From: Forbes
As part of the White House’s strategy to reform the administrative state, several federal agencies have proposed measures to improve the efficiency and transparency of the regulatory process. In recent months, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) have requested comments on cost-benefit analysis standards, while the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have proposed an economically significant rule that would require cost-benefit analysis.
Under previous administrations, agencies such as EPA and the Department of the Interior experimented with “social” harms and benefits, eschewing consideration of the economic effects of proposed and enacted regulations. The current administration has a justifiably low opinion of such amorphous measurements, and seeks to refocus regulators on quantifiable harms and benefits.