Obama proposes revamping regulations to aid businesses

Oil spill prevention requirements will no longer apply to spilled milk. Gasoline pumps wouldn’t need devices for trapping vapor pollutants, and there would be fewer bureaucratic hurdles for doctors who want to dispense medical advice to a distant patient.

These were among hundreds of existing regulations that the Obama administration said Thursday it wants to revamp or eliminate in a government-wide effort to ease burdens on businesses. Overall, the drive would save hundreds of millions of dollars annually for companies, governments and individuals and eliminate millions of hours of paperwork while maintaining health and safety protections for Americans, White House officials said.

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“The president believes we need to be very careful to make sure small businesses have room to grow,” said Cass Sunstein, President Obama’s regulatory chief, who described the plans in a speech to the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

The effort was described in hundreds of pages posted online by 30 agencies and departments, at points vague or thick with legalistic references to sections of regulatory codes. The scope was vast: The Defense Department said it is reviewing limitations on former members of the military wearing uniforms; the Transportation Department described a review of consumer protection guidelines for air travelers; and the Food and Drug Administration said it is revising food labeling rules.

Republicans in Congress have also announced plans to reduce federal regulations. House leaders pledged Thursday that they would approve legislation to require congressional approval of any government rule that “will have a significant impact on the economy.” And Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., who chairs a House investigative subcommittee, said he has summoned Sunstein to testify to his upcoming panel to review the administration’s proposed changes.

There was little immediate outside criticism of the specific changes the White House was proposing — coupled with little expectation among groups, right or left — that the effort would have a dramatic impact.

Business organizations said that they were less concerned with existing rules than with new, proposed regulations, such as Environmental Protection Agency plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

“We have often already priced in existing regulations and sometimes already made the capital investments to comply,” said Rosario Palmieri, vice president for regulatory policy for the National Association of Manufacturers. “The new, costly burdens often have greater impact and are a greater threat to job creation and competitiveness.”

The changes described Thursday would not affect the EPA’s high-profile greenhouse gas effort.

On the other side, consumer and liberal groups worried that the administration was tilting away from the more important task of creating jobs and protecting the environment. Although the effort described Thursday includes proposed strengthening of some regulations — like a possible plan to require rear cameras on trash trucks — the drive is focused on “cost reduction and burden reduction,” Sunstein said.