Finalized Cost Benefit Rule Under Clean Air Act: Significant Regulatory Actions vs. Materially Adverse Effects

Buzz Hines is a panelist on this Strafford live webinar, "Finalized Cost Benefit Rule Under Clean Air Act: Significant Regulatory Actions vs. Materially Adverse Effects."

Details:
This CLE webinar will address the final rule and regulations on the cost-benefit rule under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The panel will discuss how the rule defines "significant" regulations versus circumstances that adversely impact the economy. The panel will provide best practices consistent with existing agency guidance governing cost-benefit analyses and how this procedural rule that is not subject to revocation by the Biden administration may be amended in the future.

The recently finalized CAA cost-benefit rule is meant to establish requirements to ensure consistent, high-quality analyses of benefits and costs are provided to the public for significant rules. This final rule codifies best practices for benefit-cost analyses (BCA) in CAA rulemaking. The goal of the rule is to "ensure that all future significant regulations promulgated under the CAA consider a cost/benefit evaluation" using "the best available scientific information."

Environmental counsel must prepare for the three main requirements under the final rule. EPA must prepare a BCA for all "significant proposed and final regulations" under the CAA, and that will include the project that either has the "largest annual impact on the economy; those that would disproportionately affect an industry, group, or area" or are "novel or relevant for other policy reasons."

The BCA further establishes the best practices from economic, engineering, physical, and biological sciences. The EPA will follow established protocols for conducting cost-benefit analyses as published by the Office of Management and Budget and as described in EPA's "Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses." Finally, counsel must be prepared with compliance provisions related to this rule that require transparency in presentation and separate reporting of public health and welfare benefits.

This new rule is designed to clarify states, local communities, industry, and other stakeholders about the EPA's considerations in the rule-making process. The rule limits the EPA's ability to promulgate more protective rules. While the Biden administration has stated a sharp redirect in both enforcement and rule promulgation, the BCA's nature may require congressional or judicial action to reverse.

Listen to our authoritative panel discusses the BCA final rule and its impact on the CAA, EPA enforcement, and how the Biden administration may tackle environmental regulation in the future.

Outline:

1. Clean Air Act rulemaking
2. Benefit-cost analyses final rule
   1. Requirements
   2. Penalties
3. Future under Biden administration

Benefits:

The panel will review these and other key issues:

• What can we expect from BCA reform?
• How might enforcement change under the Biden administration?
• How are best practices in BCA rulemaking likely to affect other EPA regulations?

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