Nick Juliano
Anticipating a "flood" of new regulations from the federal government covering environmental protection, financial transactions and health care, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is planning to "beef up" its stable of lawyers as it expects to spend more time fighting the Obama administration in court this year, the group's president said today.
The business lobby maintains an in-house law firm, the National Chamber Litigation Center, that frequently sues federal agencies in an attempt to modify or overturn rules it views as too burdensome for businesses. It has participated in nearly every major challenge of U.S. EPA in the past few years, including an unsuccessful attempt to overturn a suite of greenhouse gas rules, which is awaiting a decision on a request for rehearing, and a victory at the Supreme Court clarifying that property owners are entitled to judicial review of potential Clean Water Act enforcement actions.
As President Obama prepares to begin his second term, the firm expects even more battles with the administration over rules, including an impending air quality standard for ground-level ozone and expanded regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, refineries and other stationary sources, Tom Donohue, the chamber's president and CEO, said in his annual State of American Business address. He also pointed to rules being written as a consequence of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law and health care reform as key concerns for the chamber.