Twelve AGs Submitted Comments Opposing EPA’s Proposed Changes to Regulatory Cost-Benefit Analysis

AUGUST 13, 2018

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood led a coalition of 12 attorneys general in submitting comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging the agency to drop a proposed rule that would change how it determines the costs and benefits associated with new regulations. The attorneys general argued that the EPA’s proposed rule would allow it to prioritize the cost of compliance for regulated industries over public health concerns. The attorneys general also raised concerns that the EPA is attempting to curtail its ability to calculate the economic benefits associated with limiting pollution and human exposure to harmful substances, while also enabling the agency to place greater weight on the costs of regulatory compliance. The attorneys general emphasized that the EPA has failed to provide evidence establishing the necessity of a comprehensive review of its methodology for calculating the costs and benefits of regulatory compliance, and noted that the EPA’s proposed rule seems to pave the way for the consideration of factors that Congress did not intend for it to consider. The attorneys general explained that this would lead to the promulgation of rules that are “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedure Act