In Just One Week, The Biden Admin Proposed $21.5 Billion In New Regulations

In Just One Week, The Biden Admin Proposed $21.5 Billion In New Regulations

John Hugh DeMastri on April 3, 2023

The Biden administration proposed four rules with measurable economic impact in the week ending March 31 which would have a combined regulatory burden of $21.5 billion and 1.3 million hours of paperwork per year, according to an analysis by the American Action Forum (AAF) Monday.

The lion’s share of the costs would come from a pair of proposed regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placing limits on long-lasting chemicals in drinking water and imposing stricter wastewater discharge standards, the AAF reported, citing the EPA’s own estimates. Since the start of 2023, the Biden administration has finalized 42 new regulations with a combined regulatory burden of $41.8 billion and 2.7 million paperwork hours.

Since the president took office, the Biden administration has finalized 551 rules with a total cost of $359.9 billion and a paperwork burden of 220.1 million hours, the AAF reported. At the same time in his presidency, the Trump administration had issued 617 rules with a regulatory burden of $6.9 billion and 42.8 million paperwork hours, while the Obama administration had issued 797 rules with a regulatory burden of $209.3 billion and 134.5 million hours.

The largest component of this finalized regulatory burden is a $39 billion rule limiting emissions from heavy-duty vehicles, the AAF reported. The Biden administration recently approved a set of California regulations that would impose even more stringent regulations on heavy-duty vehicles, which experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation would likely be applied nationwide due to California’s dominant market position.