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News & Analysis | REG•WATCH Blog | Press Room
Friday, September 23, 2005
OMB To Expand EPA Guidance Reviews
According to InsideEPA (subscription only), OMB is planning an unprecedented expansion of its review authority that will include reviews of almost all agency guidance documents, further stymieing agency efforts to implement new protections. From the article:
EPA sources say the draft OMB document announcing the new policy, entitled OMB Bulletin on Good Guidance, could delay agency efforts to develop new risk assessments for a major agency risk database, issue implementation procedures for state clean air plans, announce drinking water advisories and undermine the Superfund cleanup program, which relies on guidance documents to provide on-the-ground technical advice to site managers, such as monitoring and assessment procedures.
A number of EPA officials say the review process will dramatically slow the agency’s ability to clarify EPA procedures to its staff, even if the documents do not impose requirements on the regulated community.
This represents “a historic expansion of OMB oversight,” one EPA source says.
OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) was given authority to review significant final and proposed rules under Executive Order 12866. OIRA currently reviews a limited number of guidance documents, but under the new bulletin, OIRA would expand those reviews to include all guidance except those dealing with personnel policies. The plan would likely impede the promulgation of new guidance documents and further tax the limited resources of both OMB and the federal agencies. According to InsideEPA:
EPA sources say this lack of resources could also slow down or kill documents that OMB opposes, since neither the White House nor EPA and other agencies have the resources to evaluate all guidances or shepherd them through an intensive review and revision process. “There’s not enough money or staff for that,” one Superfund program source says.
During the Bush administration, OIRA has expanded interference into agency actions through a number of mechanisms, including soliciting regulations for repeal or reform from industry representatives.
Posted by Genevieve Smith
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