Midnight At EPA And Interior

" . . .He raised concerns that the new environmental rules were rushed to build on Obama's legacy of attacking climate change.  The magnitude, $5 billion in long-term costs, and timing could raise suspicion in Congress," he said on the AAF website." . . .

American Action Forum  "Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Obama Administration was readying five significant “midnight” regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Interior (Interior). According to research from the American Action Forum (AAF), these five measures alone could impose $5.1 billion in costs and more than 350,000 paperwork burden hours. In addition, three other rules in proposed form could add $898 million in burdens and 146,000 paperwork hours, for a cumulative total of nearly $6 billion in potential midnight costs and nearly 500,000 burden hours from the two agencies. Consider, EPA and Interior have already imposed $349 billion in previous burdens since 2009.

THE PENDING FIVE

"Based on reporting from Amy Harder of the Wall Street Journal, the administration is planning for a, “flurry of environmental rules” during the midnight period, which is defined as the period after Election Day, but before the next president takes office. Typically, the midnight period is defined by a significant uptick in regulatory output. According to reports, this winter will be no different, with the administration approving at least five last-minute environmental regulations." . . .