Observers concerned with the current dysfunctional state of the U.S. regulatory system will be letting out a collective sigh of relief following the publication of Executive Order 13497. Among other things, this Order officially revokes the controversial Executive Order 13422, issued during George W. Bush Administration.
Issued in 2007, Executive Order 13422 amended President Clinton’s September 1993 Executive Order 12866, which established an institutional framework for centralized regulatory review. Generally speaking, under this framework, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)—an obscure but influential bureau in the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB)—is authorized to review all major federal regulations and to do so through the lens of cost-benefit analysis.
Since its original publication, Executive Order 13422 has been criticized by many environmental, public health, and safety advocates, CPR Member Scholars among them, for creating an unnecessary barrier to the promulgation of new protective regulations. It deserved the criticism. Some of its controversial provisions include a requirement mandating that regulatory agencies justify proposed regulations on the basis of some market failure and the extension of OIRA’s centralized review authority to include agency guidance documents (i.e., non-binding policy statements issued by agencies to explain how their regulations should be interpreted). For more about these controversial provisions, see CPR’s web article on Executive Order 13422.
Executive Order 13497 represents the latest step by the new Obama Administration to reformulate the institution of regulatory review, as conducted by OIRA. Last Friday, President Obama issued a Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies on Regulatory Review. The memorandum directs Peter Orszag, director of OMB, to consult with agency heads to develop a set of recommendations for a new Executive Order on regulatory review, presumably to replace Executive Order 12866.
CPR’s Member Scholars will have more to say on Executive Order 13497 in the days ahead. For now, it suffices to say that these are welcome indications of an effort to reformulate the U.S. regulatory system, and particularly to reformulate the role of OIRA in the conduct of centralized regulatory review. That said, it will be especially interesting to see how the new Executive Order on regulatory review is shaped and implemented by Cass Sunstein, who is in line to be the new Administrator of OIRA. As CPR Member Scholars have discussed at some length, he’s a big fan of centralized review and many of the cost-benefit analysis techniques that have angered advocates of robust protections for health, safety and the environment.
Over the next few months, CPR Member Scholars will publish a white paper detailing their recommendations for replacing cost-benefit analysis with a form of regulatory impact analysis based on the philosophy of pragmatism. Also, Member Scholars plan a subsequent paper focused on replacing the centralized regulatory review function currently practiced by OIRA with a more limited role of interagency coordination. So stay tuned for more.
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James Goodwin | February 4, 2009
Observers concerned with the current dysfunctional state of the U.S. regulatory system will be letting out a collective sigh of relief following the publication of Executive Order 13497. Among other things, this Order officially revokes the controversial Executive Order 13422, issued during George W. Bush Administration. Issued in 2007, Executive Order 13422 amended President Clinton’s […]
A. Dan Tarlock, Holly Doremus | February 3, 2009
Tarlock and Doremus are co-authors of Water War in the Klamath Basin: Macho Law, Combat Biology, and Dirty Politics, published by Island Press in 2008. Last week, the Oregon Supreme Court agreed to decide whether irrigators in the Klamath Basin "own" water delivered by the federal Klamath Reclamation Project. This latest development is one more […]
Sidney A. Shapiro | February 2, 2009
On January 21, 2009, President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum that I’m hopeful will be the start of undoing much of the excessive secrecy practiced by the previous administration. The memorandum, established that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) “should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails.” A recent […]
Yee Huang | January 30, 2009
When analog signals for broadcast television end on February 17, one problem of the digital signal switch for televisions will remain: what to do with older televisions that are incompatible with digital signals. While the federal government is providing rebates to purchasers of converter boxes for older televisions, the boxes are simply a stopgap measure […]
Margaret Clune Giblin | January 29, 2009
This week, there’s been good news from the Obama Administration regarding climate change policy. California will likely get that waiver under the Clean Air Act allowing it to set stricter emissions standards for cars. Additionally, Lisa Jackson, the new Administrator of EPA, indicated in an e-mail (subscription required) to agency employees that the agency will […]
Holly Doremus | January 28, 2009
Cross-posted from Environment & Law. The Washington Post reports that officials at the Department of Interior ignored “key scientific findings” and the views of National Park Service officials “when they limited water flows in the Grand Canyon to optimize generation of electric power there, risking damage to the ecology of the spectacular national landmark.” […]
Shana Campbell Jones | January 28, 2009
We will restore science to its rightful place. — President Barack Obama, Inaugural Speech As Governor of Texas, I have set high standards for our public schools, and I have met those standards. — Former President George W. Bush, Aug. 2000 CNN Interview With former President Bush hightailing it back to Texas last […]
Matthew Freeman | January 27, 2009
No question about it: A new sheriff’s in town. After eight years of environmental policymaking bent around the convenience of oil companies and other polluting industries, yesterday was like a breath of fresh, clean air. And indeed, clean air is one likely outcome from the Obama Administration’s first few steps on the environment yesterday. […]
Matthew Freeman | January 27, 2009
CPR Member Scholar Nina Mendelson has a piece in today’s New York Times “Room for Debate” online feature on California’s Clean Air Act waiver request. She says President Obama’s direction to EPA that it reconsider its previous denial of the waiver (issued during the Bush Administration) “reaffirms the critical role of states as environmental leaders, […]