Republican Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis will unveil legislation Wednesday to bar American adversaries from swaying U.S. policies by participating in federal rulemaking.
Lummis’ “Safeguarding U.S. Rulemaking Act” would block foreign adversaries as defined by the Secretary of Commerce from leaving public comments on U.S. rule proposals, which include China, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Russia and the Maduro Regime in Venezuela. The Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported that China left public comments on proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules, purportedly attempting to influence U.S. policy to benefit China.
Republican Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts is cosponsoring the bill, and Alabama Rep. Barry Moore will introduce the legislation in the House.
“The rulemaking process exists to give Americans a voice in their government, not to let foreign adversaries rig the system against us,” Lummis told the DCNF. “Our foreign adversaries cannot be trusted to submit comments in good faith, and we must shut down any avenue where they can influence our rulemaking process. China has pushed for stricter power plant rules to cripple American energy while doing the exact opposite at home to power their own economy. My bill ensures our regulatory process serves the American people, not communist regimes trying to preserve Biden-era regulations that undermine our energy independence and economic strength.”
Alabama Rep. Barry Moore will introduce the legislation in the House.
Lummis’ office noted that the Administrative Procedure Act allows a “loophole” for America’s foreign adversaries to try and sway U.S. policy through submitting public comments. The Safeguarding U.S. Rulemaking Act would close this “loophole” and ensure the regulatory process serves the American people and domestic interests, according to Lummis’ office.
Before finalizing a rule, federal agencies are required to allow “interested persons” the opportunity to submit comments, consider “relevant matter presented” and respond to “significant comments received during the period for public comment,” according to the Administrative Conference of the United States.
China commented on at least three different EPA rule rollback proposals, the DCNF previously reported, some of which included strict Biden-era emissions standards. Specifically, China urged the EPA to keep its emissions rules for coal- and oil-fired power plants, maintain greenhouse gas standards for fossil fuel plants in place and avoid imposing hurdles for foreign renewable fuel imports.
When the DCNF asked EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin what it means for China to align with former President Joe Biden’s energy policy, he said that it is “very telling” that China would want to keep a “Biden EPA rule in place.”
“When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) provides a public comment regarding one of our proposed rules, my first thought is that we should do the opposite of whatever they want us to do,” Zeldin told reporters on Oct. 28. “It’s pretty striking that the Chinese Communist Party would want us to keep a Biden EPA rule in place. It’s very telling, and I would say it only provides me more clarity that we’re on the right track [and] that we’re proposing regulatory action that makes America stronger and the CCP weaker.”
Notably, China is the world’s top polluter, is regularly generating new coal plants, and argued in one public comment that China hopes the Trump EPA will “prevent the impact of ‘out-of-control carbon emissions’ on the international trade environment.”
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