Overzealous federal regulators may sometimes be responsible for burdensome regulations on the private sector, but often the blame should be laid on Congress, a new General Accounting Office report concludes.
In a review of regulations that private sector companies have said are costly and time-consuming, GAO found that in many cases, the laws Congress passes are highly detailed and restrictive, leaving agencies with little or no discretion over how regulations should be put in place and enforced.
"If an underlying statute is the source of regulatory burden, that burden can be alleviated only by changes in statute," GAO said in the report ("Regulatory Burden: Some Agencies' Claims Regarding Lack of Rulemaking Discretion Have Merit," GGD-99-20). "In such cases, regulatory reform initiatives focused on the agencies (e.g., cost-benefit analysis requirements) are unlikely to have much direct effect on the regulatory burden that those agencies impose."
The IRS, for example, has had trouble meeting the goals of the 1995 Paperwork Reduction Act because Congress has passed new statutes that require the agency to ask Americans to fill out more paperwork.
Officials from one company complained to GAO about the fact that the premiums it had to pay to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. rose from $2.60 per employee in 1982 to $19.00 per employee in 1994. The $19.00 level is set in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which leaves the corporation no discretion to lower the rate.
Another company complained that the Environmental Protection Agency set unrealistic requirements for water quality, given current water treatment technology. But the Clean Water Act does not give EPA the discretion to consider that factor, GAO said.
GAO pointed out, however, that agencies often can control the burden their regulations impose on companies and individuals. In a 1996 study in which companies laid out 125 complaints about regulatory burdens, three-fourths of the complaints were related to aspects of regulations within agencies' discretionary control.
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