Spring 2019 Data Call for the Update of the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions
Feb 11th
From: Neomi Rao, Administrator Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
This data call requests information for the compilation ofthe Spring 2019 Update of the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (“Agenda”). The Agenda provides important public notice and transparency about proposed regulatory and deregulatory actions within the Executive Branch. This process highlights agency priorities, promotes planning and coordination, and encourages public participation in the regulatory process.
Submissions to the Spring Update of the Agenda are due by March 6, 2019. Agencies should be prepared to brief the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on their regulatory reform priorities.
Cuts to Regulation Are Bringing Back Jobs
Feb 6th
From: The Heritage Foundation
An Analysis of Trump’s Policy Proposals in State of the Union Address
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Cuts to Regulation Are Bringing Back Jobs
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The 50-member staff of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs who review agency rulemaking is badly outnumbered by the hundreds of thousands of regulators who labor daily crafting rules. Congress should expand the resources of the office to improve regulatory oversight, as well as assert more of its own authority over runaway regulation.
—Diane Katz, senior research fellow in regulatory policy, Institute for Economic Freedom
American Coatings Association Submits Comments to OIRA on Canada and U.S. Regulatory Cooperation
Jan 30th
From: American Coatings Association
Last month, ACA submitted comments to the White House Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), in response to a Request for Information (RFI) seeking stakeholder input on how the Federal Government can reduce unnecessary regulatory differences under the auspices of the U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC). ACA’s comments identified three key areas for bilateral cooperation: uniform regulation of biocides; consistent hazard communication for labeling; and coordination and data sharing for chemical risk management.
With shutdown over, agency regulatory process soon to regain momentum
Jan 28th
From: Federal News Network
By Jory Heckman
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Bridget Dooling, a former deputy chief and senior policy analyst at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, now a research professor at George Washington University’s Regulatory Studies Center, said there may be some lag to proposed rules appearing in the Federal Register.
“Sometimes there’s some back-and-forth needed between the Federal Register staff and the agency staff that they’re dealing with. I wouldn’t expect on day one after the government opens that you would see everything that’s been held up published on that same day,” Dooling said in an interview Thursday. “It will take some time to get all those documents into shape for publication.”
A long shutdown hinders Trump’s deregulatory efforts
Jan 15th
From: The Hill | Opinion
By Bridget C.E. Dooling
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Less visible, however, is the absence of smaller and less public-facing entities such as the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which employs about 450 people. Nestled in the OMB is a small office, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), where I was part of the career staff until last year. An office that inspires colorful language, OIRA has been called “obscure but powerful” and the “cockpit of the regulatory state.” It has many functions, but the one that garners most public attention is its role in reviewing draft regulations before they are issued to the public.
2018: The Year in Regulation
Jan 8th
From: American Action Forum
Dan Bosch, Dan Goldbeck
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PAPERWORK
This past year was a net deregulatory one in terms of estimated costs, but across all final rules, estimated paperwork burdens increased by nearly 10 million hours. The primary reason for this disparity comes down to a single rule: The Department of Agriculture’s “National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard.” As seen above, this rule clocks in at number one in the “Costliest Rules” ranking with roughly $5.6 billion in present value costs. The 20.5 million hours of new paperwork requirements under the rule likely contributed heavily to this price tag. This rule is something of an outlier for the year, however, as the second most burdensome rule brings only 900,855 hours – a difference of roughly 19.6 million hours.
OIRA Oversight of the Regulatory Process is an Essential Government Function
Jan 3rd
From: Bloomberg Government
Rulemaking Goes Dark During Shutdown Over Spending Standoff
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The agency rulemaking process continues for funded or excepted agencies, a senior administration official said in an email to Bloomberg Government. OIRA is providing necessary support to those agencies and activities, consistent with law, the official said.
Introduction of business rules slows sharply under Trump
Dec 26th
From: Financial Times
Administration is also making progress in eliminating existing regulations
Kiran Stacey in Washington
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Government figures published by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs show that while the Trump administration is making progress on eliminating existing rules, the biggest change has been in the pace of new regulatory actions.
In the first two years of Mr Trump’s term in office, 54 regulations classified as “economically significant” — with an impact of $100m a year or more — have been issued.
Here’s A Year-End Roundup Of White House And Federal Agency Efforts To Streamline Guidance Documents
Dec 14th
From: Forbes
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Some revocations of rules or guidance can be quite obscure. In any event, there should be more attention given to reporting and inventorying guidance, best achieved in the current environment by a new executive order focused exclusively on guidance documents.
Interestingly, some of the highest-profile guidance that agencies have withdrawn or revoked did not appear on the agencies’ two-for-one tallies in either 2017 or 2018. In some cases, streamlining may amount to “rules about rules,” or guidance for guidance, whereby agencies rewrite or reinterpret former policy in a manner intended to reduce burdens. But here are some examples: