“a benefit/cost analysis should be done of the teaching of Administrative Law”
Jun 22nd
From: Legal Planet
Does OIRA Live Up To Its Own Standards?
OIRA should conduct a cost-benefit analysis of its own activities and explore alternatives to its current oversight methods.
A White House office called OIRA polices regulations by other agencies in the executive branch. OIRA basically performs the role of a traditional regulator – it issues regulations that bind other agencies, and agencies need OIRA approval before they can issue their own regulations. Essentially, then OIRA regulates agencies like EPA the same way that those agencies regulate industry. Issuing regulatory mandates and permits is a very traditional form of regulation, often called command and control.
New Senator Seeks Regulatory Reforms
Jun 20th
Editor’s Note: “OIRA’s personnel contraints must be addressed. More specifically, sustaining necessary staff levels requires the active, directed use of the social entprepreneurial skills of the OIRA Senior Executive Service Corp.” —J. Tozzi, 63 Admin. L. Rev. (Special Edition) 37 (2011).
From: TRSA
As part of a larger coalition meeting, TRSA’s Jessica Skerritt recently met with Sen. Angus King (I-ME), one of a group of senators newly elected in 2012. However, Sen. King is no stranger to politics, having previously served two terms as governor of Maine.
Getting More Bang for the Regulatory Buck
Jun 17th
From: US News & World Report
The government needs to provide better analysis of new and old regulations.
The White House Office of Management and Budget recently published a draft report to Congress in which it estimated the overall benefits and costs of federal regulations. The OMB report cautioned about taking the estimates at face value, as it pointed out the numerous problems with them.
However, it omitted one crucial point: The OMB report did not estimate the actual benefits and costs. Instead, it summarized agencies’ best guesses as to how much their regulations would improve public health and safety. Yet, the poor quality of agencies’ regulatory analysis puts in doubt their ability to actually achieve the promised benefits.
Stealth Regulation: Addressing Agency Evasion of OIRA and the Administrative Procedure Act
Jun 6th
Via: Mercatus Center/George Mason University
Published in: Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy: Federalist Edition
By: John D. Graham , James Broughel
In theory, the regulatory system in the United States is a bi-lateral relationship between the will of Congress, as expressed in authorizing statutes, and the actions of agencies, ordered to implement the statutory mandates they receive.8
Assuming a statute is constitutional, the judiciary’s role is to ensure that the agencies’ actions are faithful to the statutes. The reality of the regulatory state is more complicated because of additional checks and balances imposed by Congress and the President. The APA and the OIRA review process are perhaps the two most important checks and balances added since the Progressive Era.
Can Moneyball Make States Better Regulators?
Jun 2nd
Editor’s Note: For information on the history of cost-benefit analysis, please see here at p. 41.
From: RegBlog, Penn Program on Regulation
Before a federal agency can issue a new regulation, it must usually prove that the benefits of the proposal justify its costs. In theory, this process makes vast swaths of the American regulatory regime more legitimate, efficient, and effective. But what about zoning, building codes, licensing requirements, and other state and local rules? These regulations, which can have significant impacts, rarely face the scrutiny of cost-benefit analysis.
New OMB Director Promises Fast Action on EPA Regulations
May 27th
Editor’s Note: In a new Politico article, Shaun Donovan, President’s pick to head OMB, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) parent organization, discussed his plans for acting on regulations.
From: Politico
Obama’s new regulatory czar
By: Edward-Isaac Dovere
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Donovan, the nominee to take over the Office of Management and Budget, won’t have a huge public profile, but will be key in shaping Obama’s legacy and advancing a progressive agenda through federal regulations.
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OECD Support for Centralized Regulatory Review
May 22nd
Editor’s Note: The Head of OECD’s Regulatory Policy Division delivered the presentationRegulatory Impact Analysis: An International Perspective” at a recent meeting in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia which is attached here. Below are three excerpts from the presentation.
From: Regulatory Impact Analysis: An International Perspective
By Nick Malyshev
RIA [Regulatory Impact Analysis] is seen as a useful tool in support of more efficient, effective, transparent and accountable policymaking
All countries, even those with many years experience with undertaking RIA and with very advanced RIA systems in place still experience problems with the quality and timeliness of RIA documentation.
Regulatory and Quasi-Regulatory Activity without OMB and Benefit-Cost Review
May 16th
From: Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy via Mercatus Center
This paper illustrates four types of regulatory and quasi-regulatory activities that are operating outside Office of Management and Budget and benefit-cost review: (1) agency issuance of quasi-regulatory documents such as memoranda, policy statements, and guidance documents; (2) agency approval of state regulatory policies under federal laws that authorize selective waiver of federal preemption of state regulation; (3) federal agency issuance of hazard determinations related to technologies, substances, and practices that impact the litigation and regulatory environment; and (4) federal agency decisions to enter into binding agreements with pro-litigants favoring certain regulatory outcomes, where settlements create nondiscretionary agency duties to initiate new rulemakings.
Why I don’t tell reporters everything I know: Cass Sunstein
May 15th
Editor’s Note: Professor Sunstein’s discussion of discretion below should read and asborbed by both reporters and officials.
From: The Oregonian
By Cass R. Sunstein
The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, which I attended last Saturday night, is an astonishing spectacle — a unique combination of journalists, government officials and celebrities. Amid the laughter and the conviviality, however, there is an uneasy undercurrent: Many journalists are disturbed that outside of an annual dinner, they cannot get a lot of access to those same officials.
Profile on Sally Katzen: Former Head of OIRA
Apr 28th
From: Notice and Comment, A Blog by the Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice
by Nina Hart
Notice and Comment Blogger Nina Hart recently had the opportunity to interview Sally Katzen, the former head of the Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) during the Clinton Administration. Below she shares insight on her administrative law experience and lessons in leadership.
An Unexpected Path