Skip to content
Home » Blog » President Signs Executive Order Addressing Regulation Concerns

President Signs Executive Order Addressing Regulation Concerns

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor

While speakers at a heavy-duty aftermarket event in Las Vegas were discussing how concern about government regulations has given business pause, President Obama yesterday signed an executive order aimed at tackling criticism that regulations are stifling business and the economy.

The executive order requires that regulations be written keeping in mind the need to promote economic growth and job creation. It orders a government-wide review of regulations to remove outdated ones that stifle job creation and make the economy less competitive.

The executive order begins:

“Our regulatory system must protect public health, welfare, safety, and our environment while promoting economic growth, innovation, competitiveness, and job creation. It must be based on the best available science. It must allow for public participation and an open exchange of ideas. It must promote predictability and reduce uncertainty. It must identify and use the best, most innovative, and least burdensome tools for achieving regulatory ends. It must take into account benefits and costs, both quantitative and qualitative. It must ensure that regulations are accessible, consistent, written in plain language, and easy to understand. It must measure, and seek to improve, the actual results of regulatory requirements.”

House Republicans had planned to make an extensive review of federal regulations their next major priority after an attempt to repeal Obama’s healthcare law.

In the Wall Street Journal

In an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal,, President Obama wrote, that sometimes, government rules “have gotten out of balance, placing unreasonable burdens on business…. At other times, we have failed to meet our basic responsibility to protect the public interest, leading to disastrous consequences. Such was the case in the run-up to the financial crisis from which we are still recovering.”

“Over the past two years, the goal of my administration has been to strike the right balance. And today, I am signing an executive order that makes clear that this is the operating principle of our government,” he wrote.

“As the executive order I am signing makes clear, we are seeking more affordable, less intrusive means to achieve the same ends-giving careful consideration to benefits and costs. This means writing rules with more input from experts, businesses and ordinary citizens.”

“We are also making it our mission to root out regulations that conflict, that are not worth the cost, or that are just plain dumb,” he wrote. He gave as an example the artificial sweetener saccharin. Although the FDA considers it safe for people to eat, the EPA made companies treat saccharin like other dangerous chemicals. “Well, if it goes in your coffee, it is not hazardous waste,” the President wrote. “The EPA wisely eliminated this rule last month.”

At Aftermarket Week

During Heavy Duty Dialogue Monday, sponsored by the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association, Donald Broughton with Avondale Partners said one of the “ghouls” to be concerned about was that “What Obama can no longer accomplish legislatively, he will try to accomplish through regulation, which can be even more difficult to undo.”

Martin Regalia, chief economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, also mentioned regulations during his presentation during Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week Tuesday in Las Vegas.

“At least in Vegas they post the odds,” he said. “Businesses in the past couple of years have had to play a game with varying odds. We didn’t know what the regulatory or legislative or tax environment were going to bring. As a result many businesses decided not to play. Happily we are moving out of that time period. We had a tax bill passed recently that should help in that area, and we will be working with congress and we’re hoping going forward we can achieve an environment where we only have to evaluate the odds, not the vagaries of the political process.”

Obama also is scheduled next month to address the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Just last week, chamber President Thomas Donohue said, “We cannot allow this nation to move from a government of the people to a government of the regulators.”

You can read what Jack Lew, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, has to say about the executive order, as well as a memo on regulatory flexibility for small businesses,

Printer Friendly Version
Email This Story
RSS
Bookmark and Share

Government/Regulations: Related News

1/19/2011 – President Signs Executive Order Addressing Regulation Concerns

While speakers at a heavy-duty aftermarket event in Las Vegas were discussing how concern about government regulations has given business pause, President Obama yesterday signed an executive order aimed at tackling criticism that regulations are stifling business and the economy….
More

1/17/2011 – Legal Fight Against EOBRs Proceeds

With a proposal to expand the requirement for electronic onboard recorders pending in the regulatory pipeline, owner-operators are fighting a legal action against the limited recorder requirement that is scheduled to take effect next year….
More

1/13/2011 – Cell-phone and Texting Laws Compiled

The American Trucking Associations State Laws Newsletter is reporting that rhe Governors Highway Safety Association has issued a compilation of state laws that limit or prohibit drivers’ use of cell phones or texting….
More

1/11/2011 – CSA Materials Available at Truckstops

Beginning January 12, brochures and pocket cards about the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new CSA enforcement program will be available for commercial motor vehicle drivers at hundreds of travel centers across the country….
More

1/11/2011 – Florida Extends Ease on Trucking Regs Through Jan 14

To give growers more time to haul their crops to packing facilities, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam is extending an executive order relaxing trucking restrictions through Jan. 14….
More

1/11/2011 – NC/VA Reciprocity Agreement Cancelled


The American Trucking Associations State Laws Newsletter is reporting that effective January 21, 2011, a permitting reciprocity agreement between North Carolina and Virginia will be cancelled….
More

1/7/2011 – OOIDA Says Mexican Border Deal Cost American Jobs, Provides No Reciprocal Benefits


The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association responded to the Obama Administration’s overture to the Mexican truckers saying if the proposed deal goes through, American drivers will lose work to Mexican carriers who do not bear similar compliance costs….
More

1/4/2011 – NHTSA Clears Path for Speed-Limiter Proposal

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is moving ahead on a rulemaking on speed limiters for heavy trucks, which had its start four years ago with petitions by two trucking interest groups….
More

12/31/2010 – OOIDA Wonders Why Speed Limiters Get the Green Light While Driver Training Standards Languish


An announcement to consider speed limiting heavy trucks to 68 mph has small business truckers wondering why this unproven science is moving forward while minimum training standards for drivers are still not on the books….
More

12/30/2010 – NHTSA to Begin Speed Limiter Rulemaking

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is going to begin a rulemaking that could lead to mandatory speed limiters on heavy trucks, as requested by American Trucking Associations and Road Safe America….
More

12/30/2010 – HOS Proposal Seems Likely to Lead to More Litigation

Early reaction to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposed changes in the hours of service rule indicates that the rule is likely to remain in litigation.

It is not clear what the proposed changes will do for safety. The agency says they will make trucking safer. The safety advocacy community says they do not go nearly far enough. The trucking industry says they go too far….
More

12/29/2010 – FMCSA Proposes Seven Changes in Hours Rule

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing seven changes in the current hours of service rules in order to, it says, give drivers the flexibility to take a break during the day and reduce the health and safety risks of long hours of work….
More

12/29/2010 – Safety Group says New HOS Proposal Doesn’t Go Far Enough, Canadians say it Could Have Been Worse


Reaction to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration latest HOS proposal isn’t exactly inspiring….
More

12/27/2010 – NY Judge Blocks Diesel-retrofit Mandate


A New York Supreme Court judge recently blocked a Department of Environmental Conservation mandate requiring the owners of heavy-duty diesel vehicles to retrofit their fleets with costly new equipment….
More

12/23/2010 – FMCSA Posts Proposed HOS Revisions

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has posted long-awaited proposed revisions to the hours of service rule….
More

12/22/2010 – U.S. DOT Releases Latest “Faces of Distracted Driving” Video

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today released the latest video in the Department of Transportation’s “Faces of Distracted Driving” series….
More

12/22/2010 – Trucking Groups Say Port Registries Violate Federal Law


The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), the New Jersey Motor Truck Association and the Port Drivers Federation 18 have filed a petition asking the Department of Transportation (DOT) for a determination that mandatory drayage truck registries conducted by various ports and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) are pre-empted by federal law….
More

12/20/2010 – FMCSA Proposes Middle Approach to Cell Phone Restriction


The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has chosen the middle path in its proposal to restrict cell phone use by commercial drivers.

The proposal essentially says that truck and bus drivers could only use a hands-free phone while driving. It would prohibit a driver from reaching for, dialing or holding a mobile phone while the truck is moving….
More

12/20/2010 – Heavy Trucks Forced back onto Maine State Highways

As of midnight Friday Dec. 17, the legal limit weight limit on I-295, I-395 and portions of I-95 dropped back to 80,000 pounds following the failure of the Senate to pass the $1.1 trillion 2011 omnibus budget bill….
More

12/20/2010 – PacLease to Host Webinar on Lease Accounting Changes for Private Fleet Operators


PacLease will hold a webinar on Jan. 6, 2011, to discuss proposed new lease accounting standards that will be finalized later in the year. The webinar is geared for private fleet operators….
More

12/20/2010 – Hours Proposal Cleared by OMB

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s hours of service proposal was cleared by the Office of Management and Budget on Friday, which means that it is on track to be published before the end of the year as the agency expects….
More

12/17/2010 – DOT Proposes Rule to Ban Hand-Held Cell Phone Use for Commercial Truck and Bus Drivers


The U.S. Department of Transportation today proposed a new safety regulation that would specifically prohibit interstate commercial truck and bus drivers from using hand-held cell phones while operating a commercial motor vehicle….
More

12/17/2010 – LA Harbor Commission Closes Clean Truck Class-7 Loophole

The Los Angeles Harbor Commission voted Thursday to include Class 7 trucks in the same emissions rules that already apply to Class 8 trucks….
More

12/15/2010 – Senators Keep Heavy-Truck Pilot Alive, for Now

Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., have put language into pending legislation that would permit a one-year extension of the pilot program that exempts federal highways in Maine and Vermont from the 80,000-pound truck weight limit. …
More

12/14/2010 – Slowdown at CSA Website Caused by Data Download

If you tried to log on to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s CSA website yesterday and found it slow going, you were not alone.

Access to the web-based system was occasionally jammed as commercial interests tapped into the site and started downloading the entire database, an agency official said….
More

12/13/2010 – House Drops Truck Pilot in Maine, Vermont; Senate to Consider

The House passed a 9-month extension of the current federal highway program that would halt the heavy-truck pilot program in Maine and Vermont….
More

12/13/2010 – FMCSA Opens CSA Data to Public Following Court’s Denial of Suit

The next stage of the Federal Motor Carrier Administration’s CSA 2010 safety program went live over the weekend, after a federal appeals court denied a suit by several groups of small trucking companies to prevent release of CSA safety data….
More

12/10/2010 – Mica Selected Chairman of Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

To hardly anyone’s surprise, U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.) has been confirmed by vote of the House Republican Conference to serve as Chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in the 112th Congress….
More

12/9/2010 – Canadian Carriers Looking to Extended Tractor and Combo Lengths

The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) is proposing changes to Canada’s vehicle length rules to accommodate longer tractor wheelbases and longer over-all lengths for B-train combinations….
More

12/8/2010 – Court Ruling Pending in Suit to Stop Opening of CSA 2010 Data


The suit by several groups of small trucking companies against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new safety program, CSA 2010, has gone through the argument phase and is approaching a decision by the court….
More

12/7/2010 – FMCSA Appoints Three New Members to Medical Review Board

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has appointed three new medical experts to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Medical Review Board….
More

12/7/2010 – HOS Proposal Taking Longer than Expected at OMB

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s hours of service proposal is taking longer than expected….
More

12/6/2010 – Supporters of Higher Truck Weights Hope that Now is Their Time


Trucking and shipping interests are hoping the time is right for them to win long-sought relief from the 80,000-pound federal restriction on truck weights.

The restriction has resisted trucking’s best efforts for years, mainly due to opposition from the railroads and safety advocates but also because the trucking industry itself has been of two minds on the issue — some carriers want to run heavier loads, some don’t want the expense of the new equipment….
More