Nixon's Heritage--The EPA, Another Job Killing Government Agency

Inhofe Wants The EPA To Reveal How Many Jobs It Is Killing

April 3, 2014 by Sam Rolley 

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UPI FILE

Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) has introduced legislation that would force the Environmental Protection Agency to comply with laws that require reporting on the potential economic costs of new regulations. Under the Barack Obama Administration, the EPA has repeatedly flouted reporting requirements included in the Clean Air Act in creating new environmental rules.

Inhofe’s bill would not allow the EPA to create any new environmental mandates until it conducts real economic cost analysis, including information about how each regulation would affect jobs across the entire economy, as required by Section 321(a) of the 1977 Clean Air Act.

“Under this law, the EPA is required to report how its air regulations are affecting job creation across the entire economy,” Inhofe said. “The EPA has not once abided by this provision and failed to complete a single analysis on its air rules to date.”

The legislation would also prohibit the EPA from finalizing any major regulation under the Clean Air Act until the agency completes the mandated analysis for air rules that are already being enforced.

“Americans are not as aware of the costs that have come from the regulations of this Administration,” Inhofe said. “[They're] essentially putting people out of business.”

“This would put teeth in Section 321(a),” he continued.

Inhofe’s bill contains many examples of the EPA claiming that proposed regulation would create jobs, while the National Economic Research Associates (NERA) estimated simultaneously that the regulations would kill thousands of American jobs.

Here are three examples:

Utility MACT rule (77 Fed. Reg. 9301): EPA’s analysis of the Utility MACT rule estimated that implementation of the final rule would result in the creation of 46,000 temporary construction jobs and 8,000 net new permanent jobs. 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 215,00 lost jobs in 2014, and 50,000 to 85,000 lost jobs each year thereafter.

Cross State Air Pollution rule (76 Fed. Reg. 48208): The EPA’s analysis of the Cross State Air Pollution rule estimated that implementation of the final rule would result in the creation of 700 jobs per year. 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): EPA’s analysis of the Boiler MACT rule estimated that implementation of the final rule would result in the creation of 2,200 jobs per year. NERA’s whole economy analysis found that the rule would result in the elimination of 28,000 jobs per year from 2013 to 2037.

Last month, the Heritage Foundation conducted an analysis of EPA regulations that “essentially prohibit the construction of new coal-fired power plants and force existing ones into early retirement” in an effort to phase out coal by 2038.

Heritage found that the total economic cost of the effort will be great:  By the end of 2023, nearly 600,000 jobs will be lost, a family of four’s income will drop by $1,200 per year, and aggregate gross domestic product decreases by $2.23 trillion.

The EPA has downplayed the economic cost of the regulations, saying that new “green” jobs will make up for those lost due to the harsh regulations.