House Votes To Block Some EPA Regulations

The U.S. House has approved legislation that would give the Department of Energy the right to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) energy-related regulations when it believes those rules would hurt economic growth. The Energy Consumers Relief Act, H.R. 1582, passed the House in a 232-181 vote.

The commonsense legislation, would protect consumers and job creators from the destructive consequences of expensive new energy regulations. The bill would ensure greater transparency and interagency review of EPA’s billion-dollar energy rules and prohibit EPA from finalizing certain rules if the Secretary of Energy determines the rule would cause significant adverse effects to the economy.

The bill arrives as the EPA is preparing rules including carbon emissions standards for power plants and a measure that would force refiners to further cut the sulfur content of gasoline. During a recent debate, Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) noted that the EPA has already completed rules that will impose billions of dollars in costs.

The legislation is part of an ongoing effort by House GOP leadership to cut back on federal rules they blame for the slow economic recovery. Democrats counter that it actually reflects the GOP’s desire to shut down the EPA altogether.

The White House said it would veto this bill, arguing it would require the EPA to run duplicative reviews on its regulations.