Bill Bennett: “I rise to comment on the regulatory reform bill, S. 343, that has occupied the attention of the Senate throughout the…”

“I rise to comment on the regulatory reform bill, S. 343, that has occupied the attention of the Senate throughout the day. I watched a good portion of the debate from my office, on television, and occasionally here on the floor. I have been interested in my senior colleague from Utah and his list of the top 10 horror stories of regulatory excess. I have been unable to gather as many as 10. My resources are perhaps not as good as my colleague's, but I want to add another to the horror stories of regulatory excess from the State of Utah, and perhaps spend a little more time on this one than the list that my senior colleague went through earlier. I am talking about a business called Rocky Mountain Fabrication, which is located in Salt Lake City, UT. It has been operating at a site in industrial north Salt Lake since the early 1980's. It needs to expand its operations to meet the demands of an improving economy. Rocky Mountain employs about 150 people. Its business is steel fabrication which requires the use of an outdoor yard. They have to lay out large pieces of steel that are then moved by heavy equipment. Negotiations between Rocky Mountain and EPA have been going on since 1990, nearly 5 years. They have cost the company $100,000 in legal fees and other fees connected with this fight. At the moment, a conclusion is no closer than it was when it started. There is no resolution in sight. Here are the facts.…”