Steve Lynch: “My amendment would improve title II of H.R. 712 to ensure that the effectiveness of agency regulations are not solely…”

“My amendment would improve title II of H.R. 712 to ensure that the effectiveness of agency regulations are not solely evaluated by the basis of the cost to industry. Rather, the primary importance of agency rulemaking to the improved health, safety, and security of the American people demands that we also consider the significant benefits of agency regulations in analyzing whether or not they contribute to protecting the public and promoting the general welfare. In particular, my amendment would require Federal agencies to provide an estimate of the individual benefits of a proposed regulation, just as H.R. 712 currently requires them to report individual regulatory costs. This amendment would also require the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs to include the total benefits of proposed and final agency rules in the annual report that it would be required to issue under H.R. 712. In its current form, the underlying bill expressly provides that the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs must publish only the total cost of all proposed and finalized agency rules without reducing the cost by any offsetting benefits in its calculation of the cumulative cost of agency regulations. Not surprisingly, the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards has issued a formal opposition letter to the language that is included as title II of H.R. 712.…”