The incoming Trump Administration should eliminate more than 200 regulations, laws and executive orders, and freeze all pending regulatory proposals, according to a December 14 document released by the head of a group of conservative House lawmakers. Among the rules featured on the list are proposed EPA regulations on chemical facility safety, Clean Water Act jurisdiction and greenhouse gas emissions.
House Freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) developed the full list of 228 targeted rules and regulations. The Freedom Caucus is a group of about 40 conservative House Republicans who generally believe in limiting federal regulatory authority and returning more power to the states. It is not clear what role, if any, other caucus members played in developing the list.
While Rep. Meadows’ list touches proposed and existing regulations from across the federal government, the Environmental Protection Agency is well represented. More than two-dozen agency initiatives appear on the list, including:
- The Clean Water Rule, which would redefine the waters of the U.S. subject to federal regulation under the Clean Water Act.
- EPA’s proposed revisions to the Clean Air Act’s Risk Management Program (RMP), which governs the storage of certain hazardous substances at chemical storage facilities, including water and wastewater treatment plants. AMWA commented on EPA’s RMP proposal earlier this year.
- Executive Order 13508, on Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts, and Executive Order 13547, on ocean, coastal and Great Lakes protection.
- Proposed rules on greenhouse gas emissions from electric utilities and other stationary sources.
The list goes on to recommend pulling out of the international Paris Agreement on greenhouse gas emissions, nullifying the Presidential Memorandum on Climate Change and National Security and eliminating clothes washer energy standards implemented in 2014 (the report calls the latter a “crony” regulation because it allows “certain corporations like energy star [to] benefit,” even though Energy Star is actually a voluntary EPA product-labeling program that highlights energy-efficient products).
Rep. Meadows also calls for the Office of Management and Budget to implement a “blanket freeze on all pending federal rules and regulations until approved by Trump-appointed agency or department heads.”
Republicans on Capitol Hill have made a high priority of undoing certain controversial Obama Administration rules and regulations next year, especially the Clean Water Rule and other initiatives aimed at combatting climate change. Those regulations in particular are likely to be in the GOP crosshairs next year regardless of their appearance on the Freedom Caucus list.