news

As Members of the Small Business Committee, we understand that complying with Federal, state, and local regulations can be burdensome for small business owners. And that is why Congress created the Office of Advocacy to ensure that Federal agencies are taking the views of small businesses into consideration throughout the rule-writing process.
In our oversight role, we can send letters, hold hearings, and request meetings in an effort to hold agencies accountable to the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

The Department of Energy is required under the bipartisan Energy Policy and Conservation Act to establish energy conservation standards for approximately 60 consumer products and reevaluate them every six years.

Unfortunately, the previous Administration violated the law, and missed 26 deadlines, including one for distribution transformers.

Don’t be fooled by some of the rhetoric you may hear today. The Trump DOE was sued, and as part of a court settlement, the Biden Administration is required to review these long overdue standards.

This isn’t a case of federal overreach. The reality is the Trump delays hurt small businesses, costing them more to do business.
Since taking office, the Biden Administration has issued efficiency standards for more than 20 product categories, saving Americans $570 billion and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 2.4 billion metric tons over 30 years. That translates into significant energy savings for small businesses.

Today, I hope to have a productive discussion about energy conservation standards that lower energy bills for small businesses.
And I would also like to learn more about the steps that the Department of Energy is taking to consider small businesses throughout their rule-writing process, as well as help them comply with the new standards.

Maybe in the near future, we can bring in the federal agencies to hear directly from them to give them an opportunity to explain their thinking.

I would like to request that the written testimony of Andrew de Laski, the Executive Director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, be entered into the record.