WOTUS, Lead Paint, Stormwater, Ozone, Aerosol Cans and More
The Trump administration鈥檚 Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) released new details on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 (EPA) regulatory and deregulatory actions in the months ahead. The Spring 2017 update to the shows that EPA has approximately 160 regulations currently in the works 鈥 a notable reduction from the end of the Obama administration. EPA has withdrawn some rulemakings that were in the pipeline in late 2016; others have been slowed for 鈥渇urther careful review.鈥 Overall, EPA staff is working on substantially fewer proposed rules at this time compared to the last few years.
AGC has carefully reviewed EPA鈥檚 updated list of regulatory actions (near and long-term) and considered the potential impact on the construction industry. Notable highlights include EPA鈥檚 end-of-the-year target to propose a new rule on the definition of 鈥鈥 under the Clean Water Act, the delayed schedule for determining whether or not to propose for public and commercial buildings (moved to EPA鈥檚 long-term list), and the official statement that the agency is no longer pursuing (marked as 鈥渃ompleted action鈥). EPA also has delayed and for the 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), as previously reported by AGC.
In addition, on the cost-savings side, EPA is looking to propose a rule that would add to the 鈥渦niversal waste鈥 regulations and finalize a rule to get one step closer to establishing a . The agency also is continuing its review of the to explore amendments that would minimize adverse impacts to small businesses.
Regulatory Planning and Review
In a March 2017 memo, to give careful attention to the principles and requirements identified in President Trump鈥檚 Executive Order (EO) 13771, 鈥.鈥 That order requires agencies to 鈥渋dentify鈥 for elimination at least two existing rules before issuing any new 鈥渆conomically significant鈥 rules, with a condition that for the remainder of this fiscal year, new regulatory costs must not exceed 鈥渮ero.鈥 Agencies were also asked to provide a preliminary estimate of total costs and savings associated with each planned regulatory action for 2018. In addition, EO 13777 鈥鈥 directs federal agency heads to designate Regulatory Reform Officers and Task Forces and to identify rules for repeal, replacement or modification. AGC provided 30-pages of comprehensive and detailed recommendations for EPA鈥檚 regulatory evaluation, in response to the agency鈥檚 call for public input.
Note: EPA must still issue 鈥 or keep 鈥 regulations as required by statute and the agency cannot repeal prior regulation, except in accordance with that law or the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
Overall, the Trump administration has slowed the federal regulatory machine. In the first five months of 2017, the administration鈥檚 regulatory efforts produced quantifiable annualized cost savings estimated at $22 million, compared to $6.8 billion in annualized costs due to rules finalized during last five months of fiscal year 2016. For more details, read AGC鈥檚
For more information, please contact AGC鈥檚 Leah Pilconis at pilconisl@agc.org.