Obama gives House speaker cost estimates for seven regulations

Acceding to a demand issued last week by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, President Obama on Tuesday sent the Republican leader cost estimates for seven pending regulations, though he challenged the assumptions behind the request.

On Aug. 26, Boehner sent Obama a letter asking for cost estimates, by Labor Day, of any pending regulation expected to cost more than $1 billion.

Obama, in a letter Tuesday, replied by reminding the speaker that many proposed regulations are never finally promulgated. He also stated that "economically significant rules reviewed by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs were actually higher in 2007 and 2008 than in the first two years of my administration. And in 2009 and 2010, the benefits of such rules -- including not only monetary savings but also lives saved and illnesses prevented -- exceeded the costs by tens of billions of dollars."

As an appendix, however, Obama supplied cost estimates for four regulations pending at the Environmental Protection Agency and three from the Transportation Department. They are:

Agency/Subagency	Title	Primary Cost Estimate
EPA/AR	Reconsideration of the 2008 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards	$19-$90 Billion
EPA/AR	National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units	$10 Billion
EPA/AR	National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Major Source Industrial, Commercial & Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters	$3 Billion
EPA/SWER	Standards for the Management of Coal Combustion Residuals Generated by Commercial Electric Power Producers	$0.6-$1.5 Billion
DOT/NHTSA	Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 111, Rearview Mirrors	$2 Billion
DOT/FMCSA	Electronic On-Board Recorders and Hours of Service Supporting Documents	$2 Billion
DOT/FMCSA	Hours of Service	$1 Billion