Ever since the Reagan administration, a powerful but obscure White House agency called the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has reviewed the rules that agencies propose and used a biased assessment tool called cost-benefit analysis to weaken or abandon them. This “centralized regulatory review” process operates with little public oversight, under rules that favor corporate over public interests.
We are calling attention to the harms of centralized regulatory review and pressing to overhaul OIRA to protect the public and strengthen our system of governance. We’re also advocating for new approaches to regulatory analysis that center people and communities, meaningfully account for equity, and restore agency expertise as the foundation of regulatory decision-making.
Alice Kaswan | September 16, 2026
Teaching Environmental Law in Context: The Role of State Climate Policy in the Context of Federal Retrenchment
Robert Verchick | September 15, 2026
What Trump’s Ballroom Could Mean for Environmental Lawsuits
Steph Tai | September 14, 2026
Teaching Environmental Law in Context Parses Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis