Washington, D.C. –Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and seven other members of the House Energy & Commerce Committee introduced the EPA Regulatory Relief Act today.  This bipartisan bill would aid job creators by directing the Environmental Protection Agency to develop better standards for industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers and incinerators, grant the EPA more time to develop those standards, and grant companies more time to comply with them.  

“With the EPA Regulatory Relief Act, we are giving the EPA the time it needs – the time it has requested – to address difficult technical issues and develop rules that are workable in the real world,” said Rep. McMorris Rodgers and the other members in a statement. “Likewise, businesses, institutions, and facilities need adequate time to finance the new monitoring and control equipment that will be required to meet the new standards, to obtain necessary regulatory approvals, and to design, procure, install, test, train personnel and start up equipment. Without regulatory relief, EPA’s current rules endanger hundreds of thousands of jobs nationwide by forcing plant shutdowns and relocation of American manufacturing and jobs overseas.”

On Mar. 21, 2011, the EPA published four highly-complex rules setting new standards for more than 200,000 boilers, process heaters, and incinerators. The Council of Industrial Boiler Owners estimates that the capital costs of those rules will exceed $14 billion and put 224,000 jobs at risk. Similarly, the American Forest and Paper Association predicts costs could range from $5-7 billion for the forest products industry alone. 

In addition to Rep. McMorris Rodgers, the original cosponsors of today’s bill are Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), John Barrow (D-GA), Jim Matheson (D-UT), Pete Olson (R-TX), Mike Ross (D-AR), and Steve Scalise (R-LA).

To view the EPA Regulatory Relief Act, click here.