NRCA Supports Regulatory Reform Legislation
Unemployment in the construction industry exceeds 13 percent, and the outlook for
economic growth in our industry remains uncertain at best. Any hope of resuming
significant job creation in the roofing industry is being jeopardized by an avalanche
of paralyzing federal regulations. Employers in the roofing industry face an unprecedented
combination of regulations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA), Department of Labor, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and other federal
agencies. In addition, employers face great uncertainty regarding thousands of pages
of regulations to implement the fatally flawed health care law, which will impose
new government mandates on employers beginning in 2014.
One particularly onerous action comes from OSHA, which issued a fall protection
enforcement directive that will hinder rather than improve workplace safety in residential
construction, as well as cause widespread disruption within our industry. This new
policy and the cumulative burden of all new regulations is highly disruptive, and
NRCA supports the following regulatory reform bills to provide small businesses
with badly needed regulatory relief and the ability to create jobs:
Regulatory Moratorium and Jobs Preservation Act (H.R. 2898/S. 1438): This legislation
by Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) would implement a moratorium
on major federal regulations (those estimated to cost $100 million or more per year)
that would remain in place as long as unemployment remains above 7.8 percent. This
"time-out" on regulations applies to rules issued by all executive branch agencies
and independent regulatory agencies, such as the NLRB, but would not apply to rules
that address imminent threats to public health and other emergencies. By putting
burdensome new regulations on hold, this legislation would give employers the certainty
they need to begin creating jobs again.
Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act (H.R. 527/S. 474): This legislation by Rep.
Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) will strengthen the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (RFA), which requires federal agencies to consider the effects of
proposed regulations on small businesses and consider the least burdensome form
of regulation. Given the current explosion of regulation, it is obvious there are
gaps in the law that must be reformed so the RFA can again ensure the interests
of small businesses are protected from burdensome regulations in the future.
Regulatory Accountability Act (H.R. 3010/S. 1606): This legislation is sponsored
by Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine),
as well as Smith and Reps. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Howard Coble (R-N.C.),
and would update the regulatory process that has been in place for 65 years under
the Administrative Procedures Act. Among other things, it would hold agencies more
accountable by providing for on-the-record administrative hearings for the most
costly regulations and a more rigorous test in legal challenges to regulations.
(October 2011)