Better to regulate than not to interfere | News, Sports, Work

Recipes are a lot like sleep. As long as we get what we need, no one pays much attention to them. We don’t realize how important either can be until we miss them.

As perceived impediments to profitability, some business groups and politicians loyal to them have expressed a desire to eliminate regulation and “dismantle the administrative state.” Many such regulations are likely to be undermined by the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn the Chevron Deference rule (which would shift regulatory interpretation from enforcement to the courts).

That’s why when people start talking about deregulating health, environmental, or financial regulations in America, I always ask where they would start.

There is no doubt that well-intended laws and regulations can backfire and cause unintended consequences. However, compared to the total number, legislators and regulators get it right far more often than they get it wrong. This is because the regulatory process embodied in such laws requires solid science as a basis for regulation and input from both industry and the public.

To better understand this regulatory process and its effectiveness, it’s worth going back a half-century and seeing the benefits. (The data comes from each of the federal agencies responsible for overseeing health, safety, and environmental protection and is based on per capita rates.)

– Widespread adoption of the National Fire Protection Association code has led to a halving of fire deaths since 1978.

– Federal Aeronautics Administration regulations have reduced the number of air transportation fatalities (measured as fatalities per 100,000 flight hours) to one-quarter (1.50) of the 1960 number (6.00).

– Since the passage of the federal Coal Miners’ Safety Act in 1952, the number of deaths in coal mining has decreased tenfold (from 1.37 to 0.13 per 1,000 miners).

– Since the Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed in 1970, the overall number of workplace deaths has decreased five-fold (from 17.9 to 3.7 per 100,000 workers).

– The two most notable declines in car crash deaths came after regulatory requirements were introduced (seat belts in 1968 and air bags in 1998). In 1966, the rate was 5.50 (per 100 million miles driven), and in 2019, it had fallen to 1.13. The U.S. auto industry, which was nearly one-fifth of what it was before seat belts and air bags were introduced, protested that both of these factors would make new cars too expensive.

What about environmental regulations? The Clean Air Act and its regulations significantly reduced seven significant air pollutants after its enactment and three revisions.

Thanks to the ban on the use of this additive in gasoline, the concentration of lead in the air (responsible for damage to the brain and central nervous system in humans) is approaching zero.

– Sulfur dioxide emissions (which most fossil fuels need to reduce to slow acid rain) have been reduced by 90% since 1980.

– Reducing larger particulate matter (25% since 1990) and fine particulate matter (40% reduction) prevents 230,000 premature deaths and 75,000 cases of chronic bronchitis per year.

– Since 1980, emissions of ozone and nitrogen oxides, substances that seriously irritate the lungs, have been reduced by two-thirds.

So when someone says we need to get rid of “administrative state” regulations that undermine their profits, ask them which of those regulations is on their list.

John Frederick (www.johnjfrederick.com) writes about environmental issues twice a month.

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