Create special committee, ACC asks Biden

Chris Jahn, president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), has written a letter to President Joe Biden requesting him to create an inter-agency policy committee (IPC) led by the director of the White House National Economic Council, to coordinate an economic impact analysis of regulations on the chemical industry and the broader economy.

The IPC would require all cabinet departments to evaluate the regulatory proposals by other federal agencies specifically to identify their impact on the ability and speed of administering the programs of those federal departments, especially the new responsibilities associated with implementing the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS & Science Act.

“President Biden needs to pay attention to the regulatory burden being placed on the chemical industry and the impact it has for us to manufacture in America and compete with international rivals, such as China,” Jahn said. “The current regulatory environment has led companies not to expand their US operations and could lead to a decrease in hiring, capital spending and investing in R&D.”

A recent survey of ACC members, the letter noted, found that over 75% said that their regulatory burden has risen over the past year, while 67%, 57% and nearly half respectively said that the current regulatory environment threatens their investment in clean energy, domestic semiconductor manufacturing, and healthcare. These are among the Biden administration’s top priorities.