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Dec 13, 3:21 AM EST

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ELECTION OVER, ADMINISTRATION UNLEASHES NEW RULES

BY MATTHEW DALY ASSOCIATED PRESS

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- While the scal cli of looming tax increases and spending cuts dominates political conversation in Washington, some Republicans and business groups see signs of a regulatory cli that they say could be just as damaging to the economy. For months, federal agencies and the White House have sidetracked dozens of major regulations that cover AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki everything from power plant pollution to workplace safety to a crackdown on Wall Street. POLITICS VIDEO The rules had been largely put on hold during the presidential campaign as the White House sought to quiet Republican charges

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that President Barack Obama was an overzealous regulator who is killing U.S. jobs. But since the election, the Obama administration has quietly reopened the regulations pipeline. In recent weeks, the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed rules to update water quality guidelines for beaches and other recreational waters and deal with runo from logging roads. The National Highway Trac Safety Administration, meanwhile, has proposed long-delayed regulations requiring auto makers to include event data recorders - be er known as black boxes - in all new cars and light trucks beginning in 2014. The administration also has initiated several rules to implement its health care overhaul, including a new fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions. Some GOP lawmakers fear the worst.

Obama: Willing to compromise on fiscal cliff

Obama has spent the past year punting on a slew of job-killing regulations that will be unleashed in a second term, said Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. With the election over, its now full speed ahead for federal rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions, requiring cleaner gasoline and pu ing controls on drilling for oil and natural gas, said Inhofe, the senior Republican on the Senate Environment Commi ee. Under an Obama EPA that has earned a reputation for abuse, American families will be subjected to a regulatory onslaught that will drive up energy prices, destroy millions of jobs and further weaken the economy, he wrote in a 14-page report on expected EPA regulations for 2013. The report predicts an inux of regulations that spell doom for jobs and economic growth. Environmental groups say fears of a second-term

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regulatory deluge are overstated. At this point it still has the appearance of being more of a trickle than a ood, said Frank ODonnell, president of the environmental group Clean Air Watch. I dont see the hard evidence of an avalanche of rules. He said the EPA is principally focused on meeting court-ordered deadlines, such as Fridays deadline for a rule intended to reduce the amount of soot that can be released into the air. Other high-prole rules and initiatives are being rolled out more slowly, if at all, he added. Randy Rabinowi , director of regulatory policy at OMB Watch, a private group that tracks federal rules, said regulations now being released are long overdue - in some cases months or even years after federal guidelines say they should have been published. Weve been disappointed that Obama has been a tepid regulator in his rst term, Rabinowi said, adding that she hopes the administration moves more vigorously to protect the public from harm in a second term. I would love for the election to be interpreted as a mandate for Obama to move forward with stronger protections for the public, she said. A spokeswoman for the White House Oce of Management and Budget, the gatekeeper for federal regulations, said the administration is focused on protecting public health and safety while avoiding unnecessary burdens on business. We intend to continue that approach moving forward, including careful analysis of costs and benets as well as a commitment to protecting the health, welfare and safety of the American people at the same time that we promote economic growth, OMB spokeswoman Moira Mack wrote in an email. In January 2011, Obama ordered all federal agencies to get rid of rules that were excessively burdensome, redundant, inconsistent or overlapping. The ax fell on hundreds of regulations, with moves made to streamline tax forms, let railroad companies pass on installing expensive technology and speed up the visa process for low-risk visitors to the U.S. The administration said the moves would save businesses

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about $10 billion over ve years and spur job growth. But some Republicans and business groups say new regulations, on top of rules already issued by the administration, could strangle the economy just as it begins to grow. A new study by the National Association of Manufacturers claims major new EPA rules could cost manufacturers hundreds of billions of dollars and eliminate millions of American jobs.

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PANORAMA OF THE The report, issued in late November, said compliance STATE OF THE UNION costs for six major EPA regulations - including rules ADDRESS limiting air and water pollution from coal- and oil-red power plants - could total up to $111 billion by government estimates and up to $138 billion by industry estimates. Construction costs could total $500 billion, it said.

Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the manufacturing group, warned of a devastating ripple eect that could be felt throughout the U.S. economy if federal rules are not relaxed or delayed. Some manufacturers are likely to close their doors for good because of EPA rules, Timmons said. Susan Dudley, director of the Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington University and the former head of a Bush administration regulatory oce, said she has not seen a postelection surge in federal rule-making. It doesnt look like the oodgates are opening, she said, adding that with four more years in oce, Obama is in no rush to implement rules that could damage a fragile economy. The slowdown ts a pa ern, Dudley said. During his rst two years in oce, Obama published a record-se ing average of 63 economically signicant nal rules per year, she said, a pace that slowed to about 50 major rules in 2011 and fewer than two dozen this year. Dudley said she expects a second Obama term to be more like his rst two years in oce than his third and fourth years - in part because so many federal rules that have been started have been put on hold. One of the most high-prole delays was on a pledge to set stricter limits for lung-damaging smog. President George W. Bush had shunned the advice of independent scientists who said the current ozone standard was too weak. Under Obama, the EPA had promised to change that, only to have the White House put on the brakes in September 2011, explaining it was acting to reduce regulatory burdens and uncertainty in a shaky economy. A new ozone rule is now likely to be nalized next year. Other environmental regulations, including a rule to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from reneries and to lower the sulfur content in gasoline, are far behind schedule. EPA

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ocials have said not to expect them anytime soon. In the area of worker safety, the Obama administration said more than two years ago it would ght a resurgence of black lung disease, but a rule to set new standards for lung-damaging coal dust has languished at the Labor Department. A rule to protect workers at construction sites and glass manufacturing operations from cancer-causing silica also has been delayed. --Online: White House Oce of Information and Regulatory Aairs: HTTP://WWW.REGINFO.GOV/PUBLIC --Reach Ma hew Daly on Twi er: HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/MATTHEWDALYWDC 2012 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED. Learn more about our PRIVACY POLICY and TERMS OF USE.

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