Washington, D.C. – American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Donna Harman issued the following statement regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) memorandum outlining plans to implement robust benefit-cost analysis across the agency’s rulemaking process. The memorandum follows the agency’s June 2018 advanced notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the benefits and costs of rulemaking and indicates the process will begin with the Clean Air Act.

“We applaud EPA for taking the historic step to advance common-sense regulatory policy that ensures its regulations will do more good than harm. For over 38 years, every president has directed regulatory agencies to embrace this sound principle when designing regulations. But Administrator Wheeler breaks new ground with plans for binding regulations to ensure that the benefits of EPA’s regulations will justify the costs. We welcome this new foundation for sustainable regulation and the news that similar regulations under other EPA statutes will follow the Clean Air Act rulemaking. All will serve to protect the environment while allowing the economy to grow and create new opportunities for all Americans long into the future.”