The House on Regulation: TRAIN, EPA, and Net Neutrality
After successfully slapping down the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) attempt to control business decisions, the House now pivots to regulatory reform and EPA. Last week’s 238 to 186 vote to curtail NLRB’s regulatory excess provides plenty of momentum to take up Representative John Sullivan’s regulatory reform proposal.
Representative Sullivan’s bill, H.R. 2401 (TRAIN Act of 2011), would advance several novel reform measures:
- Establishes the “Committee for the Cumulative Analysis of Regulations that Impact Energy and Manufacturing;” this committee will review EPA regulations “concerning air, waste, water, and climate change for each of the calendar years 2016, 2020, and 2030.”
- Requires that the committee include analyses of: 1) the impact of EPA rules on U.S. competitiveness, electricity prices, and employment, and 2) the cumulative impact of EPA rules on consumers, businesses, and local governments.
- Specifies a review of regulations promulgated under the Clean Air Act “on or after January 1, 2009.”
H.R. 2041 has bipartisan support and already passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee by a comfortable margin.
In addition, Leader Cantor’s Memo on Job Creation highlighted a review of the Utility MACT (Toxics Rule) and the Interstate Transport Rule. As the Forum noted last week, the two rules could: 1) impose more than $13.6 billion in direct costs, 2) add 514,605 annual paperwork burden hours, and 3) put 48,000 jobs in jeopardy, according to EPA’s own estimates.
Finally, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has reportedly sent its final “net neutrality” rules to the Federal Register for publication. Once final, the public will get a chance to review the rule and challenge its statutory authority. The House has already provided a blow to FCC’s net neutrality efforts, voting overwhelmingly in February to prohibit FCC from using money to enforce the new regulatory regime.
