Small Business Trends

Washington, D.C. (July 11, 2008) - According to one of the nation’s leading advocacy organizations, small businesses would be unduly burdened, and harshly impacted by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) released today, which outlines a general framework for regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The ANPR was released in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Massachusetts v. EPA.

“We are horrified by what the EPA wants to do. The regulatory approaches outlined in the ANPR would represent an enormous and unprecedented economic blow to small businesses if enacted. It is clear that rogue bureaucrats designed this initiative – reality is not represented in the document,” said Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) President & CEO Karen Kerrigan.

According to SBE Council, the ANPR itself acknowledges that the proposed regulatory framework would prove to be costly and burdensome for small businesses. The smallest of firms – even home-based businesses – would be swept into a massive, complex scheme to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

“Recently, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly rejected a costly and complex scheme to regulate CO2. The EPA’s approach is much, much worse. Congress needs to step in and reign in the EPA staff,” said Kerrigan.

SBE Council and its members will make their voices heard as the public has 120 days to comment on the ANPR. The group will also urge Congress to conduct oversight of the EPA and hold hearings on the process by which they developed their regulatory approaches and various models for justifying the ANPR.

SBE Council is a nonprofit small business advocacy organization dedicated to protecting small business and promoting entrepreneurship. For more information, please visit www.sbecouncil.org.