WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Committee on Small Business is holding a full committee hearing titled “Burdensome Regulations: Examining the Impact of EPA Regulations on Main Street.”

Chairman Williams’ opening statement as prepared for delivery:

Good morning, and welcome to today’s hearing which will focus on examining the impact of burdensome EPA regulations on Main Street.  

I’d like to start off by thanking our witnesses for joining us today. I know you traveled to be with us this morning, and we appreciate your attendance and input.

When I travel around and speak to small businesses, I hear all the time how the cost of everything is so high. From the price of utilities to their labor costs, businesses feel like they are struggling to get ahead. Unfortunately, there is another new aspect that has made their operations even more challenging over the last 3 years: the increased cost of complying with regulations. 

Most small businesses do not have a team of lawyers, or a compliance department to look through all the new mandates coming out of Washington, D.C. Figuring out what needs to be done in order to comply takes time away from the employees or owner that could be better spent looking for growth opportunities or doing other revenue generating activities. While there are laws on the books that are supposed to protect small businesses from the worst of these regulations, they seem to be failing. Since President Biden was sworn into office, his Administration has issued 766 final rules costing over $450 billion dollars. This type of over-regulation has real world consequences on American small businesses.

Of all of the agencies creating this increased burden on small businesses, the EPA has taken a radical approach that is closer to environmental extremism than practical policies to protect the environment. Some of the EPA’s rules, which we will examine in more detail today, would have drastic impacts in a variety of different industries throughout the economy. In some of the most extreme examples, entire industries would be regulated out of existence. This agency takes a heavy handed government approach to force change rather than letting free markets and businesses make decisions.

A more alarming impact of EPA regulations is that not only do they harm American businesses, but they also put us at a competitive disadvantage with our adversaries like China. For example, the EPA is determined to push coal and natural gas out and bring in more “clean” alternatives by regulating coal, oil, and gas companies into oblivion, thus making their product more expensive and less competitive in the market. Meanwhile, China is focused on building whatever types of power plants are needed to satisfy demand. So, while energy prices decrease in China, Americans are faced with skyrocketing costs all in the name of “clean energy.”

Outside of being the voice for Main Street in Congress, this Committee’s top priority is to hold agencies accountable for the impacts of their rules and regulations on Main Street. We have sent five oversight letters to the EPA sounding the alarm on the negative impacts of their rules. Unfortunately, many of their responses are untimely, and all of them are lacking in sufficient detail.

To ensure Main Street can thrive, our agencies need to listen to small businesses during the rulemaking process. After all, the government should be in the business of working for the people.

Entrepreneurs have endured significant challenges over the past few years. I hope this hearing spotlights where the EPA has gone wrong, and more importantly, what can be done to fix it.

Thank you again to all of our witnesses for being here with us. I’m very much looking forward to our conversation.

With that, I will yield to our distinguished Ranking Member from New York, Ms. Velasquez.

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