Regulation Surgery
Terry H. Schwadron
For sure, Team Trump is proving hugely successful at mowing down regulations. Even as I was researching this column, The New York Times headlined that more than 90 rules have been gutted in the first six weeks of the administration.
I had been struck by comments by the new commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, who said last week that he and others on the Trump economic team “are up to our eyeballs” in their search for government regulations to be undone, all in the name of creating a more pro-business environment. What really hit was Ross’s statement that he was seeking the input of groups including the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Small Businesses, among others. He estimated that the Trump administration may ultimately save U.S. businesses “way into the tens of billions of dollars and very possibly approaching a hundred odd billions of dollars.”
Wait, don’t you think that the ACLU thinks there may be a regulation or two about voter registration, for example, that might go? How about rules in education or that block consumer protection? You think Planned Parenthood would want a rule or two dropped? Even in the business world, do you think maybe the AFL-CIO has come across rules that interfere in the workplace, like those that allow companies to shield themselves from employer relationships through franchising?
The President campaigned on a message of economic growth and jobs, and targeted overregulation, a traditional Republican message, as contributing to an environment that keeps businesses from wanting to reinvest in U.S. operations, preferring to move outside the country to maintain profits. So, eliminating regulations, along with lower corporate taxes, encouraging local incentive packages, and anti-unionism represent a path to a better environment for businesses. He assumes that means workers too.
Ten days in, an executive order said for every new regulation proposed, an agency would have to identify two existing regulations to disappear. Mr. Trump himself is not focused on the details of which regulations should go.
In general, his speeches have said that we should be streamlining review of new drugs and trusting Big Pharma, we should allow coal mines and Big Agriculture to dump whatever they want in wetlands, and we should be lifting any restrictions on Big Banks to do whatever they want to get more lending going.
“Many of these were put in by executive orders and by agency rules, and those wouldn’t require acts of Congress. So, we are up to our eyeballs in trying to make sure we identify all the problems,” Ross said. “So, it’s a lot to do there. I think that will be one of the most fruitful areas that the administration can attack quickly.”
The Environmental Protection Agency, for example, said it was withdrawing a request that operators of existing oil and gas wells provide the agency with extensive information about equipment and emissions of methane, undermining an Obama administration climate change initiative. Methane is a short-lived but extremely powerful climate pollutant which is thought to be responsible for about a quarter of global warming to date.
Regulation eliminating is one tool. So is budget. Through budget cuts, EPA will also be eliminating the radon program, climate change initiatives and funding for Alaskan native villages, though Superfund programs to handle toxic cleanups will continue.
The Times’ article listed several targets for regulations reduction:
- Automakers want to eliminate rules calling for increased fuel mileage per gallon.
- The new FCC lineup is expected to attack rules for “net neutrality,” guaranteeing that big internet companies cannot dominate or create two-tier pay access to web traffic.
-Telecommunication companies like Verizon and AT&T will not have to take “reasonable measures” to ensure that their customers’ Social Security numbers, web browsing history and other personal information are not stolen or accidentally released.
-Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase were exempted from having to cover potential losses from certain kinds of trades that helped unleash the 2008 financial crisis. Also they no longer will have to report payment to top executives, and one rule being overturned appeared to re-allow trade in minerals that might benefit militant groups in parts of Africa.
-On his first day, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, s revoked a rule against lead-based ammunition on federal lands. The rule had been imposed because lead from missed shots can be fatal to animals.
The Times said records show the changes often followed appeals by corporate lobbyists and trade association executives, who are sending lists of specific regulations they want dropped. (Do I hear a swamp being drained?)
The National Mining Association, the American Petroleum Institute and other fossil fuel trade groups and companies asked elimination of a new rule changing the way these companies pay royalties for oil, gas or coal extracted from federal lands. That rule followed complaints that these companies had been underpaying the government.
The Times said records show the changes often followed appeals by corporate lobbyists and trade association executives, who are sending lists of specific regulations they want dropped. (Do I hear a swamp being drained?)
“After a relentless, eight-year regulatory onslaught that loaded unprecedented burdens on businesses and the economy, relief is finally on the way,” Thomas J. Donohue, the president of the United States Chamber of Commerce, wrote.
Of course, environmentalists, labor unions, consumer watchdogs are concerned about the potential threats. “Americans did not vote to be exposed to more health, safety, environmental and financial dangers,” said a letter signed by leaders of 137 nonprofit groups, that was sent to the White House last week.
At the end of the day, there are only two questions: Will these actions create good-paying jobs? Will we pay too big a price in environmental, consumer and civil rights protections?
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