Regulatory Transactions

From: Food Safety News

By James Andrews

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is still working “expeditiously” to implement major portions of the Food Safety Modernization Act, legislation that has largely sat in budgetary limbo since President Obama signed it into law on January 4, 2011 – nearly two years ago.

“The Obama Administration is committed to food safety and we have taken key steps including putting out a food safety rule cracking down on salmonella in eggs and expanding E. coli testing for beef,” an OMB spokeswoman wrote to the Huffington Post on Tuesday. ”We are working as expeditiously as possible to implement the food safety legislation we fought so hard for. When it comes to rules with this degree of importance and complexity, it is critical that we get it right.”

From: Politico

By JENNIFER HABERKORN

The bottled-up rules to set up President Barack Obama’s health care reform  law are going to start flowing quickly right after Election Day.

But how long will that last? That depends on who wins the presidency.

The once-steady stream of regulations and rules from the Obama  administration — instructions for insurance companies, hospitals and states on  how to put the law in place — has slowed to a trickle in recent months in an  attempt to avoid controversies before the election. Many states, too, have done  little public work to avoid making the law an election issue for state officials  on the ballot.

From: The Heritage Foundation

By Diane Katz

After three years of unprecedented regulatory activity, the Obama Administration has noticeably slowed its rulemaking in recent months. A number of major rules remain under prolonged “review” by the White House, while publication of the regulatory agenda required by statute has not occurred.

This flouting of the law is disturbing enough, but it is made worse by the mounting regulatory uncertainty it has caused. The Administration should come clean about its regulatory intentions by releasing its agenda as required.

Lack of Transparency

Editor’s Note:  For the perspective of a former senior career OMB official on regulatory review in the weeks prior to an election, see here.

From EHS Today

Travis Rhoden

Earlier this year, OSHA came out with its first major general industry rule in years: the revision of the Hazard Communication standard to incorporate the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). While there are no other regulations to be finalized this year or early next that are on par with the magnitude of the HazCom/GHS rulemaking, there are a few that employers should keep an eye on.

From: U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce

WASHINGTON, D.C. | September 14, 2012 –

Dear Acting Director Zients:

Regulatory uncertainty plays a significant role in perpetuating a persistently weak economy and labor market. It undermines the ability of employers and entrepreneurs to hire new workers, plan for the future, and invest in growing their businesses. To help get the economy back on track and support job growth, the American people and their elected representatives must have an opportunity to review the regulatory proposals under development by the administration.

Do you want to have a major impact on US energy policy?  Simply have an NGO,  acting in the “public interest”,  sue the USG government  and obtain a settlement which is not subject to the procedural safeguards of the Administrative Procedure Act  nor OMB review under Executive Order 12886.

CRE finds it  incomprehensible that oil shale offers the United States the potential to extract over 1.5 trillion barrels of oil, an amount about equal to the entire world’s proven oil reserves, yet BLM has drastically shifted its policy position to one  which will prohibit the development of this vital resource.. This is especially troubling in that the 2008 PEIS BLM specifically outlined two additional steps of environmental analysis that would need to be completed before any oil could be commercially extracted.  CRE recommends the following

From: Federal Regulations Advisor

By Leland E. Beck

Food safety – what could be more important?  The FDA Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA), signed into law on January 4, 2011, requires a significant regulatory shift by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  FSMA imposed numerous deadlines for FDA to adopt regulations and those deadlines have passed into history without rules.  Given those facts, a number of advocacy blogs and the press have complained recently that rules are “stuck” at theOffice of Management and Budget (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).  Demanding action, two organizations filed suit to compel the FDA to publish the rules.  Is there something to this issue of legislative deadlines?  Or is the holdup another example of bad analysis leading to a potentially worse result?  Is the suit improvident?

From: New York Times

By BEN PROTESS

Editor’s Note:  The story below brings to mind a recent quote from a former senior career OIRA official who explained, “If you have a real real significant rule that comes over six weeks before the election, and you see there’s going to be a big controversy, I always tried to read it — but slowly, Tozzi said.”

From: Science 2.0

Is Obama Delaying Food Safety Rules Until After The Presidential Election?

By Hank Campbell

From: FISMA Focus

FISMA Focus Editor’s Note:  The SEC rule, Disclosures by Resource Extraction Issuers/Dodd-Frank Sec. 1054 (Form SD), discussed in this document, should be considered by the Administration as a national security matter. 

The final rule cannot be implemented unless the revised Form SD is approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).  Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), no information may collected by an agency from ten or more persons without OIRA’s authorization.  The OIRA docket on the SEC form, which is not yet approved, is found here.