Regulatory Transactions

The more costly and controversial regulations are submitted  to OIRA before they are proposed and before they  are issued as a final rule. The articles below describe elements of the  review process.

The Reg Map: Informal Rulemaking

The Federal Rulemaking Process: An Overview

Executive Order 12866

A Student Primer on the Federal Regulatory Review Process

No issue is more basic than the rules that govern the management of OIRA. This page is dedicated to this important issue.

See this post On Matters of OIRA Governance the OIRA Teaching Module is Home Plate

NSF Sponsored Research on Social Entrepreneurship

University of Pennsylvania, RegBlog, Policy Entrepreneurs: The Power of Audacity

Environmental Forum, Accomplishment Beyond Dollars

Ecopreneurist, Development of Social Entrepreneurs in US Could Add to Bottom Line of Nation

2nd Annual National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference, Keynote Address

Monthly Manifesto, Insights: Entrepreneurship—The Future of Corporate Social Responsibility

Administrative Law Review, OIRA’s Formative Years: The Historical Record of Centralized Regulatory Review Preceding OIRA’s Founding (p. 68)

Northwestern University School of Law, Bridges not Barriers: The Law-STEM Alliance as a Catalyst for Innovation, Bibliography of CLE Reading Materials

The regulatory state continues to expand. Which entity in the government has the stature, position and expertise to oversee the regulatory state? There is only one such organization—the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)—in the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Scholars of the regulatory state have opined that OIRA is the most significant institutional feature of the regulatory state. The concept of an OIRA—centralized regulatory review—was first explored by the Johnson Administration and put into operation under the Nixon Administration. Every subsequent Administration not only endorsed OIRA but enhanced its authorities and responsibilities. The academic community and its many disciplines may make a significant contribution to the operation of this important organization by providing analyses of its effectiveness and ways to improve its operations by submitting comments through the mechanisms below and to the right of this post.

Operating guidance on how to address Social Media is sporadic at best. There is no doubt that social media is a great invention for networking but its use for communicating in-depth information is less clear.

The Social Media and Public Participation in Rulemaking

Federal Banking Regulation and the Social Media http://www.thecre.com/fisma/?p=5024

The Paperwork Reduction Act was signed into law in December of 1980. The PRA serves as the foundation for OIRA because it provides,

1. The statutory basis for OIRA’s existence.

2. OMB with absolute authority to approve or disapprove the collection of information from the private sector

3. OMB statutory authority over the information collection programs of the independent agencies

4. The statutory base for the enactment of the Data Quality Act.

See, the opening Congressional Testimony of Wayne Granquist, Associate Director of OMB, and Jim Tozzi, Assistant Director of OMB, February, 1980.

There are thousands and thousand of regulators but less than fifty individuals in OIRA that seek to hold them accountable. Nonetheless there are countless articles criticizing OIRA as witnessed below. If you want a  challenge attempt to find articles in support of OIRA; while they exist they most certainly do not dominate the debate.

This forum, the Promotion of Teaching Models for OIRA, is a concentrated effort to balance the one-sided coverage of centralized regulatory review by providing information on OIRA’s modus operandi. One cannot expect an overworked and overly criticized group of civil servants to continue to survive without any outside constituency. Nor can we expect all readers of this forum to support OIRA but we can expect a balanced review of its operations.

Judicial Review of the DQA is unsettled; on Circuit Court opined it was not reviewable, another took no position and another opined that the OMB regulations were binding. However DOJ informed the court that without exception OMB was the final decision-maker on DQA petitions (Requests for Correction).

See Harkonen v. DOJ and OMB

CRE Amicus

CRE encourages our readers who have expertise in Benefit/cost analysis  to make comments hereon.

We welcome comments in the section below or a new post through the mechanism on the right of this page.

Procedurally the rulemaking process has often been driven by concerns for judicial review; however in the overwhelming number of cases the OIRA review process is driven by benefit/cost analysis not concerns that a rule will be overturned in court.

CRE encourages our readers who have expertise in risk assessment to make comments hereon.

We welcome comments in the section below or a new post through the mechanism on the right of this page.