Regulatory Transactions

In deciding Harkonen v. U.S. Dept. of Justice, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit explicitly declined to opine on whether agency actions under the Data (Information) Quality Act are subject to judicial review. In reaching its decision, the court rebuffed DOJ which had asserted that the court did not have the authority to review DQA cases. Specifically, the Opinion stated,

The government argues the IQA does not authorize courts to review the correctness of information disseminated by an agency.

      We have no reason in this case to reach the broad question of whether the IQA confers upon a private individual the right to seek judicial review of the correctness of all information published by the government.

Editor’s Note: One of CRE’s regulatory objectives is to restore OIRA’s staff level to its original level of 90.

From: RegBlog | Penn Program on Regulation

Paul R. Verkuil

My topic deals not with the substance of regulations, but with those who process them.

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Justice Scalia on Independent Agencies

A Blueprint

Reigning-in the Independent Agencies

The View of a FTC Commissioner

Who is in Charge?

Ash Council Ash Independent Agencies

Ash Council Breyer

Verkuil Independent Agencies

Ash Council Lazarus

Read CRE Library on Independent Agencies ( Insert: “independent agenicies”

Question-Specific References

Cumulative Cost of Regulations

OIRA Review of Independent Agency Regulations

OIRA: The Court of Last Resort for DQA Petitions

A History of the APA

General  References

Mission of the OIRA Teaching Module

The Need for an OIRA Teaching Module

ABA Rulemaking

 Overview of the Rulemaking Process

What is OIRA?

The Federal Rulemaking Process

A Brief Review of Rulemaking and Judicial Review

The Evolution of OIRA and Centralized Regulatory Review

The Courts

Justice Kagan

Judge  Ginsburg

From: Transport Topics

By Eric Miller

A proposed rule to require the installation and use of speed-limiting devices on heavy trucks has been delayed while it receives an “extended” review by the White House Office of Management and Budget. Prior to the announcement on an OMB portal, the joint National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposal was expected to be published in the Federal Register on Sept. 21.

Read Complete Article

Editor’s Note: The White House became “head overseer of regulatory policy” during the Nixon Administration based on regulatory analysis tools developed during the Johnson Administration. See here.

From: Hoover Institution

By Erik Erlandson

Today, the American executive branch wields enormous control over the shape of federal economic regulation. This influence is centralized in an executive agency called the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which was created in 1980 to review (and often revise) the hundreds of new rules that had poured out of Washington in the preceding two decades. Every subsequent president—from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama—has made use of the office to help implement their domestic agenda. The gatekeepers at OIRA, often referred to as an administration’s regulation or deregulation “czars,” have secured a critical role ensuring that rules for the private sector reflect presidential policy.

From: The Hill

By Timothy Cama

The Obama administration has started the final review process for its regulation to reduce the allowable concentration of ozone pollution in the air.

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said Monday that it had received the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rule Friday, kicking off its review.

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CRE has three regulatory objectives:

1. Restore OIRA’s staff level to its original level of 90

2.  Subject Independent Agencies to Centralized Regulatory Review

3. Develop a Mechanism to Control the Cumulative Cost of Regulations

If Objective 3 is accomplished Objectives 1 and 2 will follow. OIRA is ideally situated to be the agency in charge of the implementation of a mechanism to control the cumulative cost of regulations.  OIRA is the natural counterpart to OMB’s BRD (Budget Review Division) which is in charge of the preparation of the federal budget.

From: RegBlog | Penn Program on Regulation

Dame Deirdre Hutton Dame Deirdre Hutton, DBE serves as the Chair of the UK Civil Aviation Authority. Previously she served as the Chair of the UK Food Standards Agency.

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So my starting point for excellent regulation with consumers in mind is to keep the following principles firmly in mind:

• Only regulate for risks that are real and cannot be better managed by a competitive market.

From: GAO Report GAO-15-585

A growing body of research on both private-and public-sector organizations has found that increased levels of engagement—generally defined as the sense of purpose and commitment employees feel toward their employer and its mission—can lead to better organizational performance. Employee engagement is particularly important within federal agencies, where employees influence the well-being and safety of the public in myriad ways, such as by conducting advanced scientific research, verifying and administering benefits, or ensuring the safety of our workplaces, airports, and national borders. However, government-wide levels of employee engagement have recently declined 4 percentage points, from an estimated 67 percent in 2011, to an estimated 63 percent in 2014, as measured by the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), and a score OPM derived from the FEVS beginning in 2010—the Employee Engagement Index (EEI).