For Immediate Release
Andrew Wimer, 202-314-2073 or 703-298-5938 (cell)
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House Acted
Last Night on Bipartisan Legislation to Send Rule Back to EPA and Army Corps
Washington, DC (May 12,
2015) –The National Federation of Independent Business is calling on the
Senate to take up its own version of legislation to reject a new Environmental
Protection Agency and Army Corps rule expanding the reach of the Clean Water
Act. Last night, the House passed H.R. 1732, the Regulatory Integrity
Protection Act, with the support of every Republican and 24 Democrats.
“We are pleased to see the House act to stop EPA and Army
Corps’ ridiculous regulatory overreach” said NFIB Vice President of Public Policy Amanda Austin. “The federal
government simply doesn’t need to have authority over every place where water can
collect in the U.S. It’s now up to the Senate to act on Sen. Barrasso’s bill
and stop new red tape from devastating small businesses.”
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) recently introduced S. 1140, a
bill that would stop the waters rule from being implemented. Before moving forward with another rule, the
agencies would be required to work with small businesses, states and
municipalities to conduct economic analysis showing the effects of a new rule.
NFIB also supports House Small Business Committee Chairman
Steve Chabot’s (R-OH) call today for the Office of Management and Budget to
reject the proposed rule. The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps
failed to conduct required analysis of how the rule would affect small
businesses. Chabot’s call echoes the comments of the Small Business
Administration’s Office of Advocacy sent to the agencies last year.
In a letter last fall to the EPA, the SBA’s Office of Advocacy Chief Counsel,
Winslow Sargeant, challenged the agency’s determination that the economic
consequences for small businesses would be indirect and therefore don’t require
an economic impact analysis. He pointed out that federal agencies have already
estimated the new costs for permitting and mitigation in the tens of millions
of dollars.
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about NFIB please visit www.nfib.com.
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