In the South Carolina Senate, where l serve, we formulate better policy when all stakeholders provide valuable input and work toward a common goal. As a business leader, l value regulatory certainty and transparency. Both of these roles give me an appreciation for smart and accountable government - and that is why I support the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) important efforts to include a cost-benefit analysis in proposed and final regulations under the Clean Air Act. (CAA).
While l appreciate the importance of EPA's vital mission to protect our environment, l also have seen first-hand the consequences of uninformed, over-regulation. Regulations out of the EPA account for nearly 70 percent of the costs of all significant federal regulations, with the CAA being easily the largest part of the agency's oversight authority. By one estimate, from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, federal regulations cost the U.S. economy nearly $2 trillion a year in direct costs, lost productivity and higher prices.