As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to hold hearings across the country on its proposal to regulate coal ash, a toxic by-product of coal combustion that contains lead, arsenic, and other toxics, industry representatives continue to make excuses and concoct ridiculous arguments for why coal ash regulation isn’t necessary.

Republicans are proposing a halt to all new major regulations unless they are first subject to the rules and procedures of Congress and passed by a vote.

This rollback-by-roll-call proposal is part of Republicans’ “Pledge to America” legislative agenda, unveiled today “at a news conference at a hardware store and lumberyard in Sterling, Va.,” according to The New York Times. (It’s ironic that Republicans chose a lumberyard to launch their plan to deconstruct government.)

Some agencies under the Obama administration have energetically laid out a clear rulemaking agenda, while others have been stymied by a variety of factors, according to a new OMB Watch report. The report, The Obama Approach to Public Protection: Rulemaking, was released today and evaluates the regulatory activity of several environmental, worker safety, and consumer protection agencies within the federal government.