E&E News-Senate GOP urges Dems to back red tape-cutting bills

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By Emily Yehle

Senate Republicans called on Democrats today to join their efforts to curb "regulatory excesses," pointing to President Obama's regulatory reform efforts as evidence that the issue is bipartisan.

"I think there's an opportunity here, and I do think there are members on both sides who want to be included," said Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), whose "Unfunded Mandates Accountability Act" would widen the scope of required cost-benefit analyses.

"There aren't a whole lot of opportunities that are obviously bipartisan. This is one of them."

Portman joined Republican Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming, Susan Collins of Maine, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania at a press conference aimed at drumming up support for a handful of bills that they say would eliminate onerous and costly regulations.

The press conference came just three days after Obama announced his second executive order directing agencies to clear their rule books of unnecessary regulations. The first order, in January, was directed at executive branch agencies; this time, Obama asked independent agencies to comply.

But Republicans say Obama is not doing enough and that Congress needs to step in with statutory requirements. They offered a slew of possibilities.

Included among them: Barrasso's "Employment Impact Act," which would require agencies to complete a "jobs impact statement" modeled after environmental impact statements, and Collins' "Clearing Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens Act," which would require agencies to analyze the affect of new rules on job creation.

In front of a poster that tallied the 59 "major rules" enacted under Obama, Barrasso blasted the administration for eliminating only one rule. That rule, he said, effectively considered spilled milk an oil spill.

"That's the best this administration can do," he said, holding up an individual bottle of milk. Instead of cutting rules, he said, agencies are adding them at a record pace. "I believe a significant amount of it has to do with regulations coming out of Washington, and this administration is making it worse."

Obama's recent executive order is not binding to independent agencies, though it directly asks them to participate in the governmentwide regulatory review. Today, Portman said Congress must take the next step.

"The president's rhetoric is compelling, but when you look at the facts, the regulatory burden is increasing, not decreasing," he said.

"The president now seems to agree with us. The president must agree with our legislation because it has to be done by statute."

Last week, commissioners from independent agencies such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission told lawmakers that they do their own internal reviews of regulations and do not need congressional intervention. Some even suggested that much of the red tape comes from statutes.

But Collins said today that agencies sometimes go beyond Congress' intent. She pointed to U.S. EPA's passing a rule in 2010 that required contractors working in homes with lead paint to be EPA-certified or face high fines. But without enough trainers, contractors had a hard time getting the certification in time. Collins successfully pushed through legislation that delayed the requirement.

"I think that's an ideal example of how a federal regulatory agency took a well-intentioned law" and went too far, she said.

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