The House Small Business Committee, under the chairmanship of Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), today conducted an oversight hearing to determine whether the Environmental Protection Agency is assessing the impacts of its rules on small businesses as required by law.

The Committee examined the EPA’s failure to assess the economic impacts of both the recently issued “waters of the United States” proposed rule and the proposed rules to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants on small businesses. Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), the EPA must thoroughly assess how these rules would impact small businesses and consider ways to reduce the rules’ negative consequences. It must also conduct outreach to small businesses before the rules are proposed to get direct input from small businesses. EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe testified.
 
“The EPA’s power grab goes beyond the agency’s mission and infringes on the rights of individuals and small business owners, and it will potentially have costly economic consequences,” said Chairman Graves. “The EPA must withdraw the costly ‘waters’ rule, and reevaluate these decisions entirely. Congress passed the RFA precisely to protect small businesses from this kind of regulatory overreach. The EPA fell far short of its obligations, and must do more to ensure small businesses do not bear the brunt of a regulatory burden that was not properly assessed. The Committee has alerted small businesses and raised serious objections to these rules, and I urge the EPA to fulfill its responsibilities to small businesses. Assessing the impacts of regulations on small businesses is not a choice, it’s an obligation and the EPA must comply with the law.”

Materials from the hearing are available on the Committee’s website HERE.

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