RPC Reg Spotlight March 28, 2011

 

UPDATE:

 

H.R. 910 was passed in the House of Representatives on April 7, 2011, and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

 

Regulatory Action in the Spotlight:

 

Mandatory reporting of greenhouse gasses (GHG), requiring emitters to submit annual reports to the EPA.

 

Adverse Effects:

 

  • Over 33,000 (1) facilities will have to keep records and could be required to file reports.
  • Millions (2) of dollars in costs to comply with the regulations.
  • Rule would risk disclosure of confidential business information.
  • Usurps legislative power of Congress.

 

Response of the Obama Administration:

 

On October 30, 2009, the EPA published its Final Rule (3)(74 Federal Register 56260) requiring emitters of more than 25,000 metric tons of GHG emissions to submit annual reports to EPA.

 

Impact on the United States:

 

  • The EPA estimates that over 33,000 facilities will need to keep detailed records of their greenhouse gas emissions and determine whether they are subject to the Rule.  Approximately 10,152 (6) facilities will be required to report.  
  • National annualized cost for the first year estimated to be $132 million, and total national annualized cost for subsequent years is $89 million (4) ($2006).
  • According to a report from The Heritage Foundation (5), data from the Government Accountability Office during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010 reveals that the EPA is responsible for the lion’s share of the reported regulatory costs—some $23.2 billion out of $28 billion.
  • Americans are increasingly being governed by administrators, not legislators. The rule of law is being supplanted by the rules and regulations that accompany government statutes; replacing powers of Congress with faceless bureaucrats. 
  • Rules apply to fossil fuel and industrial gas suppliers, direct greenhouse gas emitters, and manufacturers of heavy-duty and off-road vehicles and engines.  Potentially regulated categories include extractors of petroleum and natural gas, pulp and paper mills, and livestock farms and production facilities.

 

In Closing:

 

Regulating GHG, a major goal of the Obama administration, is based on inconclusive science and will have a negative impact on economic growth in the United States.  Having industry report their GHG emissions is a first step in the regulatory process and places an undue financial and administrative burden on business, especially in this uncertain economic climate.

 

Relevant Legislation:

 

ChairmanFred Upton introduced H.R. 910, the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011 to prohibit the EPA from regulating GHG.  The bill has beenreported out of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce (03/15/2011).