Do you think a skyscraper could last nearly a hundred years, remain functional, look good - and be built in 411 days? Well the builders of the Empire State Building accomplished just that; construction began on March 17, 1930 and was completed May 1, 1931.
That's one streamlined process!
Can you imagine how long it would take today to build the same exact building, with all the regulations and red tape?
And yet winds of change are currently blowing through regulations on all levels, including environmental regulations, which will be diminished to some extent in the near future. Meanwhile, as this attracts a lot of noise in the popular media, when you listen to industry news you'll pick up different and more pleasant themes.
The different themes of regulation rollback are along the lines of:
"long overdue," (National Mining Association), or that they
relieve "undue pressure" (West Virginia Coal Association), or they
answer a "clear message" for affordable energy (Associated Press).
Overall, and not surprisingly, the reception for changing and reducing environmental regulations is quite positive in large industries. But nothing is locked in yet, changes are still proposals, and between now and whenever they're finalized, there will likely be bargaining, arguing, and (the way the U.S. operates) a few lawsuits too.
What will the view look like for the paper industry in the coming year(s)?
If all goes well, simpler compliance will be one welcome thing.
With these new proposed regulations, power, power regulations, and power supply will hopefully be simpler due to reduced red tape.
WV Coal Miners, who supply much of the coal for power plants around the nation, are praising the rollback of "anti-coal regulations". And their glowing opinion of this simpler compliance is reflected across the energy sector at large.
Also, simpler compliance and reporting moves nicely forward into cost savings - sometimes significant cost savings, which as everyone knows helps balance budgets. For example, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) clarifies just how burdensome this cost of regulations is:
- Cost of federal regulations to the U.S. economy: $3.079 Trillion
- Increase in regulatory compliance costs since 2012: $465 Billion
- Average annual compliance costs for a[n average] U.S. firm: $277,000
- Average per employee cost of regulations for manufacturers: $29,000
Personally, these numbers seem understated, but it naturally varies by industry and location. What's staggering about these figures is the second point above: the increase in regulatory compliance costs since 2012 (perhaps to no one's surprise).
Medium-sized business (in the manufacturing field, but not in the pulp and paper industry) are often forced out of the market due to environmental and regulatory compliance costs. This alone, if eased up, can transform medium-sized businesses, and therefore has some potential in a mill.
So hopefully some form of reduced and simplified regulations will show up sooner rather than later.
But with so much yet to be determined, one thing is for sure: no matter what federal rules are cut, state and local regulations still need to be adhered to. And much, I think will also be determined by the relations the mill has with the local community. Cultivate good habits and they'll pay off, especially now.
Besides, all of us want to go home to and live in cities with clean water and clean air.
And in the end, hopefully the NAMs astronomical figures of the cost of compliance can be reduced in the coming years, as it'd certainly be nice if those compliance costs lowered and stayed that way.
We can but wait.
Meanwhile, enjoy your spring weather.
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