OMB Releases Fall 2019 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions
The Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), in conjunction with the U.S. General Services Administration’s Regulatory Information Service Center and the 60 Cabinet, Executive, and Independent agencies across the Federal Government, released today the Trump Administration’s semi-annual Current Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The complete fall 2019 Unified Agenda contains the Regulatory Plans of 28 Federal agencies and 66 Federal agency regulatory agendas.
The report provides an update on actions administrative agencies will take in both the near and long term. The agenda amends and eliminates what the administration calls regulations that are “ineffective, duplicative, and obsolete,” so that the administration can “promote economic growth and innovation and protect individual liberty.”
These efforts are in line with President Trump’s Executive Orders 13771 and 13777, which require agencies to reduce regulatory burdens and enforce regulatory reform initiatives. Given the Administration’s focus on deregulatory efforts, the Regulatory Agenda includes withdrawing and reconsidering numerous regulatory actions, as well as identifying newly anticipated deregulatory actions that emerged from reviews that remain underway. Agencies have committed to focusing on the costs and benefits of each regulatory and deregulatory action, while prioritizing the maximization of net benefits of regulations. The Fall 2019 Unified Agenda recognizes that reform will take time and require “rigorous analysis, public input, and a careful consideration of legal requirements.” The Fall 2019 Unified Agenda aims to provide greater information and transparency about agency-proposed regulatory actions. The Administration continues to ensure the public is adequately informed about forthcoming regulatory activity. For example, through recent agenda cycles, OIRA has emphasized the inclusion in the Agenda only items agencies plan to pursue in the near future, rather than also including actions agencies are not actively pursuing.
Additionally, the Administration has undertaken steps to ensure regulations are not created through other means and that the public and Congress have “adequate” notice of agency intentions. To this end, President Trump signed Executive Order 13891, Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents, in October of this year. This Executive Order emphasizes that Americans deserve a transparent regulatory process that imposes new obligations on the public only when consistent with applicable law and after an agency follows appropriate procedures. It creates a policy within the Executive Branch to require that agencies treat guidance documents as non-binding in law and in practice, taking into account public input when formulating guidance documents, and making them readily available to the public. This spring, OMB also issued Memorandum M-19-14, “Guidance on Compliance with the Congressional Review Act,” which updates existing guidance to agencies with regard to OIRA and agency responsibilities under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) by clarifying that guidance documents fall within the definition of rule under the CRA and by making the process by which OIRA makes “major determinations” more consistent and thorough.
The administration has highlighted:
In fiscal year 2018, agencies issued 176 deregulatory actions, 57 of which were significant, and 14 regulatory actions, for a ratio of 12:1, far surpassing the Administration’s 2:1 requirement. Comparing significant deregulatory actions to significant regulatory actions yields a ratio of 4:1.
Agencies saved $23 billion in net regulatory costs across the government in fiscal year 2018. These results expand upon the Administration’s first year, for a total regulatory cost reduction of $33 billion.
Informed by each agency’s submissions for the Fall 2018 Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda, agencies have worked with OIRA to identify a regulatory cost allowance or cost cap for fiscal year 2019. Agencies project saving $18 billion in regulatory costs in fiscal year 2019, in addition to an additional $120 to $340 billion in regulatory costs from the completion of the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule, once completed.
The momentum for reform continues to accelerate as agencies complete substantial deregulatory actions.
Consistent with Administration priorities, agencies have proposed actions that streamline infrastructure development, promote emerging technologies, and provide small business relief.
To provide timely and accurate notice to the public of upcoming regulatory and deregulatory actions, agencies have targeted actions likely to occur in the next year and have withdrawn or delayed other actions.
The Fall Agenda reflects Administration priorities for reducing regulatory burdens across administration agencies, including from the historically independent agencies.
The Administration’s comprehensive regulatory reform efforts have required significant changes to the regulations database. The Fall Agenda has enhanced search capabilities and functionality and agencies provide consistent and unique identifiers that allow the public to track regulatory policy through the entire process. Actions can be tracked via the dashboard.
Administration-wide regulatory reform has been coupled with targeted reforms in specific high-burden areas, as specified under Executive Orders 13789 and 12866. Furthermore, reforms enacted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act require the Department of Treasury to issue a number of regulations, and Treasury and OIRA are working closely together to improve said regulations.