Regulatory Cuts Proposed By Federal Agencies Could Save Businesses Billions

White House officials said Thursday that they are following through on orders from President Obama to ease regulatory burdens on businesses.

During a conference call with reporters, Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew announced that over a dozen federal agencies have identified “initiatives to reduce burdens and save money.”

Some of the highlights include:

- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is announcing a final rule that will remove over 1.9 million annual hours of redundant reporting burdens on employers and save more than $40 million in annual costs. Businesses will no longer be saddled with the obligation to fill out unnecessary government forms, meaning that their employees will have more time to be productive and do their real work.

- EPA will propose to eliminate the redundant obligation for many states to require air pollution vapor recovery systems at local gas stations because modern vehicles already have effective air pollution control technologies.  The anticipated savings over the next decade is about $670 million.

- The Department of Transportation is considering refinements to railroad safety equipment rules to ensure that installations are made only where they are actually needed. The change would maintain robust railroad safety standards while saving up to $400 million up front and up to $1 billion over 20 years.

- The Departments of Commerce and State are undertaking a series of steps to eliminate unnecessary barriers to exports, including duplicative and unnecessary regulatory requirements, thus reducing the cumulative burden and uncertainty faced by American companies and their trading partners. These steps will make it a lot easier for American companies to reach new markets, increasing our exports while creating jobs here at home.

- The Department of the Interior is reviewing outdated regulations under the Endangered Species Act to streamline the process, to reduce requirements for written descriptions, and to clarify and expedite procedures for approval of conservation agreements. 

- The Department of Health and Human Services will reconsider burdensome regulatory requirements now placed on hospitals and doctors, like requiring redundant entries of information in medical databases.

“This is an important step in changing the culture of Washington,” Lew said.

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) called the initiatives a good start, but urged the administration to go further.

“Any effort on the part of the President to make the regulatory system more predictable, more transparent, and less onerous for job creators is progress—and I’ll take it.  Job creators, however, have made clear that the flawed regulations that hurt the most are new and proposed regulations that are unnecessarily expensive and sometimes impossible to implement…The Oversight Committee and House Republicans will continue to press the Administration to do better.”

Click here for the full list of proposals.