The Honorable Michael S. Reagan, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (March 13, 2024)

Summary

A March 13, 2024 letter from the House Committee on Small Business to the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requests further information about the Agency’s practices relating to the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The letter states that the Committee has sent a total of five letters, that the EPA has responded to some requests but has failed to produce any requested communications, and that the EPA alone has pushed 6.46 million paperwork hours and $249.7 billion in costs onto American businesses. It requests complete responses to listed document requests, covering rules including Perchloroethylene (PCE) under the Toxic Substances Control Act, no later than March 27, 2024. The signature block names Roger Williams, Chairman.

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Full text

                                            March 13, 2024

The Honorable Michael S. Reagan
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20460

Dear Administrator Reagan:

        The House Committee on Small Business (the Committee) writes to request further
information about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision making and practices
relating to the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The Committee has sent a total of five letters
requesting communications and other information about the economic impact analyses for
certain rules. While the EPA has responded to some of the Committee’s requests, to date, the
EPA has failed to produce any requested communications.

        As you are well aware, the RFA requires agencies to identify and take steps to mitigate
any possible significant economic impact on small entities, including the consideration of less
impactful alternatives to the rule.1 However, it appears the Biden Administration has failed this
statutory mandate. In fact, the EPA alone has pushed 6.46 million paperwork hours and $249.7
billion in costs onto American businesses since President Biden took office.2

         On February 22, 2023, the Committee launched this investigation by sending a letter to
the EPA requesting communications and information regarding compliance with the RFA.3 Since
then, the Committee has sent an additional four letters to the EPA requesting communications
and information for specific rules. While the EPA has provided the Committee with a briefing
and some initial documents, the EPA has failed to produce a single communication in response
to any of these letters. Further, the EPA has failed to provide any valid reason for withholding
these documents. The lack of transparency and willingness to be forthright with the Committee is
unacceptable.




1
  See 5 U.S.C. §§ 602-612.
2
  Explore the Data, Regulation Rodeo, AM. ACTION FORUM (last visited Mar. 7, 2024),
https://regrodeo.com/?year%5B0%5D=2024&year%5B1%5D=2023&year%5B2%5D=2022&year%5B3%5D=2021
&agency%5B0%5D=Environmental%2BProtection%2BAgency.
3
  See Letter from Roger Williams, Chairman, H. Comm. on Small Bus., to Michael S. Regan, Admin., U.S. Env’t
Prot. Agency (Feb. 22, 2023).
The Honorable Michael S. Reagan
March 13, 2024
Page 2 of 3

        America’s small businesses deserve to have their voices heard and considered. In
furtherance of the Committee’s investigation into the EPA’s decisions in complying with the
RFA, the Committee is requesting complete responses to the document requests below, which
incorporate and narrow its outstanding documents requests, no later than March 27, 2024.

       1. All communications, including but not limited to emails, between and among EPA
          personnel relating to the RFA, impact analyses, compliance burdens, and the
          determination of whether there will be a “significant impact on a substantial number
          of businesses” for the following proposed rules and time periods:
              a. Perchloroethylene (PCE); Regulation Under the Toxic Substances Control
                  Act (TSCA) from June 1, 2022, to June 16, 2023.
              b. Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-
                  Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles from May 1, 2022, to May 5, 2023.
              c. Reconsideration of the Dust-Lead Hazard Standards and Dust-Lead Post-
                  Abatement Clearance Levels from August 1, 2022, to August 1, 2023.
              d. National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Ethylene Oxide
                  Emissions Standards for Sterilization Facilities Residual Risk and Technology
                  Review from April 1, 2022, to April 13, 2023.
              e. Standards of Performance for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources and
                  Emissions, Guidelines for Existing Sources: Oil and Natural Gas Sector
                  Climate Review from December 1, 2021, to December 6, 2022.
              f. PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation Rulemaking from March
                  1, 2022, to March 29, 2023.
              g. Reconsideration of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for
                  Particulate Matter from January 1, 2022, to January 27, 2023.
              h. New Source Performance Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From
                  New, Modified, and Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating
                  Units; Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Existing
                  Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units; and Repeal of the Affordable
                  Clean Energy Rule from May 1, 2022, to May 23, 2023.
       To schedule the delivery of your response or ask any related follow-up questions, please
contact the Committee on Small Business Majority Staff at (202) 225-5821. The Committee on
Small Business has broad authority to investigate “problems of all types of small business” under
House Rule X. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this inquiry.
The Honorable Michael S. Reagan
March 13, 2024
Page 3 of 3

                                   In God We Trust,




                                  Roger Williams
                                      Chairman
                              Committee on Small Business



cc:   The Honorable Nydia M. Velazquez, Ranking Member
      Committee on Small Business


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