Paperwork Reduction Act, the SEC and Climate Change

The Biden OIRA will have a hand in this matter even though the transaction is being undertaken by an “independent” agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), recordkeeping and reporting requirements must be approved by OIRA.

Given the priority that the Biden Administration accords to Climate Change it might be too early to predict the outcome of this matter. It should be noted that both the SEC and OIRA are bound by the standards in the Information Quality Act when they act on PRA transactions.

 

Benefit-Cost Analysis

Professor Sunstein is to be complimented for his informed and steadfast support for benefit-cost analysis notwithstanding opposition from a number of groups.

The application of benefit-cost analysis to regulations traces its conceptual development to the Johnson Administration and its initial application to rulemakings to the Nixon Administration.

Also see this article in the Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis this view on relevant Executive Orders from a foreign scholar and this note on OMB and benefit-cost analysis.

Scheduled EO 12866 Meeting

In conducting these types of meetings  OIRA is providing an invaluable service to the public–those affected by a proposed regulation can express their concerns to OMB. The Executive Office of any President is going to be involved in rulemakings; OIRA provides one focal point for a transparent involvement.

 

  2040-ZA31
  National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 2021 reissuance of the Multi-Sector General Permit for Industrial Stormwater Discharges
  2040-EPA/OW
  Notice Stage
  12/29/2020 03:00 PM
  Small Business Low Risk Coalition (SBLRC)   Kevin Bromberg

CRE Comment: Influential Articles on the Management of the Administrative State

CRE has undertaken a number of inquiries into the capabilities of the economic, legal, and political science professions to address the management of the administrative state. The aforementioned studies are posted here and here. We have also reviewed complementary studies and reviews by others including University of Connecticut , New York Times reporter and academicians

Based upon the aforementioned publications we came to these  conclusions as supported by this statement.  The above post exemplifies the different approaches taken by the three professions. To our knowledge, this is the first time leading publications by  each of the three professions are published side-by-side to provide a basis for a comparative analysis which can be posted in the comment section below.

CRE Comment: Questions to Nominees for the Administrator of OIRA

After being in operation for four decades, OIRA may be facing a precedential  transformation. For example in a post located herein titled “On Climate, Biden Must Do More Than Undo  Trump’s Damage“,  the Associate Editor of the Scientific American concludes:

Biden will have to work through executive orders, and will have to charge federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency with issuing new regulations under existing laws such as the Clean Air Act. He will need to “turn every stone possible,” says Narayan Subramanian, an environmental lawyer working with the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment at Berkeley Law. The most immediate focuses are transportation, power plants, methane emissions and pesky hydrofluorocarbons.