Final rule changes that will make it more difficult for the incoming Biden administration to create new rules to protect the environment were announced Wednesday the EPA.
The rule changes limit the costs and benefits of any proposed changes by the incoming administration in 2021.
The final version has yet to be published in the Federal Register but it will be a roadblock for attempts by the EPA to put a value on the wider public benefits of new regulations.
“Our goal with the rule is to better help the public understand the ‘why’ of a rulemaking,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in announcing the rule to the conservative advocacy group the Heritage Foundation.
He was critical of previous actions taken by the EPA adding, “A future administration won’t be able to ignore this.”
Wheeler said rules promulgated by previous administrations were “the work of the administrative state.”
A Biden administration could attempt to reverse the new rule but it would take months and months and also require a public comment period.
