Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
4/12/13
Republicans on a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee circulated draft legislation late last week that would bar the Environmental Protection Agency from finalizing any major energy-related regulations if the Secretary of Energy deems they could have “significant adverse effects” on the economy. Unveiled by Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) April 5, the “Energy Consumers Relief Act” would require EPA to submit a report to Congress detailing a rule’s cost and impacts on energy prices and employment ahead of promulgating any new rulemakings with an industry compliance cost of more than $1 billion. The measure also would require the Secretary of Energy to prepare a separate analysis of the proposed rule that determines how each would impact energy prices, fuel diversity or local electric reliability. From there, the secretary would determine whether the regulation could have “significant adverse effects” on the economy and, subsequently, whether it should be able to move forward, according to the draft text.
Proponents said the measure, if ultimately introduced and passed, would help cushion the public from rising energy bills and gas prices. “It is commonsense policy to want to understand how any rule costing over a billion dollars will affect energy prices, employment and the economy—this will protect consumers and will make sure EPA does its job,” Whitfield said in a statement. The subcommittee held a hearing on the discussion draft April 12.
Latest Bill Limiting EPA’s Rulemaking Abilities
The discussion draft is just the latest language to come out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee aimed at scuttling EPA’s regulatory authority. A package of bills passed out of the committee last fall similarly would have required a federal interagency committee to analyze and sign off on the cumulative economic impacts of all future EPA power sector regulations before promulgation. That legislation—which was essentially a repackaged version of bills previously cleared by the House—also included a provision that would have barred EPA from using the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
All of those provisions, however, have died at the doorstep of the Democrat-controlled Senate, which has virtually ignored all Republican-led attempts to limit EPA’s regulatory scope. A non-binding vote in the upper chamber last month, though, indicated that the Senate is in favor—albeit only slightly—of maintaining EPA’s regulatory authority over greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.
