The U.S. House of Representatives today passed H.R. 2401, the Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation (TRAIN) Act.
This legislation requires analysis of the cumulative impacts of significant Environmental Protection Agency rules to better understand how these regulations will impact America’s global competitiveness, energy costs, electricity reliability and jobs. The study will also analyze the effects of EPA’s rules on consumers, small businesses, state, local and tribal governments, labor markets, and agriculture.
Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg, a republican, is a co-sponsor of the legislation.
“In its worthwhile mission to protect the environment, lately the EPA has been all too eager to destroy the economic environment that so many Montana families depend on,” said Rehberg, a member of the Congressional Western Caucus.
“At a time when this nation is losing far too many jobs, the last thing we need is short-sighted regulations making job creation even more difficult. Ironically, destroying jobs and the economy is actually counterproductive for environmental stewardship,” Rehberg added. “Nations with stronger economies tend to take better care of the environment than developing nations.”
The TRAIN Act is now one of many bills awaiting Senate action, including legislation to empower more domestic energy production and reduce onerous and unnecessary regulations.
Earlier in the year, Rehberg voted to prevent the EPA from regulating carbon dioxide as a “harmful pollutant,” a move expected to cost 1.4 million of jobs in the United States, according to an Affordable Power Alliance Study.
“This bill is about transparency, and it’s about making the government accountable for its role in hindering economic recovery,” Rehberg said.
