[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 132 (Thursday, September 8, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5460-S5461]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. JOHANNS (for himself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Lugar, Mr.
Boozman, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Inhofe, Mr.
Paul, Mr. Johnson of Wisconsin, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Thune, Mr.
Enzi, Mr. Moran, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Hoeven, Mr.
Chambliss, Mr. Nelson of Nebraska, and Mrs. McCaskill):
S. 1528. A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to limit regulation of
nuisance dust in areas in which that dust is regulated under State,
tribal, or local law, to establish a temporary prohibition against
revising any national ambient air quality standard applicable to coarse
particulate matter, and for other purposes; to the Committee on
Environment and Public Works.
Mr. JOHANNS. Mr. President, I have come to the floor many times, as
we all do, to discuss issues that are important to our States, in my
case the State of Nebraska, on issues that are important for our
Nation. Many times those comments deal with what seems to be the
constant regulatory assault on our Nation's job creators.
In meetings across Nebraska--and I did 15 townhall meetings in
August--the second and third questions I often got, if not the very
first, concerned the regulatory burden our Federal agencies are placing
on our job creators.
This administration has generated nothing short of a mountain of
redtape, including hundreds of new regulations. Of these, at least 219
have been categorized as significant. What that means is they will cost
more than $100 million per year, $100 million taken out of our economy
to finance regulation. The administration doesn't even dispute the
mountain of redtape, nor does it dispute the size of the mountain that
is created.
In a letter from the President to Speaker Boehner, the White House
identified seven regulations on its agenda, each costing not $100
million but at least $1 billion per year. These costs take important
capital out of our economy. These costs weigh on our job creators.
These costs punish the little guy, and there is no doubt about it.
This mountain is so massive, the administration has had to expand the
Federal workforce itself to write the regulations and to enforce them.
Employment at Federal agencies is up 13 percent since President Obama
took office.
With unemployment in excess of 9 percent, and underemployment greater
than that, this administration is expanding the size of government to
fuel more job-suppressing restrictions, and it makes no sense. It makes
no sense to me as an individual Senator, but it makes no sense to the
people of Nebraska.
For this reason, I am introducing legislation with the senior Senator
from Arizona to press the pause button on this massive wave of redtape
before it engulfs our very economy.
Our legislation is very straightforward. It says: Our small
businesses are getting crushed; our citizens can't find jobs. Freeze
the regulatory onslaught through 2013.
But our work simply cannot stop there. We also need some targeted
regulatory reforms to rein in government bureaucracies that are simply
out of control. Thus, I will also be introducing two other pieces of
additional legislation today to help temper the endless quest for
additional power, jurisdiction and, therefore, regulation.
The first one would close a loophole that allows agencies to grab
power
[[Page S5461]]
without opportunity for Congressional review.
Under the current state of the law, the Congressional Review Act
permits Congress to use special procedures to step in and to disapprove
of agency rules. However, in this administration, agencies have
recently chosen to use what they call ``guidance documents'' instead of
rules to achieve their policy preferences and to expand their power.
I am troubled by this trend because their efforts appear to
deliberately and intentionally circumvent American law specifically
crafted to protect citizens from aggressive bureaucracies. We have an
example, but there are many. I wish to use this one.
I am talking about a guidance document issued jointly by EPA and the
Army Corps of Engineers on May 2 of this year. It is very recent. The
guidance documents's goal is clear--to expand Federal power over
waterways.
But don't take my word for it. According to the EPA's own analysis,
the guidance would significantly expand the waters of the United States
subject to Federal control and regulation.
The Midwestern Farm Bureau has said the guidance ``defines
jurisdiction in the broadest way possible.''
This is a page straight out of this administration's playbook. If
their policy goal is rejected by Congress, they use their regulatory
power to accomplish their agenda any way they can. Stretch the law,
ignore the law, claim that the statute is too ambiguous, circumvent it,
put out a guidance document to interpret it. That is exactly what they
are doing. We have seen this playbook used over and over by this
administration and its Federal agencies.
They should have gotten the message after an unsuccessful attempt
during the last Congress to vastly expand their jurisdiction over
virtually all waters, from irrigation ditches to farm ponds. But like a
child that hears ``no'' from his parents, they jumped ahead, the
administration went ahead anyway through this guidance document.
As the North Dakota Farm Bureau president described it, the EPA's
guidance is an end run around Congress, and I am quoting:
If you can't get what you want with Congress' blessing,
make an end-run around them. That seems to be what is
happening here. And make no mistake. If this guidance is
adopted, EPA could regulate any or all waters found within a
State, no matter how small or seemingly unconnected to a
Federal interest.
The agencies could not convince Congress to change the law. So now
what is happening? The same goal is being pursued in a different way
that bypasses us. Notably, both the House and the Senate have expressed
strong concern about this guidance document. Twenty Senators sent a
letter noting that it represents a dramatic expansion of Federal power
over private land.
In another letter, 41 Senators asserted that making changes to the
scope of the agency's activities through guidance instead of through
rulemaking is ``fundamentally unfair.'' This letter requested the
agencies ``abandon any further action on this guidance document.'' This
is a very significant concern. This guidance document also has shown us
that there is a huge loophole through which agencies can circumvent the
rulemaking process in its entirety, as well as circumventing
congressional intent in order to expand Federal power.
The legislation I introduced today closes the loophole. It amends the
Congressional Review Act to cover both traditional rules and guidance
documents--no more end run around Congress. Consequently, agencies
would be on notice that the loophole through which they intend to
circumvent our will and the will of the American public is now a closed
door. In other words, citizens would have another layer of protection
from agencies seeking to unfairly expand Federal jurisdiction.
Finally, today I am introducing the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention
Act. Farmers and ranchers across this Nation are concerned about the
EPA's efforts to regulate dust. Despite what the administrator is
saying in farm country, EPA is still in the midst of their review of
the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter or,
put simply, ``farm dust.'' In rural America, farm dust is a fact of
life. I grew up on a farm. It is dusty there. We kick it up while
driving on unpaved roads or working in farm fields. Farm dust has long
been considered to have no health concern at ambient levels. However,
EPA is considering bringing down the hammer by ratcheting down that
standard to a level that would be economically devastating for many in
our rural areas. That defies common sense.
To restore common sense to these burdensome job-threatening
regulations and to give certainty to rural America, I am introducing
this legislation. The bill simply says no to EPA regulating dust in
rural America. Yet it maintains the protections of the Clean Air Act to
public health. It provides immediate certainty to farmers in rural
areas by preventing revision of the current dust standard for a year.
Afterward, EPA could regulate farm dust but only if they followed a
scientific standard. First, they would need to show scientific evidence
of substantial adverse health effects caused by dust. Thus far, the
strongest the EPA can conjure up in terms of science is to say it is
``uncertain.'' Second, EPA would need to show that the benefit of
additional regulation outweighs economic costs. These are commonsense
standards. Yet the EPA has unfortunately been unable to see the light,
making this legislation necessary.
These are three commonsense regulatory reforms that are sorely
needed: a 2-year moratorium on job-constraining regulations; No. 2,
making agency guidance documents subject to a simple up-or-down vote by
Congress; and stopping the ill-advised farm dust regulation. They would
provide much certainty and relief for our Nation's job creators and our
American workers.
I urge my colleagues to cosponsor these important efforts. I urge the
White House to support us. The runaway train of regulation is weighing
down on America's ingenuity and job creation. It is time to unshackle
American workers with these commonsense reforms.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Begich). The Senator from Tennessee.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President I congratulate the Senator from Nebraska
on his typically commonsense, reasonable presentation about how we
might take steps to deal with the smothering regulations that are
putting a big wet blanket on job growth in this country, and the idea
of a timeout to stop the avalanche of new regulations makes sense. Farm
dust--the idea of regulating farm dust makes no sense. Slowing down the
ability of Federal agencies to get around the regulatory process by
issuing guidance, that is commonsense. These are three sensible steps
that would help create an environment that would make it easier and
cheaper for job creators to create private sector jobs in this country
and I congratulate the Senator from Nebraska for his comments.
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