The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been putting increasing pressure on the manufacturing sector to comply with regulations that promote a cleaner environment and safer conditions for workers. However, a 2012 study by the National Association of Manufacturers proposes that new EPA regulations may cost industries billions of dollars and eliminate more than 1 million U.S. jobs. Read on to discover how regulations of the EPA affect manufacturing and how this ultimately affects you.
EPA regulations are necessary to keep industries in check, but apparent over-regulation spells bad news for the manufacturing sector. According to a study by the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation, more than 2,100 regulations have been put into place which affect the growth of manufacturing, and more than 900 of these were created by the EPA. Of these EPA rules, more than 100 are major regulations. Growth is impeded when manufacturers must spend large amounts of time and money changing equipment, completing documentation and performing other tasks to comply with the new regulations.
The EPA regulations affecting the manufacturing industry include, but are not limited to, the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule, Coal Ash Rule, Boiler MACT Rule and Utility MACT Rule. The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone, particulate matter and sulfur dioxide also affect industry, requiring manufacturers to control their emissions. Many agree that these rules are important, but applying new regulations during a time of economic recession could seriously hinder industrial growth.
The vast majority of segments in the manufacturing industry are affected by regulations such as these. If you work in a chemical manufacturing plant, metal fabricator, printing facility, pharmaceutical production facility or food processing plant, your facility must comply with increasingly strict EPA regulations. Although the regulations have good intentions, the financial costs of compliance and loss of jobs may far outweigh the benefits in the long run.
Even if you do not work in the manufacturing industry, the effects of these regulations trickle down into everyday life. All manufactured products, from steel and medicine to processed foods, could increase in price if EPA regulations prove too costly for manufacturers to meet. According to NAM president Jay Timmons, manufacturing goods in the United States is roughly 20 percent more expensive than it is in our trading partner nations. EPA regulations on manufacturing also affect the international trade of manufactured goods, making this an important issue for all United States citizens.
The Environmental Protection Agency works to create cleaner manufacturing, but the government agency may be doing more harm than good. Because the EPA affects manufacturing immensely, manufacturers are responding by meeting with the EPA and taking issues to court when necessary. Industry leaders hope they can come to an understanding with the EPA in order to protect U.S. manufacturing.
(Photo courtesy of tiverylucky / freedigitalphotos.net)
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