Shining Light on the Federal Regulatory Process
- Subject
- Shining Light on the Federal Regulatory Process
- Date
- March 14, 2018
- Time
- 10:00 am
- Place
- 2154 Rayburn HOB
Full Committee on Oversight and Accountability
PURPOSE:
- To assess federal agencies’ processes for and compliance with rulemaking and guidance procedure requirements.
BACKGROUND:
- Federal agencies issue thousands of regulations per year, making it difficult for regulated entities and the general public to comply with regulatory directives.
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Agencies are issuing a significant quantity of regulatory directives through guidance documents that are difficult to track and have few procedural standards.
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To better understand the scope of guidance, the Committee requested information on guidance documents issued from 46 agencies. The responses show agencies routinely fail to comply with the Congressional Review Act’s (CRA) requirements and the Office of Management and Budget’s 2007 “Good Guidance” Bulletin.
- Administrations tend to increase regulatory activity towards the end of presidential terms, by issuing regulations after the election, referred to as “midnight rulemaking.” A significant number of “midnight rules” and guidance documents are not compliant with the CRA.
Witnesses and testimonies:
Ms. Kris Nguyen
Acting Director, Strategic Issues Division
Government Accountability Office
Document
Vice President of Public Policy
American Forest and Paper Association
Document
Executive Director, Small Business Legal Center
National Federation of Independent Business
Document
Professor of Law
Yale Law School
Document
Regulatory Policy Advocate
Public Citizen
Document