The White House is Delaying at least $34 Billion in Regulations until After Midterm Elections

Recently, numerous reports have highlighted how the White House delayed controversial regulations until after Election Day in 2012. There is a very real phenomenon of “midnight regulations,” where the outgoing administration releases its remaining regulations before the next president enters office.

After reviewing the administration’s most recent agenda of federal rulemakings, it appears there are at least 15 major regulations scheduled for release after the upcoming midterms. Combined, just six of these rules could impose more than $34 billion in costs. The scheduled publication dates of the rules and possible costs are listed below. Rules without a cost estimate either are in the proposed stage or omitted cost-benefit data in the proposed form.

The most notable of these regulations actually does not have an attached cost. In December, EPA could release its long-awaited standards for ground-level ozone. In 2011, the White House formally vetoed the initial standards, partly in an effort to “minimize regulatory costs and burdens, particularly in this economically challenging time.” Commenters assumed that the potential $90 billion price tag played a role in the delay of the regulation. However, the table above does not include cost-benefit data on the proposed ozone rule scheduled for December.

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