This Administration’s regulatory onslaught is making it harder for Americans to find good jobs,” Johanns said. “EPA has refused to disclose the true costs of their agenda. It’s time they own up to the real impact they are having on our nation’s struggling economy.
“We all want a clean environment, but we also want Americans to be able to find work. This legislation does nothing more than attempt to strike a common-sense balance between the two.”
The EPA Employment Impact Analysis Act cites a number of examples where the National Economic Research Associates (NERA) reported that EPA regulations would result in thousands of job losses. Below are several examples:
• Utility MACT rule (77 Fed. Reg. 9301): NERA's whole economy analysis found that the rule would have a negative impact on the income of workers in an amount equivalent to 180,000 to 215,000 lost jobs in 2014, and 50,000 to 85,000 lost jobs each year thereafter.
• Cross State Air Pollution rule (76 Fed. Reg. 48208): NERA 's whole economy analysis found that the rule would result in the elimination of a total of 34,000 jobs from 2013 to 2037.
• Boiler MACT rule (76 Fed. Reg. 15608): NERA's whole economy analysis found that the rule would result in the elimination of 28,000 jobs per year from 2013 to 2037.
The legislation was authored by Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and currently has 28 cosponsors in addition to Johanns. Inhofe and Johanns introduced similar legislation last Congress requiring EPA, in conjunction with other relevant federal departments and agencies, to determine the total economic impact on agriculture and other economic sectors of several major rules EPA was preparing to issue.
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