Regulatory abuse is occurring in a number of federal agencies. But the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just might be the largest offender of them all, seeking to expand its powers and put forward big, aggressive, and expensive proposals that threaten economic growth and job creation.

According to the U.S. Chamber, EPA is putting forth a wide array of regulations that affect virtually every facet of the U.S. economy, including homeowners, hospitals, farmers, small businesses, and manufacturers. And it’s doing so with disregard to Congress and even the current administration.

The following are among the regulatory abuses noted in a Chamber letter to Congress:

• Almost every major environmental law requires EPA to perform a continuing study of the effect of its regulations on employment or the threat of job loss. EPA rarely, if ever, performs such a study.
• Federal law requires EPA to prepare an analysis of the impact of its proposed rule on small entities. In practice, EPA frequently avoids this requirement by simply certifying that there is no impact on small businesses even when there is.
• Federal law requires agencies to ensure the “quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity” of information used to develop regulations and to ensure that this information is publicly disseminated. Yet the underlying data EPA uses is often fraught with error and uncertainty, and little judicial recourse is available to hold the agency accountable.
• Federal law requires EPA to identify and consider a reasonable number of regulatory alternatives and adopt the least costly, most cost-effective, or least burdensome alternative that achieves the objectives of the rule. EPA’s rules routinely fail to meet this requirement.
   

“In some instances, EPA has promulgated regulations that contain requirements never contemplated by Congress when it debated and passed laws now being used by EPA,” the Chamber letter to Congress warned. “The agency has gone well beyond regulation and is, in fact, infringing on the constitutional responsibility of Congress.”

EPA has even thumbed its nose at the current administration. Earlier this year, President Obama issued an executive orderrequiring agencies to take steps to improve their rulemaking procedures. EPA responded with a statement saying that it was “confident” it would not need to alter a single current or pending rule because its regulations are “among the most cost-effective in the government.”

The Chamber is urging Congress to reclaim its appropriate authority over EPA. Learn more about the Chamber’s environmental regulatory agenda at www.uschamber.com/energy.