The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. § 602) requires that every administration publish its regulatory agenda every six months in the Federal Register. Yet, the Obama administration has failed to comply with this law twice over the past year.
Last week, Senator Inhofe sent a letter to President Obama requesting that the administration adhere to its next statutory deadline, which was yesterday. As the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Inhofe expressed specific concerns in the letter about EPA’s failure to publish its regulatory agenda.
Inhofe Letter to President Obama
“President Obama is refusing to comply with the law that requires him to publish forthcoming regulations because he doesn’t want the American public to know the terrible cost of the regulatory barrage he plans to unleash in a second term,” Senator Inhofe said.
“So instead of being honest with the American people about what’s in store if he wins, he’s been trying to hide the fact that he intends to move forward with a slew of rules that will destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs and dramatically raise the cost of energy on American families.
“Earlier this month I released a Senate oversight report detailing the numerous job-killing regulations that the Obama-EPA has delayed or punted until after the election. Now, thanks to a new report from National Economic Research Associates (NERA), we have more insight into just how devastating these regulations will be for American families. According to NERA, they will destroy up to 887,000 jobs per year, hitting coal regions the hardest. In fact, peak year losses in family income in coal country would range up to $1,600 per household.
“The bottom line is that President Obama knows he can’t win reelection if Americans know the truth. It’s bad enough that he’s hiding his second term agenda – it’s even worse that he’s violating the law to do it. The American people deserve more from their President.”
Senator Inhofe recently released a detailed report that enumerates the slew of environmental regulations that the Obama-Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has quietly delayed or punted before the election. As this report reveals, these rules taken together will inevitably result in the elimination of millions of American jobs, drive up the price of gas at the pump even more, impose construction bans on local communities, and essentially shut down American oil, natural gas, and coal production. Despite several media outlets requesting comment from the Obama-EPA on Senator Inhofe’s report, the EPA refuses to comment. This silence from the Obama-EPA is to be expected. As Ken Ward Jr, President of the Society of Environmental Journalists recently explained, the
“Obama EPA is the most difficult to get information and answers out of that I've covered in 20 years." 
