Rep. Gardner Demands EPA Explain Why It Ignores New Rules Cost On Jobs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 4, 2011

Contact: Rachel Boxer, 970-817-4848

Rep. Gardner demands EPA explain why it ignores new rules cost on jobs
 
WASHINGTON D.C. – After an admission by a top EPA official that the agency does not consider jobs in its economic analyses when issuing new regulations, Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO) is demanding that EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson explain why.
 
“To me, not taking into account the impact on jobs would render an economic analysis completely useless,” Rep. Gardner said.  “It’s frightening that an agency with as much regulatory authority as the EPA doesn’t appear to care about jobs.”
 
Rep. Gardner’s initial inquiry of whether the EPA considers the impact on jobs before issuing new regulations came during a hearing of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.  He was questioning Deputy Assistant Administrator Mathy Stanislaus who confessed that the EPA does “not directly” consider the cost of new rules on jobs.  Mr. Stanislaus’s testimony and exchange with the Congressman can be viewed here.
 
In a letter to Administrator Jackson the Congressman asks for clarification on how the EPA quantifies both the direct and indirect effects of new rules on U.S. job creation and employment.  He asks for a list of rules that have been finalized for which the EPA has not yet performed an economic analysis of the regulation’s impact on jobs.  Rep. Gardner also questions whether the EPA is purposefully ignoring Executive Order 13563, which directs the periodic review of existing regulations, specifically with an eye toward the impact on job creation. 
 

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