OMB Asks for Public Involvement in Agency Prelim Reg Review Plans
On April 25, 2011, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum for the heads of executive departments and agencies providing guidance on the processes for finalizing preliminary regulatory review plans under Executive Order 13536 "Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review". As part of this process, OMB is encouraging agencies to involve the public through consultations, participation, and transparency.
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(On January 18, 2011, the President issued EO 13563, which requires retrospective review of significant rules. Within 120 days of the date of the order (May 18, 2011), each agency is required to develop and submit to OMB a preliminary plan under which the agency will periodically review its existing significant regulations. See ITT’s Online Archives or 01/19/11 news, 11011915, for BP summary.)
Agencies Encouraged to Take Specific Steps
OMB states agencies are encouraged, to the extent feasible, to take the following steps after May 18, 2011 (120 days after the EO) to finalize their preliminary regulatory review plans:
Immediately after May 18. To promote public participation and transparency, agencies should make their preliminary plans available to the public within a reasonable period (not to exceed two weeks). Publication of plans should be in an open format that enables the public to download, analyze, and visualize any information and data.
Days 1 through 30. Agencies are encouraged to engage in public consultation. Consultation may take the form of public meetings, Federal Register notices, social media, or other kinds of outreach to the public. To ensure that diverse views are considered, agencies are particularly encouraged to reach out to stakeholders with an interest in the initial list of rules in the preliminary plans. The list of rules for review should be reconsidered during the period between the preliminary and final plans.
Days 31 through 60. Agencies are encouraged to revise their plans in ways that are responsive to the public input received.
Days 61 through 80. Agencies are encouraged to finalize their plans no later than 80 days after releasing their preliminary plans and are encouraged to make these final plans available to the public.
Future retrospective reviews. To promote the culture of retrospective review and analysis throughout the executive branch, future regulations should be designed and written in ways that facilitate evaluation of their consequences and thus promote retrospective analysis. To the extent consistent with law, agencies should give careful consideration to how best to promote empirical testing of the effects of rules both in advance and retrospectively. Plans should also be periodically reviewed and updated.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 03/14/11 and 03/15/11 news, 11031412 and 11031523, for BP summaries of the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department seeking comments to review their existing regulations. See ITT's Online Archives for additional BP summaries of the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Treasury Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Agriculture seeking comments to review their existing regulations.)