WASHINGTON DC (May 7, 2024) – Attorney General Gentner Drummond testified before a U.S. House subcommittee this morning, expressing concerns over a revised rule by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that he believes will have severe consequences for Oklahoma and other states. The House Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials invited Drummond to speak at a hearing titled “EPA’s RMP Rule: Failures to Protect the American People and American Manufacturing.” This subcommittee is part of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Drummond informed subcommittee members that he has filed multiple lawsuits against the Biden Administration for federal overreach, with the EPA being the agency he has litigated against most frequently.
“Unfortunately, EPA consistently promotes policies and issues rules that are bad for businesses, harmful to consumers, and outright hostile to America’s oil and gas industry,” he said. “The rule under review today is no exception.”
Set to take effect Friday, the expanded final rule of the EPA’s Risk Management Program (RMP) will impact facilities handling threshold quantities of specific chemicals.
“Adding to the regulatory burden of any private enterprise without providing sufficient corresponding benefit is a recipe for economic drag. The final RMP rule is a new burden that potentially applies to a wide range of businesses and facilities in my state and across the country,” Drummond testified.
“The obvious and most concerning entities are petroleum refineries and chemical manufacturers, but the list does not end there. Also subject to the new rule would be chemical and petroleum wholesalers and terminals; midstream gas plants; agricultural chemical distributors; food manufacturers and packing plants; and a wide range of other businesses that use substances covered by the new rule.”
While the EPA estimates compliance with the rule will cost businesses more than $250 million annually, Drummond noted that American consumers would face even greater costs, particularly at gas stations.
“There would have to be a very substantial benefit to justify these costs,” said Drummond. “Unfortunately, the new rule provides none. It is the proverbial solution in search of a problem.”