Curtis W. Copeland
Specialist in American National Government
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 created the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Executive Order 12291, issued by President Reagan in 1981, gave OIRA the responsibility to review the substance of agencies’ regulatory actions before publication in the Federal Register. The office’s regulatory review role was initially highly controversial, and it has been criticized at different times as being both too active and too passive regarding agencies’ rules. Although OIRA has a number of specific statutory responsibilities (e.g., paperwork review and regulatory accounting), as a component of OMB it is part of the Executive Office of the President, and helps ensure that covered agencies’ rules reflect the President’s policies and priorities.
OIRA’s current regulatory review responsibilities are detailed in Executive Order 12866, which was issued by President Clinton in 1993. The office reviews significant draft rules from agencies (other than independent regulatory agencies) at both the proposed and final rulemaking stages, and also informally reviews certain rules before they are formally submitted. For rules that are “economically significant” (most commonly defined as those having a $100 million impact on the economy), OIRA also reviews the economic analyses. Since 1994, OIRA has reviewed between 500 and 700 significant proposed and final rules each year, and can clear the rules with or without changes, return the rules to the agencies for reconsideration, or encourage the agencies to withdraw them. The executive order also requires OIRA or the rulemaking agencies to disclose certain elements of the review process to the public, including the changes made at OIRA’s recommendation. A September 2003 report by the General Accounting Office indicated that OIRA had a significant effect on more than a third of the 85 rules in the study, but OIRA’s most common effect was to suggest changes to explanatory language in the preambles to the rules. At the start of the George W. Bush Administration, OIRA made a number of changes to its review process, including increased use of return letters, added emphasis on economic analysis to support the rules, and improvements in the transparency of the office’s review process. Overall, in contrast to the “counselor” role it played during the Clinton Administration, OIRA appeared to have returned to the “gatekeeper” role that it had during its first 12 years of existence. An April 2009 report by GAO again noted changes made to rules at OIRA’s suggestion.
Possible legislative issues involving OIRA include codification of the office’s review function and principles, increasing or decreasing the office’s funding and staffing, adding review of rules from independent regulatory agencies, and improvements in the transparency of OIRA’s review process. In January 2009, President Obama requested recommendations from the Director of OMB for possible changes to Executive Order 12866. In January 2011, President Obama issued Executive Order 13563, which reaffirmed many of the principles in Executive Order 12866, but did not change OIRA’s responsibilities.
This report will be updated if there are changes in OIRA’s regulatory review responsibilities. For information, see CRS Report RL33862, Changes to the OMB Regulatory Review Process by Executive Order 13422, by Curtis W. Copeland; CRS Report RL32240, The Federal Rulemaking Process: An Overview, by Curtis W. Copeland; and CRS Report RL32356, Federal Regulatory Reform: An Overview, by Curtis W. Copeland.
Date of Report: March 21, 2011
Number of Pages: 37
Order Number: RL32397
Price: $29.95
Follow us on TWITTER at http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports
Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail Penny Hill Press or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.
Specialist in American National Government
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 created the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Executive Order 12291, issued by President Reagan in 1981, gave OIRA the responsibility to review the substance of agencies’ regulatory actions before publication in the Federal Register. The office’s regulatory review role was initially highly controversial, and it has been criticized at different times as being both too active and too passive regarding agencies’ rules. Although OIRA has a number of specific statutory responsibilities (e.g., paperwork review and regulatory accounting), as a component of OMB it is part of the Executive Office of the President, and helps ensure that covered agencies’ rules reflect the President’s policies and priorities.
OIRA’s current regulatory review responsibilities are detailed in Executive Order 12866, which was issued by President Clinton in 1993. The office reviews significant draft rules from agencies (other than independent regulatory agencies) at both the proposed and final rulemaking stages, and also informally reviews certain rules before they are formally submitted. For rules that are “economically significant” (most commonly defined as those having a $100 million impact on the economy), OIRA also reviews the economic analyses. Since 1994, OIRA has reviewed between 500 and 700 significant proposed and final rules each year, and can clear the rules with or without changes, return the rules to the agencies for reconsideration, or encourage the agencies to withdraw them. The executive order also requires OIRA or the rulemaking agencies to disclose certain elements of the review process to the public, including the changes made at OIRA’s recommendation. A September 2003 report by the General Accounting Office indicated that OIRA had a significant effect on more than a third of the 85 rules in the study, but OIRA’s most common effect was to suggest changes to explanatory language in the preambles to the rules. At the start of the George W. Bush Administration, OIRA made a number of changes to its review process, including increased use of return letters, added emphasis on economic analysis to support the rules, and improvements in the transparency of the office’s review process. Overall, in contrast to the “counselor” role it played during the Clinton Administration, OIRA appeared to have returned to the “gatekeeper” role that it had during its first 12 years of existence. An April 2009 report by GAO again noted changes made to rules at OIRA’s suggestion.
Possible legislative issues involving OIRA include codification of the office’s review function and principles, increasing or decreasing the office’s funding and staffing, adding review of rules from independent regulatory agencies, and improvements in the transparency of OIRA’s review process. In January 2009, President Obama requested recommendations from the Director of OMB for possible changes to Executive Order 12866. In January 2011, President Obama issued Executive Order 13563, which reaffirmed many of the principles in Executive Order 12866, but did not change OIRA’s responsibilities.
This report will be updated if there are changes in OIRA’s regulatory review responsibilities. For information, see CRS Report RL33862, Changes to the OMB Regulatory Review Process by Executive Order 13422, by Curtis W. Copeland; CRS Report RL32240, The Federal Rulemaking Process: An Overview, by Curtis W. Copeland; and CRS Report RL32356, Federal Regulatory Reform: An Overview, by Curtis W. Copeland.
Date of Report: March 21, 2011
Number of Pages: 37
Order Number: RL32397
Price: $29.95
Follow us on TWITTER at http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports
Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail Penny Hill Press or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.
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