President Biden was recently called upon to roll back newly proposed rules that raise burdensome and costly greenhouse gas emission requirements for small businesses competing for federal contracts.
Biden Calls for End of Regulations on Small Businesses
The call came from Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, a ranking member of the Senate Small Business Committee, who wrote the Biden administration a detailed letter outlining the issues with the new rule. It explains concerns about the additional financial burden the new rules will place on small businesses as they face rising inflation and supply chain disruptions.
Impact of the new rules on small businesses
The new rule was proposed last November by the Federal Acquisition Regulations Council, which consists of the General Services Administration, the Department of Defense, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Federal contractors are required to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risks. We also need to set science-based targets to reduce emissions.
Senator Ernst did not hold back when commenting on the new rules. SBC Senate website“In addition to being confusing, contradictory, and inconsistent with existing, long-standing federal contract standards, the proposed rule would have a negative effect on small businesses, particularly those the administration claims to support. It will disproportionately harm small businesses, including those in poor positions, with wider consequences: adversely affect the industrial base of small businesses, affect national security posture and national economies. “
Cost of new rules ‘significantly underestimated’
Senator Ernst’s concerns stem from the estimated total costs of implementing the rule for small businesses, estimated at more than $103 million in the first year alone.
Continued enforcement of the rule beyond the first year could cost more than $62 million over the next few years, but this and an estimated $103 million are the costs the new rule will cost small businesses. It is considered to be “significantly underestimating” the overall impact.
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