WASHINGTON - The chairman of the newly formed Alliance for Reasonable Regulation complained Jan. 31 to Congress that America does not have a system to use its limited resources for the benefit of the environment or the public. Jerry Jasinowski, also president of the National Association of Manufacturers, testified before the House Science Committee that in 1993, the cost of federal regulatory decisions totaled $581 billion, or more than $5,000 per family.
Jasinowski and others appeared in support of Title 3 of House Resolution 9, the main vehicle for the risk assessment/cost-benefit analysis requirements for legislation as outlined in the Republican Contract With America. The new GOP majority in the House of Representatives has placed a number of reform measures under the contract's umbrella as legislative goals.
``Americans cannot afford poorly targeted, inefficient regulations that achieve only marginal risk-reduction benefits at an excessive cost,'' Jasinowski noted before the committee, chaired by Rep. Rob Walker, R-Pa.
ARR, an industry coalition with 850 corporate members, including the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. of Washington, is urging federal regulatory reform to include risk assessment and economic analysis.
