Archive for September, 2017
Trump begins to alter American life
Sep 29th
Trump speech to refocus on rolling back regulations
Sep 27th
From: Washington Examiner | Daily on Energy
by John Siciliano and Josh Seigel
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PRUITT’S NEW ‘SMART’ POLICY: The EPA is gearing up to re-engage with the energy industry under a new program it has dubbed “Smart Sectors” with the primary focus of reducing regulations.
EPA’s Office of Policy quietly launched the new program in a Federal Register notice published Tuesday.
White House Regulatory Office Fully Staffed
Sep 15th
From: Bloomberg/BNA
By Cheryl Bolen
The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is now fully staffed with four political appointees to help Administrator Neomi Rao fulfill the president’s deregulatory agenda.
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Finally, Dominic Mancini, who had been serving as acting administrator before Rao’s confirmation, will stay on as deputy administrator.
What Is Trump’s Regulatory Office Doing? Who Knows
Sep 14th
From: Bloomberg View
The nation’s clearinghouse for federal regulations doesn’t have a website. That’s wrong.
by Cass R. Sunstein
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In addition, OIRA oversees deregulation. It has to be on board if an agency wants to eliminate expensive requirements or to give real relief to small business.
The office is also in charge of the Paperwork Reduction Act, which means that whenever a federal agency asks Americans to fill out forms, OIRA must give its assent. It plays a major role in protecting online privacy, in overseeing the collection of statistics, and in promoting international regulatory cooperation — as, for example, by reducing trade barriers between the U.S. and Europe, Canada, and Mexico. It’s a little office, with about 45 employees, but it’s the cockpit of the American regulatory state.
SEC Staff Continues to Work on Potential Amendments to the “Loan Provision” Concerning Auditor Independence
Sep 13th
From: Lexology
Vedder Price PC
According to the SEC’s updated 2017 regulatory agenda, a potential amendment to the so-called “Loan Provision” of Regulation S-X, regarding the impact of loans or debtor-creditor relationships on auditor independence, is in the “final rule stage,” with the SEC’s Office of Chief Accountant considering issuing a recommendation that the SEC amend the Loan Provision. The regulatory agenda, which is available on the “Reginfo.gov” website maintained by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (part of the Office of Management and Budget), is a nonbinding indicator of the rulemaking plans of the SEC’s chairman and staff.
OIRA Directs Agencies To Put Forth Regulatory Cost Caps, Expects Cuts
Sep 12th
From: Inside Health Policy
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Bruce Levinson, senior vice president of regulatory intervention at the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, told Inside
Health Policy the memo formalizes the process laid out in Trump’s executive orders which he said it does “in a
beautifully simple way.” Levinson added that the memo is “avoiding irony” by “not creating a paperwork intensive
process to kill paperwork.”
Levinson argued that the memo should not take anyone by surprise, and that agencies should have expected this, given
Trump’s EOs.
OMB Issues Data Call, Guidance on Regulatory Agendas
Sep 6th
From: FEDWeek | Federal Manager’s Daily Report
OMB has told agencies to submit by September 18 their Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, stressing that they are to “give particular attention” to a Trump administration executive order on reducing regulations and the costs they impose.
In particular, OMB said, that order requires agencies to identify offsetting cost reductions by reducing regulations for each regulation that imposes a new cost. “In its Agenda, an agency should counterbalance the costs of anticipated regulatory actions issued within the fiscal year with cost savings from anticipated deregulatory actions in order to demonstrate anticipated compliance with its total incremental cost allowance,” OMB said.
Neomi Rao, Director, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs: Washington’s new regulatory czar
Sep 5th
From: Politico | Politico 50 List
Danny Vinik
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Whether or not that theory gets tested, her fingerprints will be all over Trump’s deregulatory agenda. As head of OIRA, Rao will scrutinize all significant regulations the Trump administration proposes, ensuring that agencies stick to the White House’s agenda. She is also responsible for implementing Trump’s executive orders directing agencies to repeal two regulations for each significant one they issue, and to draw up plans for regulatory reform. For Rao, who spent a year working in the George W. Bush administration and later fought to rename George Mason’s law school in honor of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the appointment puts her in a prime position to actually slash what she calls the “regulatory burden.”