OIRA News

Editor’s Note: The following is a brief excerpt from a Commentary article by Cass R. Sunstein, “The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs: Myths and Realities.”  The complete Commentary may be found here, http://www.harvardlawreview.org/media/pdf/vol126_sunstein.pdf.

One of OIRA’s most important missions is to increase the likelihood that rulemaking agencies will benefit from dispersed information inside and outside the federal government. OIRA sees itself as a guardian of a well-functioning administrative process. Federal officials, most of them nonpolitical, know a great deal, and the OIRA process helps to ensure that what they know is incorporated in agency rulemakings. In addition, those outside of the federal government often have indispensable information, and OIRA understands one of its crucial tasks as encouraging the receipt and careful consideration ofthat information.

From: Olin Business School/Washington University

by Alexis-Clair Roehrich

Another busy day for Olin students in Washington, D.C. in the Business & Government: Understanding and Influencing the Regulatory Environment course. Tim Keating, Senior Vice President of Government Operations at Boeing, kicked off the morning presentations with some tales from one of the most influential groups in the Capital: lobbyists.

A masterful storyteller, Tim shared eye-opening examples of the importance of developing relationships and engagement in ongoing conversations with policymakers. He discussed how essential grass-roots efforts have an impact on decision-making. Students may not become full time lobbyists, but they will understand the need to engage corporate headquarters and field units in the policy making process.

From: Greenwire

John McArdle, E&E reporter

In the obscure world of federal rulemaking and administrative law, yesterday’s gathering of progressives at American University was about as close as you could get to an old-fashioned revival meeting.

Grievances about the failures of the current regulatory system were aired, commitments to bring about change were reaffirmed and inspiring words were spoken.

“It is depressing, but the right attitude is to get your torch out and light it and march in the street,” said Rena Steinzor, president of the left-leaning Center for Progressive Reform (CPR), which hosted the event.

From: EENewsnet.net

OnPoint/Aired: Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Has there been a shift in tone on regulation during President Obama’s second term? During today’s OnPoint, Michael Livermore, executive director at the Institute for Policy Integrity, discusses the politics of regulation as Congress works through the confirmation process for several key regulatory positions. Livermore also gives his take on how Howard Shelanski, the president’s nominee to head up the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, could affect the future of regulations coming out of this administration.

Editor’s Note:  The Administrator of OIRA was directed by President Obama’s “open data” Executive Order to participate in the development of the Executive Branch’s Open Data Policy.  An excerpt from the EO is below.  The complete Order may be found here.

Sec. 2. Open Data Policy. (a) The Director of the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in consultation with the Chief
Information Officer (CIO), Chief Technology Officer (CTO), and
Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
(OIRA), shall issue an Open Data Policy to advance the

From: LiveScience

Gernot Wagner, Environmental Defense Fund

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is nerd heaven: a bunch of people getting their professional kicks from analyzing federal regulation. That bean counting may sound painfully lacking in glamour, but it’s incredibly important.

The OMB’s annual report to Congress on the benefits and costs of all major rules adopted by most federal agencies over the past 10 years shows how efficiently, or inefficiently, those agencies are functioning.  And the conclusion is clear: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) comes out on top.

From: RegBlog

Lisa Heinzerling

In his revealing new book about his nearly four years as President Barack Obama’s “regulatory czar,” Harvard Law School professor Cass Sunstein describes a striking moment:  “After I had been in the job for a few years, a Cabinet member showed up at my office and told my chief of staff, ‘I work for Cass Sunstein.’  Of course that wasn’t true – but still.”

From: HuffPost

Richard L. Revesz and Michael A. Livermore (Dean at NYU School of Law; and Executive Director of Policy Integrity)

President Obama announced yesterday his selection of Howard Shelanski as the next Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the White House. OIRA, although not widely known, reviews the regulations that are adopted by nearly all federal agencies: everything from EPA rules to limit mercury pollution from power plants to TSA rules governing airport screening procedures. This will give Shelanski enormous power to shape the remainder of the Obama administration’s regulatory agenda.

From: New York Times

By CASS R. SUNSTEIN

HOW many millions of hours do you think Americans spend on government paperwork every year?

The answer is staggering. It is measured not in the millions of hours, but in the billions — 9.14 of them, to be exact. Suppose that we value one hour at $20 (a conservative estimate). If so, the government imposes an annual reporting cost of more than $180 billion on the American people.

That figure is more than 20 times last year’s budget of the Environmental Protection Agency, more than seven times that of the Department of Agriculture, and more than six times that of the Department of State.

From: RegBlog

Stuart Shapiro

In a recent critique of the Obama Administration’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Lisa Heinzerling argues that a lack of transparency at OIRA, the federal office that reviews regulations, has allowed the office to pursue an anti-regulatory agenda, stifling regulations designed to protect public health.

Heinzerling, former Associate Administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Policy during President Obama’s first term, offers a portrait of environmental policy in the current administration that is strikingly at odds with perceptions in both the business community and the Republican Party.