Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)

(CNSNews.com) – As part of a congressional investigation into burdensome regulations, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is asking the business community for help in determining how certain government regulations can hurt job growth.

Issa cites the Obama administration’s own estimate that new regulations issued in 2010 are costing Americans an additional $28 billion and destroying thousands of jobs.

Issa, the incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a letter to 150 different business trade associations and companies in December asking how new regulations adopted in 2010 had affected the nation’s employers and employment.

The committee released the text of the letter on Tuesday.

“In fiscal year 2010, federal agencies promulgated 43 major new regulations,” the letter said. “These regulations ranged from new limits on ‘effluent’ discharges to new rules for Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations. The new limits on ‘effluent’ discharges from construction sites will cost $810.8 million annually resulting in the closure of 147 construction firms and the loss of 7,257 jobs.”

The Obama administration estimated the cost of the 43 new regulations to be approximately $28 billion -- "the highest single year increase in estimated burden on record, resulting in thousands of lost jobs,” the letter said. “This new burden is on top of the $1.75 trillion estimated burden of existing regulations.”

The committee did not provide a list of all the letter’s recipients, but Politico reported that the list includes Duke Energy, the Association of American Railroads, FMC Corp., Toyota, Bayer, the American Petroleum Institute, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), and the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA).

“The most pressing question the American people want answers to is, ‘Where are the jobs?’ There is something fundamentally flawed in embracing a premise that relies on attacking the largest employer in America: private industry,” Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella said in a statement.

“The anti-business policies of the past have hurt job creators, small and large,” Bardella said. “It’s in the interest of every American that we create a regulatory environment that fosters economic growth and makes U.S. companies globally competitive. Maybe this disdain for job creators is why the current policies in place have failed to create the type of long-term, permanent jobs the American people were promised.”

President Barack Obama, shown here at the White House on Monday, Dec. 13, 2010, updates the status of the tax compromise he struck with congressional Republicans. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“Moving forward, gaining insight from job creators who have felt shut-out of the policy process so that we have a better understanding about what regulatory barriers are standing in the way of job creation is something policymakers across the ideological spectrum should support,” said Bardella.

Issa is seeking input from business leaders.

“As a trade organization comprised of members that must comply with the regulatory state, I ask for your assistance in identifying existing and proposed regulations that have negatively impacted job growth in your members’ industry,” the letter concludes. “Additionally, suggestions on reforming identified regulations and the rulemaking process would be appreciated.”

According to the free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute, compliance with federal regulations currently costs $1.187 trillion, and it takes 157,000 pages to list all of the regulations.