Archive for May, 2019
Trump administration readies draft plan to speed environmental permitting
May 23rd
From: Reuters
The Trump administration will complete a draft proposal to streamline environmental permitting for big infrastructure projects by next month, an administration official said on Wednesday, marking a key step in its controversial effort to cut red tape for industry over the objections of conservationists.
Ted Boling, associate director for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) at the White House Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ), said the draft rule to reform NEPA would be sent to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review in June, but did not disclose what changes the proposal would include.
White House updates rule-busting agenda
May 23rd
From: E&E
Niina Heikkinen, E&E News reporter
The White House this morning released its progress report on efforts to kill or curtail regulations across the government.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs released the biannual report, which tracks agencies’ short- and long-term regulatory goals, with little fanfare.
Regulatory Budget Stagnates
May 6th
From: American Action Forum
Dan Goldbeck, Dan Bosch
THIS WEEK’S REGULATORY PICTURE
One can describe “regulatory policy” in many ways: mundane, opaque, monotonous, complex, legalistic. The list goes on. In order to help provide a clearer and more straight-forward view into this world, the American Action Forum (AAF) will seek to provide a brief illustration of a notable regulatory trend we have identified in a given week. This week’s entry: The reinstatement of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) revised form EEO-1.
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OMB Expands FERC Actions Subject to Prepublication Review
May 2nd
From: Power & Pipes (Morgan, Lewis)
A recent policy statement from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) instructs departments and agencies—including independent agencies like FERC—to submit “guidance documents, general statements of policy, and interpretive rules” to the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for prepublication review. It also establishes guidelines for the OIRA to apply to properly classify regulatory actions and determine whether they are “major” rules for purposes of the Congressional Review Act (CRA). This major determination process will take full effect on May 11, 2019.