Trump Administration Publishes Federal Regulations Roadmap

July 28, 2017

On July 20, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released its first report of short and long-term regulatory actions planned by the Trump Administration.

Described as “the beginning of fundamental regulatory reform” by the Administration, the Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions serves as a snapshot of ongoing and planned rulemakings under President Trump.

The OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which prepared the report, highlighted the Administration’s efforts to amend and eliminate ineffective and duplicative regulations – including the withdrawal of 469 actions proposed in the Fall 2016 Agenda and reconsideration of 391 active actions by reclassifying them as long-term (282) or inactive (109).

The Administration’s actions, OIRA said, “produced quantifiable annualized cost savings estimated at $22 million, compared to $6.8 billion in annualized costs due to rules finalized during last five months of fiscal year 2016.”

For the first time, according to OIRA, agencies will release a public list of inactive rules in order to provide advance notice of regulations that are being reviewed or considered. At press time the list included inactive rules from almost every agency, except for the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).

In a companion document, USDOT explained that its regulatory (and deregulatory) actions would be informed by the principles outlined in two of President Trump’s executive orders. The first is EO 13771: Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs, the infamous order that instructed agencies to identify two existing regulations to be repealed for each one that is proposed.

The second, EO 1377: Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda, instructed each agency to create a Regulatory Reform Task Force and appoint a Regulatory Reform Officer (RRO) to recommend regulations to be repealed, replaced, or modified.

USDOT stated that it intends to revisit proposed and final rulemakings in the interest of streamlining projects and reducing administrative burdens – but that safety would “continue to be a priority.” In particular, USDOT singled out automated technologies as an area where it had a significant opportunity to expand access to transportation services and improve safety.

The full rule list for USDOT can be accessed on OMB OIRA’s website here.

 

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