boutons_deux
12-29-2016, 01:34 PM
They want to break it so badly it can’t be fixed again.
The incoming House majority plans to schedule a vote on the
Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act (REINS Act)
soon after new members are sworn in next Tuesday.
A top priority of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the leading lobby group for big business,
REINS would fundamentally alter the federal government in ways that could
hobble federal agencies during periods when the same party controls Congress and the White House?—and
absolutely cripple those agencies during periods of divided government.
Many federal laws delegate authority to agencies to work out the details of how to achieve relatively broad objectives set by the law itself.
The agencies do so by drafting regulations that interpret and elaborate upon these statutes and which have the force of law. REINS, however, effectively strips agencies of much of this authority.
To understand why this matters, consider one such federal law:
The Clean Air Act, for example, requires the Environmental Protection Agency to set “standards applicable to the emission of any air pollutant from any class or classes of new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines” if the EPA determines that those emissions “cause, or contribute to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.”
There are many reasons why Congress may wish to delegate authority in this way. The EPA employs scientists and policy experts who have far more expertise in motor vehicle emissions than members of Congress, so the EPA is more likely to make educated judgments about the details of environmental policy. New studies may reveal that a particular emission that was previously viewed as benign is actually far more dangerous?—?or they may reveal the opposite, that a chemical once viewed as dangerous is actually much less so.
The Clean Air Act permits the EPA to respond relatively nimbly to these developments rather than having to push through new legislation every time a researcher publishes new data that should inform regulators.
Similarly, EPA regulators can adapt to new technological developments, encouraging the use of certain technologies while relaxing standards related to others as new ways of reducing emissions are discovered.
REINS strips EPA of this nimbleness. Under its terms, a new regulation that has an
“annual economic impact of $100 million or more,” which is less than 0.0006 percent of the U.S. economy, must be approved by Congress within “70 session days” or it does not go into effect.
https://thinkprogress.org/house-republicans-will-ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-plan-to-permanently-cripple-government-9925b564c531#.jbcblxh8j
Repugs/VRWC/BigCorp will really fuck America into unfuckability.
It's all about destroying govt as a citizen- and environment-protecting countervailing power to shift all power to predatory capitalists and wealth-sucking BigCorp.
Thanks, you Repug voters, you really, really love America.
The incoming House majority plans to schedule a vote on the
Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act (REINS Act)
soon after new members are sworn in next Tuesday.
A top priority of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the leading lobby group for big business,
REINS would fundamentally alter the federal government in ways that could
hobble federal agencies during periods when the same party controls Congress and the White House?—and
absolutely cripple those agencies during periods of divided government.
Many federal laws delegate authority to agencies to work out the details of how to achieve relatively broad objectives set by the law itself.
The agencies do so by drafting regulations that interpret and elaborate upon these statutes and which have the force of law. REINS, however, effectively strips agencies of much of this authority.
To understand why this matters, consider one such federal law:
The Clean Air Act, for example, requires the Environmental Protection Agency to set “standards applicable to the emission of any air pollutant from any class or classes of new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines” if the EPA determines that those emissions “cause, or contribute to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.”
There are many reasons why Congress may wish to delegate authority in this way. The EPA employs scientists and policy experts who have far more expertise in motor vehicle emissions than members of Congress, so the EPA is more likely to make educated judgments about the details of environmental policy. New studies may reveal that a particular emission that was previously viewed as benign is actually far more dangerous?—?or they may reveal the opposite, that a chemical once viewed as dangerous is actually much less so.
The Clean Air Act permits the EPA to respond relatively nimbly to these developments rather than having to push through new legislation every time a researcher publishes new data that should inform regulators.
Similarly, EPA regulators can adapt to new technological developments, encouraging the use of certain technologies while relaxing standards related to others as new ways of reducing emissions are discovered.
REINS strips EPA of this nimbleness. Under its terms, a new regulation that has an
“annual economic impact of $100 million or more,” which is less than 0.0006 percent of the U.S. economy, must be approved by Congress within “70 session days” or it does not go into effect.
https://thinkprogress.org/house-republicans-will-ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-plan-to-permanently-cripple-government-9925b564c531#.jbcblxh8j
Repugs/VRWC/BigCorp will really fuck America into unfuckability.
It's all about destroying govt as a citizen- and environment-protecting countervailing power to shift all power to predatory capitalists and wealth-sucking BigCorp.
Thanks, you Repug voters, you really, really love America.