Regulatory Transactions

From: The Hill/RegWatch

Oil industry frets over new smog standard

By Julian Hattem

The oil and gas industry is pushing back against an expected Obama administration rule to tighten smog standards that public health groups say could save thousands of lives.

Cities and towns are still struggling to comply with a 2008 standard, the industry argues, and any new regulations could amount to the equivalent of “closed-for-business signs” across as much as 97 percent of the places Americans live.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) first proposed new standards for ozone pollution in 2010, but the White House overrode the agency and delayed the standards, a decision met with scorn by environmental and public health groups.

From: The Berkeley Blog

by Dan Farber, professor of law

Just fill in the blanks, and you can save yourself the trouble of reading newspaper accounts about any new EPA action:

New EPA Regulations Spark Controversy

The Environmental Protection Agency today announced tough new regulations on [name of industry].  According to the agency, the regulations will save thousands of lives by reducing dangerous levels of [name of substance] pollution. The total cost of the regulations is estimated at $[number] billions. The regulations were sent to the White House last year, where they were stalled in the office of the “regulatory czar” until last week.

From: Mercatus Center/George Mason University

Regulation University

• Start Date: Friday, June 14, 2013
• End Date: Friday, June 14, 2013
• Time: Registration 11:30am, Lunch 12:00pm – 1:00pm
• Location: Rayburn House Office Building B-339
• Research Areas: Regulation

Concern over the impact of regulations on jobs is not new, but the efforts of federal agencies to forecast the likely impact of regulatory changes have never focused effectively on labor market impacts. This failure means that agency analysis misses several important ripple effects of regulation, in particular the economic cost of job displacement for workers of all ages.

Editor’s Note:  The author correctly highlights in the article below that FDA is required by OMB Circular A-4, Regulatory Analysis, “to analyze options that are not currently legal so as to inform the president and Congress when there are more efficient ways of solving a particular social problem than Congress had envisioned.”

From: Mercatus Center/George Mason University — Public Interest Comments, Docket No: FDA-2011-N-0921

Michael L. Marlow

Introduction

From: Regulation

By Susan E. Dudley

Last January 14th, the Environmental Protection Agency published a final rule in the Federal Register updating the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter. The rule reduces by 20 percent the allowable annual concentrations of fine particles less than 2.5 micrometers in size (PM 2.5), from the current 15.0 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) that was affirmed in 2006, to 12.0 μg/m3.

From: Investors Business Daily

By HENRY I. MILLER

Economic prospects for the nation remain dismal for the foreseeable future,  especially in the context of historical trends.

Following recessions, the economy usually comes roaring back — and the longer  and deeper the recession, the more robust economic growth tends to be as  productivity and job-growth surge.

But the recovery from the recession of the last decade has been anemic at  best, and is expected to remain comparatively weak at least through the  remainder of Obama’s second term.

From: The Hill/RegWatch

By Megan R. Wilson and Ben Goad

The Obama administration’s failure to release its legally required regulatory agenda has business groups worried that they could be blindsided by costly new federal rules.

Federal regulators are required to release a Unified Agenda in the spring and  fall — typically occurring in April and October — that details plans and anticipated deadlines for regulations.

But Obama officials have missed the spring deadline for the second year in a row, stoking anxiety for businesses that want to know what mandates and rules are coming down the pike.

From: RegBlog

Michael A. Livermore

Cost-benefit analysis, while embraced by both political parties over the course of the past three decades, is still feared by many progressives in the United States.  But as environmental concerns have spread around the world, this tool is lighting a path in many developing countries toward a new generation of environmental policies to protect public health, climate stability, and natural resources.  This new role for cost-benefit analysis challenges the sometimes stale and suffocating way in which discussions over cost-benefit analysis are often framed here at home.

Editor’s Note:  Another name for “Sue and Settle” is Regulation by Litigation.

From: RegBlog

Eric Lorber

Can private individuals and organizations use so-called “sue and settle” lawsuits to set federal environmental regulatory policy without going through the normal regulatory process?

Concerned that environmental groups are employing this tactic to secure environmentally-friendly regulations, congressional Republicans have proposed the Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2013. The Act – sponsored by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Representative Doug Collins (R-GA) – aims to prevent these sue and settle lawsuits, which  arguably allow environmental groups to undermine the public’s ability to comment on pending regulations.

From: HuffPo/Project on Government Oversight

By Scott Amey

Last month, Norman Dong from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was a presenter at the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA) conference in College Park, Maryland. Dong’s presentation explained how the Obama administration is working to be more efficient and cost effective. For example, he summarized ways OMB is improving federal financial management through administrative savings, reducing property usage, cracking down on improper payments to individuals and medical providers, and adding transparency. These were central themes in the president’s proposed FY 2014 Budget, too.