Published April 1980 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd A Potential Straitjacket Congress must keep a skeptical eye on proposals which would impose additional restraints on a society that already is inundated with regulations. Clearly there is a need for both economic and social regulations to protect citizens from potential abuse. But there is the danger of a regulation overdose. Thousands of regulations have been applied to all segments of society at the local, state, and federal levels of government. It has been estimated that federal regulations in 1979 cost nearly $103 billion. The expense of complying with these restraints in paperwork alone ranges from $25 to $32 billion a year, according to the Commission on Federal Paperwork, with the bulk of it borne by five million small businesses. There is no doubt, of course, that many regulations result in benefits to American citizens, most of which cannot be quantified in dollars. It is difficult to put a price tag on clean air and water, reduced noise levels, a safe work-place, and the like. But to regulate for regulation's sake is nonsense. An example of overzealous regulation is illustrated in the current debate over proposed standards for automobile bumpers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration believes bumpers should be heavy enough to withstand damage after 5 mile-per-hour head-on crashes. The agency defends this criterion even though safety is not a factor, and in defiance of two of its own benefit, cost studies showing that consumers could save millions of dollars if a lower standard were enacted. The Senate has passed my amendment to establish a 2.5 mile-per-hour bumper standard which would reduce the average weight of a car by 40 pounds, saving hundreds of millions of gallons of gasoline each model year. This standard also would protect 400 jobs at a Huntington plant that produces light-weight bumper systems. Because too many standards can lead to excessive regulation, Congress this year will study regulatory reform. It is one of the areas under scrutiny by the Senate Task Force on Small Business, which I established last month. Our society must not be bound in a straitjacket of regulations. April 2, 1980