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Monday, June 02, 2008

Analysis of White House Memo on Midnight Regulations

Saturday's New York Times has an article about the White House's new policy setting deadlines for any regulations agencies intend to finalize during the Bush administration. The policy, outlined in a memo sent by Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, says, "Except in extraordinary circumstances, regulations to be finalized in this Administration should be proposed no later than June 1, 2008, and final regulations should be issued no later than November 1, 2008."

Bolten issued the memo under the guise of reversing "the historical tendency of administrations to increase regulatory activity in their final months" — commonly known as midnight regulations. In reality, the memo may simply change when the clock strikes midnight in order to insulate potentially controversial rules from disapproval by a new administration.

The Times article quotes White House spokesperson Emily Lawrimore as saying, "We're just making clear that we will continue to embrace the thorough and high standards of the regulatory review process as we near the end of the administration." Lawrimore is referring to the process where the White House reviews regulations before they are cleared to become official policy.

Of course, those "high standards" are usually employed to derail public protections or weaken them at the behest of industry lobbyists. We've seen that recently as the White House blocked the efforts of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration effort to protect the North Atlantic right whale and countermanded EPA's attempt to set a separate standard for ozone that would protect sensitive plants during summer months.

OMB Watch has an analysis of the Bolten memo which also includes a list of high-profile regulations the administration may try to rush through by November 1, for better or for worse (mostly worse). The regulations would:

• Revise the definition of solid waste to allow recycling of hazardous materials;
• Revise the federal standards for roof strength in passenger vehicles;
• Mandate public notification of retail outlets that have received recalled meat and poultry products;
• Allow for permitting exemptions for farms claiming "no discharge" into waterways;
• Revise air pollution control requirements for industrial facilities operating near national parks;
• Permit surface mining operations to place excess material in waterways;
• Allow for reporting exemptions for farms emitting air pollution from animal waste;
• Revise rules implementing the Family and Medical Leave Act;
• Limit the number of hours a truck driver can drive in one day;
• Repeal the ban on carrying loaded guns in national parks.

A few of those sound super, but, as the analysis shows, the devil is in the details.

The analysis also discusses how the Bolten memo may impact the options of the next administration and next Congress in dealing with Bush-era rules.

Click here to read more.