The Honorable Mark Meadows
U.S. House of Representatives
1024 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Congressman Meadows,
On behalf of National Taxpayers Union (NTU) and our members across the county, I write to express support for your amendment to H.R. 4, the “Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2018.” Your amendment, which is based upon the “Revamping American Infrastructure Act,” will make regulatory compliance more efficient for rules established by the FAA. Federal regulations frequently have the same effect as a tax increase by hiking costs on businesses and can have negative economic consequences. Far too often, heavy-handed rules punish certain industries and fail to yield cost-effective outcomes.
However, this amendment codifies Executive Order No. 12866, issued by President Clinton and retained by Presidents Bush and Obama, which instructs agencies, wherever possible, to specify performance objectives, rather than behavior, in crafting new regulations. As such, it encourages agencies to harmonize their regulatory activities and consider regulatory approaches that limit possible burdens. Importantly, this amendment would not weaken safety standards as it requires an equal or higher degree of safety to protect the travelling public.
While the Department of Transportation has made recent progress in adopting performance based standards, more must be done at the department sub-agencies, like the FAA. Congress has a responsibility to ensure the Executive branch crafts regulations that are clear, concise, and have a stated purpose. We thank you for introducing this bipartisan amendment and hope it will be included in H.R. 4.
Sincerely,
Thomas Aiello
Policy and Government Affairs Associate