The White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which has responsibility for reviewing all proposed and final regulations issued by federal agencies, is considering whether to rescind or update a number of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules that it considers outmoded or outdated. The decision comes as part of a congressionally mandated review of the costs and benefits of federal regulations. Not surprisingly, environmentalists are outraged by the announcement, and vow to fight the decision.
Congress directed OMB to provide an annual report of the costs and benefits of federal regulations as part of the Fiscal Year 2001 appropriations bill for the Department of the Treasury and General Government. It also required OMB to report on the impact on state, local and tribal governments, and the private sector of so-called “unfunded mandates.” For the first time, OMB decided to combine the two reports to Congress into one document, entitled “Making Sense of Regulation: 2001.”
In its report, OMB makes several general recommendations on how to improve the regulatory process, including developing more uniformity in the application of cost-benefit analyses and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA). It also makes specific recommendations (based on comments received from the public) as to which regulations are obsolete or outdated, and can be rescinded or updated. OMB made 23 “priority” suggestions, eight of which pertain to the following EPA regulations:
· the “mixture and derived from” rule governing hazardous waste disposal
· proposed changes to the Total Maximum Daily Load program governing impaired waterways
· cost-benefit analyses for drinking water regulations
· economic incentive program guidance
· the new source review rule governing new air emissions controls
· concentrated animal feeding operations effluent guidelines
· arsenic in drinking water
· notice of substantial risk under the Toxic Substances Control Act
The OMB report indicates that the budget office plans to use its recently-devised “prompt letter” system to suggest regulatory changes to federal agencies. According to OMB Director John Graham, the prompt letters will be sent by the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to initiate discussions between the White House and the agencies and make suggestions for regulatory changes.
Graham believes that this type of regulatory review is valid, and that soliciting public comments on outdated rules responds to the congressional mandate. However, environmentalists view the process as little more than the creation of a hit list of what the Administration considers objectionable regulations. They also comment that it is not appropriate for OIRA to undertake such a regulatory review process on its own.
