^®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week

The Federal Information Triangle: Sustaining Actions
This month, four years ago, CRE published in Inside EPA the emergence of the Federal Information Triangle, consisting of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs(OIRA) at the apex, and the Paperwork Reduction Act at one base, and the Data Quality Act at the other base. See The Federal Information Triangle.

The Paperwork Reduction Act controls the information coming into the government, the Data Quality Act controls the information leaving the government and OMB controls the process.

Actions can be taken to sustain all three points of the Federal Information Triangle.

First,OIRA: In the absence of any personnel increases, OIRA should be shielded from additional staff reductions.

Second, the Paperwork Reduction Act: should be augmented by not relying solely upon OMB to be its enforcer, but instead, the public at large by making its certification process judicially reviewable, See The Paperwork Reduction Act Certification Process: The Sarbanes-Oxley For The Public Sector.

Third, the Data Quality Act: a number of legal actions should be instituted in different judicial circuits to establish the reviewability of the Act.

To review a more complete roster of actions that can be taken to improve the rulemaking process see Unfinished Business

Particular attention should be accorded to reviving ACUS, the Administrative Conference of the US, see: