The Environmental Protection Agency is engaged in a strategy of “uncooperative federalism,” in which states are bogged down by unprecedented regulations and lack the resources to cope with the heavy lift, the chairman of the Senate environment committee said Wednesday.
“Cooperative federalism” is what the EPA is supposed to be practicing, said Environment and Public Works Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla. Such cooperative behavior “is a core principle of environmental statutes … where EPA and the states work together to meet environmental goals.”
“Unfortunately, under the Obama administration, we have observed a flood of new regulations breaking down this system, in what seems to be uncooperative federalism,” Inhofe said in opening a Wednesday hearing with state officials on the issue.
The EPA’s “unprecedented regulatory agenda … simply runs over states by imposing an increasing number of federal regulatory actions on states while requesting even less funds to help states carry out these actions,” Inhofe said.
“As some state regulators have explained, EPA is requiring them to ‘do more, with less,'” he said.
Inhofe has been a vocal critic of the Obama administration’s large number of environmental regulations, which his committee has direct oversight over.
Some of the most burdensome rules include the EPA’s greenhouse gas rules for power plants and the Waters of the United States rule. Both are major concerns for the GOP and are being weighed in the courts.
Inhofe said many of the rules are driven to fulfill a “political agenda” that often leads to “years of litigation and inefficiencies that cost citizens more taxpayer dollars” with little or no environmental benefit.
While Inhofe said state feedback on the rules varies, several “troubling themes” emerged, including the EPA neglecting its responsibility to consult with states before creating new regulations. And even if they are consulted, the EPA “gives states little time to digest complex regulations and provide meaningful analysis,” Inhofe said.
At the same time, the EPA has ratcheted back the funding it is supposed to give to states to help them implement air and water regulations, while requesting more funds for EPA bureaucrats.
Ali Mirzakhalili, director of Delaware’s air quality division, said the number of EPA rules has soared since the 1990s, placing more strain on his agency.
He said the cost-sharing arrangements between his state and EPA have fallen short, forcing Delaware to foot the majority of the bill to comply with new regulations. Nevertheless, he said his state has not fallen behind.
“This year states face a number of regulatory deadlines,” he said. “These deadlines do not differentiate between large states with ample resources and small states like ours with fewer resources.”
He said Delaware’s spending discipline has enabled it to cope with the workload, despite “insufficient funding.”
“If we can do it, so can others,” Mirzakhalili said.
