Regulatory Action Center Review - July 26, 2019

Welcome to FreedomWorks Foundation’s thirteenth regulatory review of 2019! Our Regulatory Action Center proudly updates you with our favorite tidbits from the swamp. We want to smash barriers between bureaucracy and the American people by delivering regulatory news straight to FreedomWorks activists. Check back in two weeks for the next edition.

1) Video of the Week: This week’s video highlights the historic deregulatory agenda undertaken by the Trump administration. President Trump has put together a fantastic team of people dedicated to regulatory reform like Neomi Rau, Administer of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. With the Trump administration cutting red tape and rolling back burdensome regulations, American business is once again flourishing.

2) Deregulation explodes under Trump, 13 regulations killed for every new one, $33B saved: “It was an odd, geeky campaign promise for a populist presidential candidate to make. But when Donald Trump in 2016 pledged to kill two Obama-era regulations for every new one, crowds went wild. Those cheers stuck with him when he moved into the White House, and he put his promise into an executive order. And now as he opens his reelection campaign, Russ Vought, acting budget office director, has delivered the results sure to win even more rally cheers. “We’ve hit 13 to 1,” he told a Heritage Foundation conference on federalism. And cutting so many regulations, he added, has saved taxpayers $33 billion.” https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/deregulation-explodes-under-trump-13-regs-killed-for-every-new-1-33b-saved

3) White House to fight ruling blocking asylum rule: “U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in the Northern District of California on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the rule, which would require asylum-seekers to first pursue safe haven in a third country they had traveled through on their way to the United States. “We intend to pursue all available options to address this meritless ruling and to defend this Nation’s borders,” the White House said in a statement. The San Francisco court means the rule will be suspended pending further proceedings. It was not clear what steps the Trump administration planned to take to fight the ruling.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-whitehouse/white-house-to-fight-ruling-blocking-asylum-rule-idUSKCN1UK1SZ

4) Cities Across the Nation Are Making Commutes Harder With Increased Scooter Regulations: “E-scooters are an inexpensive, environmentally friendly transportation option, and they’ve gotten increasingly popular: According to the National Association of City Transportation Officials, Americans made 38.5 million trips on the shared scooters in 2018. Naturally, city and state officials have been rushing to regulate them. They cite safety and traffic concerns, but at times they seem more interested in raking in fees and making a the market less competitive.” https://reason.com/2019/07/19/cities-across-the-nation-are-making-commutes-harder-with-increased-scooter-regulations/

5) Administration must allow regulatory relief to small refineries under the renewable fuel standard: “Yet, the decline in gas prices for American families is at risk because of the regulatory burdens of the renewable fuel standard (RFS). The RFS is an outdated program, created in 2005, in a misguided attempt to subsidize the American biofuel industry. It is an example of how good intentions can go awry with heavy handed regulation.” https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/454509-administration-must-allow-regulatory-relief-to-small

6) Secret ingredient of nuclear success: Independent regulation: “It’s crept up on us slowly, so quietly that you may not have noticed, but nuclear energy has become safer and more reliable. In the U.S., nuclear power plants generate approximately 20 percent of our energy and 55 percent of our clean energy. Even if you were aware that nuclear power plants now commonly run nonstop for 18 months to two years, that worker radiation dose has gone from small to vanishingly small, and that operators have modernized their plants with new materials, monitoring systems and techniques, you may not have recognized a key secret ingredient of this success: high-quality, independent regulation.” https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/454381-secret-ingredient-of-nuclear-success-independent-regulation

7) FDA Is Outlier in Trump’s Deregulation Administration: “The one dark spot on this otherwise successful deregulation agenda is the Food and Drug Administration. Earlier this year, the FDA announced their new e-cigarette policy aimed ostensibly at reversing the recent increase in teen smoking. The policy states that certain flavored e-cigarette products can only be sold in stores that don’t allow minors in, or have rooms that are only for customers 18 and older. Unfortunately, these big-government guidelines are not supported by research and are bad for small businesses.” https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/07/20/fda_is_outlier_in_trumps_deregulation_administration_140828.html