|
|
ADMINISTRATION FACES NEW QUERIES FROM
DEMOCRATS OVER RULE REVIEWS
_______________________________________________
Date: July 27, 2007 -
The Bush administration is facing new questions from key
Democratic lawmakers over its process for developing and reviewing EPA and other
agencies’ regulations, which critics charge is delayed by “excessive” political
oversight.
Several Democratic senators, including presidential
contender Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), are seeking assurances from former Rep. Jim
Nussle (R-IA), the new nominee to head the White House Office of Management
& Budget (OMB), that he will ensure transparency in OMB review of EPA and
others agencies’ proposed rules and guidance
documents.
At the same time, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of
the House Oversight and Governmental Affairs Committee, is asking the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the effect OMB review procedures have
on the timeliness of agency actions. Relevant documents are available on
InsideEPA.com.
The questioning underscores Democratic lawmakers’
concern over Executive Order (E.O.) 13422, which increases OMB’s oversight power
over federal regulatory activities. An amendment to block funding to implement
the order, backed by Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC), was added to the Financial
Services and General Government appropriations bill before it passed the House
last month. A similar provision was struck from the same bill during a Senate
markup July 12.
E.O. 13422, issued in January, amends the Clinton-era
E.O. 12866, which in 1993 gave OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs (OIRA) federal regulatory review responsibility. The new order gives
OIRA the power to review some agency guidance documents as well as proposed
rulemakings, and emphasizes that agencies should justify proposed rules by
referring to the so-called market failure the proposal is intended to address.
Watchdog groups and congressional critics have said the order provides an avenue
for behind-the-scenes deregulation that is not open to public
scrutiny.
At a July 24 Senate Homeland Security & Government
Affairs Committee hearing, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) asked Nussle how he planned to
oversee OIRA’s regulatory review process. After the hearing Obama submitted
written questions asking Nussle to explain his plan to protect the rulemaking
process from “excessive politicization.”
During the July 24 hearing, Levin said OIRA has
circumvented proper procedure “by establishing a process of informally reviewing
agency proposed rules before the proposed rule is formally presented to OIRA.
Changes that are made because of these informal reviews are not disclosed to the
public, although the executive order does not make a distinction between changes
based on formal presentation or informal presentations by an agency to
OIRA.”
Nussle responded by saying, “I’d be happy to work with
you, but to jump into the middle of legal interpretation now would be a
challenge for me.” He added, “I’ve been made aware this is an area of concern,
[but] since I’m not in the job yet I can just say I’ll take a look at
it.”
Even as the Senate is questioning Nussle, Waxman wrote a
letter July 13 requesting a GAO report on the effect that federal agencies’
interactions with OIRA have on the timeliness of
rulemakings.
“Agencies must issue strong and effective rules in a
timely manner to carry out congressional directives and respond to pressing
problems,” Waxman says in his letter. “It would be problematic if the numerous
layers of analysis and review were playing a role in delaying and weakening
agency rules.” He points specifically to EPA’s long-delayed update of its air
quality standard for particulate matter, which he notes “raise[s] questions
about how the complexity of the regulatory process and OMB’s role in the process
may be affecting the timing and outcome of agency
rules.”
Waxman also asks GAO to examine how open to scrutiny
OIRA review procedures are for Congress and the public. “The increasing lack of
transparency in these interactions between agencies and OIRA enhance the need
for a GAO evaluation of this process,” the letter says. It does not give GAO a
deadline for completing the report.
Source: Inside EPA via
InsideEPA.com
Date: July 27, 2007
Issue: Vol. 28, No. 30
© Inside
INSIDEEPA-28-30-12
Robert C.
Weaver
Kelly & Weaver
P.C.
Suite700
202 797-7100, fax
939-6969