New Executive Order Addresses Regulatory Burdens

On May 10, 2012, President Obama issued a new Executive Order (E.O.) – Identifying and Reducing Regulatory Burdens – that aims to reduce the costs and obligations of federal regulation. E.O. 13610 builds upon E.O. 13563 – Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review -- issued in January 2011. Among other things, the earlier E.O. requires agencies to establish retrospective review plans to determine whether previously-issued rules should be “modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed.” The goals of the latest E.O. are “to promote public participation in retrospective review, to modernize our regulatory system, and to institutionalize regular assessment of significant regulations.”

To this end, E.O. 13610 requires federal agencies to:

  • invite, on a regular basis (to be determined by the agency head in consultation with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)), public suggestions about regulations in need of retrospective review and about appropriate modifications to such regulations. The retrospective analyses of regulations, including supporting data, are to be released to the public online wherever practicable.
  • give priority, consistent with law, to those initiatives that will produce significant quantifiable monetary savings or significant quantifiable reductions in paperwork burdens while protecting public health, welfare, safety, and our environment. To the extent practicable and permitted by law, agencies shall also give special consideration to initiatives that would reduce unjustified regulatory burdens or simplify or harmonize regulatory requirements imposed on small businesses.
  • regularly report on the status of their retrospective review efforts to OIRA.

Information contained in this publication is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or opinion, nor is it a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney.