Cassidy Questions EPA Administrator McCarthy On Unfair EPA Regulations

Press Release

Today, Congressman Bill Cassidy called on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy to stop imposing regulations that are hurting jobs and businesses in Louisiana's energy service industry. McCarthy testified at an Energy and Commerce hearing this morning to discuss EPA's proposed FY 2015 budget.

EPA regulations can impose large compliance costs, often on the backs of taxpayers. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates there will be about 25 more energy-related EPA rules in the next 5 years, costing $25 billion or more to implement.

Dr. Cassidy questioned Administrator McCarthy on whether the EPA is encroaching on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) when they asked the commission to weigh the environmental impact from increased gas drilling at an LNG export plant in Cameron, Louisiana.

He further called on McCarthy to clarify a conflict between regulations for cleaner petroleum fuels under the Clean Air Act, and regulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This regulation requires facilities to install advanced technologies that increase energy use for the formulation of petroleum fuels, but simultaneously penalizes these same facilities by requiring them to control GHG emissions.

Dr. Cassidy released the following statement:

"EPA routinely issues rules and regulations that are difficult to understand, hard to follow and expensive. My concern is that this level of regulation discourages businesses from investing, which destroys jobs or prevents new jobs from being created."

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