www.NFIB.com
For Immediate Release
Contact: Kelly Hoffman (202) 314-2054 or [email protected]
NFIB files amicus brief to protect small businesses from burdensome regulations
Washington, D.C., December 10, 2013 – The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Legal Center has filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA. In this case the Supreme Court will have to decide how far the EPA can go in regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act (CAA). NFIB’s amicus brief argues that the EPA has manipulated the Clean Air Act, a law never intended to address global warming, to impose cumbersome greenhouse gas restrictions on businesses.
“Regulation of greenhouse gases through the CAA only creates new burdens for small businesses. These burdens come from new federal permitting requirements, higher fuel costs, restrictions on fuel choices and energy use, higher electricity costs, and requirements for installation of new energy efficient equipment,” said Karen Harned, Executive Director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center. “If the rule is allowed to stand, small business owners such as ranchers, farmers, manufacturers, restaurant owners and others will be subject to even more paperwork, more oversight and big-time fines. The negative impact it will have on small-business owners will be great, and the cost to the stability of our economy will be devastating. NFIB urges the Court to strike down EPA’s unprecedented regulations”
In December of 2009, the EPA issued a finding that certain greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. This enabled EPA to begin regulating emissions from businesses under the Clean Air Act even though the CAA only expressively allows them to regulate vehicles.
Following the Obama Administration’s decision to adopt these stringent Greenhouse Gas regulations, the NFIB Small Business Legal Center joined with other concerned business groups in a lawsuit against EPA. However, the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal court of appeal. NFIB’s brief in the Supreme Court argues that the agency has manipulated the Clean Air Act in order to justify its policies and, effectively rewrite key provisions.
Oral arguments are scheduled for February 24, 2014.
###
The NFIB Small Business Legal Center is a 501(c)(3) organization created to protect the rights of America’s small business owners by providing advisory material on legal issues and by ensuring that the voice of small business is heard in the nation’s courts. The National Federation of Independent Business is the nation’s leading small business association, with offices in Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals.
