As Republicans in Congress turn to jobs and the economic recovery as their number one priority, it’s no suprise that their number one obstacle is the EPA.

According to a new report based on a survey released by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), EPA has more regulations that impede businesses’ ability to operate than any other federal agency.

“Between Greenhouse Gas regulations through the Clean Air Act, Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology Standards and National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone…the Environmental Protection Agency’s onerous regulatory agenda was perceived as the greatest threat to business,” says the report.

Here is an article on the survey results, which appeared as an update in this morning’s Orange County Register:

The Environmental Protection Agency is the biggest barrier to doing business in the U.S., according to an analysis of a congressional survey.

The issue is timely because of the emphasis on U.S. businesses creating jobs to ease the 9% unemployment rate.

The authors analyzed responses to a survey sent to businesses, trade groups and think tanks by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., new chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Issa asked respondents to identify the government regulations that most impede their ability to do business.

He received responses from 113 organizations and 82 specifically mentioned EPA regulations, Green and Alaghebandian wrote. The responses contained 651 complaints, 334 – 51% – of which are about the EPA. The next closest was Department of Labor, 8%, and Health and Human Services, 7%.

“Between Greenhouse Gas regulations through the Clean Air Act, Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology Standards and National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone…the Environmental Protection Agency’s onerous regulatory agenda was perceived as the greatest threat to business,”  the authors wrote.

The authors acknowledge that their methodology was imperfect because responses were in different formats and amount of detail.

It’s worth noting that Issa’s request related only to federal regulations. California has additional business regulations, and its environmental rules are among the toughest in the nation and go further than some federal regulations.