ORGANIZED BY TOPIC

Below is the list of recommendations as they appear in the report, without explanatory text.

The First 100 Days: Recommendations for President-Elect Obama

1. Place a moratorium on finalizing any new regulations, and review those rules finalized but not yet in effect.
2. To set a new tone for the new administration, the president should pursue the timely appointment of qualified individuals to regulatory agencies critical to protecting the public.
3. Increase agency funding for regulatory implementation and enforcement.
4. The president should form a blue ribbon commission to analyze the regulatory process with the goals of examining existing requirements and reducing unnecessary delay.
5. The president should appoint a qualified administrator for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and Budget who can lead the office in fulfillment of its statutory obligations and transform the role of OIRA.
6. The president should rescind E.O. 13422 immediately.
7. The president should improve executive branch transparency by replacing the Ashcroft memorandum with another memorandum directing agencies to make more information publicly available.

The First 100 Days: Recommendations for the 111th Congress

1. Use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to stop ill-advised "midnight regulations" from the previous administration.
2. As the new Congress organizes itself, it should clarify committee jurisdiction and reassert its responsibilities for review and oversight of cross-cutting regulatory issues.
3. Increase agency funding for regulatory implementation and enforcement.
4. Strengthen federal protections for whistleblowers by passing pending legislation in both chambers.

A. Improving the Quality of Regulations

A.1. Regulatory solutions and the analysis of regulatory alternatives should be consistent with statutory provisions.
A.2. To the extent that cost-benefit analyses are done, they should be guided by a set of core principles.
A.3. Scientific uncertainty per se does not provide sufficient justification to avoid promulgating regulations.
A.4. Agencies should be encouraged to clearly state problems, identify data gaps, restore needed collection and monitoring programs, and address new information needs as they are confronted with new regulatory problems.
A.5. The Paperwork Reduction Act needs to be amended and reauthorized.
A.6. Agencies should develop their own standards for the use of risk assessment according to best practices applicable to the issues with which they are confronted.
A.7. Implied preemption in rulemakings must be curtailed.

B. Integrity and Accountability

B.1. The president should instruct his agency heads that scientific integrity must be a core component of regulatory actions.
B.2. Federal protections for public and private sector whistleblowers need to be strengthened to serve as a check on misconduct.
B.3. Strengthen the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).
B.4. Improve conflicts of interest laws.
B.5. Disclose the scientific, technical, economic and social analyses used in the formation and promulgation of regulatory documents.
B.6. Resurrect the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA).
B.7. For key areas of international health and safety regulation affecting Americans and U.S. businesses, Congress and the president should call for greater transparency in order to make the process more democratic.
B.8. The president should encourage agency heads to adopt (or modify) guidelines to allow scientists to communicate directly with interested parties.
B.9. Agencies should abstain from inappropriate interference in the work of other agencies and end secretive interagency reviews of scientific and technical information.

C. Implementation and Enforcement of Regulations

C.1. Funding for enforcement of regulations must be increased.
C.2. Develop a comprehensive regulatory compliance initiative.
C.3. Modernize enforcement requirements across government to assure credible deterrence.
C.4. Fund an historical assessment of regulatory agency budgets and resource needs.

D. Transparency in the Rulemaking Process

D.1. Agency rulemaking dockets should be expanded, complete, and available online.
D.1.a. Agencies should disclose online all studies in their possession related to a rulemaking, regardless of whether the study was used to inform the policy option the agency chose.
D.1.b. Agencies should disclose online all written communications among federal officials from different agencies, including the White House, regarding rules under development or under review.
D.1.c. Agencies should disclose online all communications, written or oral, between any White House office and any nongovernmental entity regarding rules under development or under review.
D.1.d. Agencies should disclose online all substantive communications between the agency and nongovernmental entities regarding regulations.
D.2. Create a system that allows the public to track the status of a rule and its associated paperwork requirements.
D.3. To the extent permitted by law, agencies should make government information publicly available.
D.3.a. The president should instruct the attorney general to issue a memo calling on agencies to make government information publicly available under FOIA whenever possible.
D.3.b. Agencies should work to reduce the FOIA backlog.
D.3.c. The president should request, Congress should appropriate, and agencies should use more funds to fulfill FOIA requests.
D.3.d. Agencies should develop plans for digitizing non-digital information.
D.3.e. Agencies should not use the Confidential Business Information (CBI) claim under FOIA during public health emergencies.
D.3.f. Agencies should disclose online the calendars of senior agency officials.
D.3.g. The president should ensure the FOIA ombudsman is housed at the National Archives and Records Administration, not the Department of Justice.

E. Public Participation in the Rulemaking Process

E.1. The federal e-rulemaking initiative needs to be reformed and accelerated to strengthen public engagement in the rulemaking process.
E.2. Agencies should be encouraged to experiment with interactive technology during comment periods.
E.3. Agencies should experiment with new ways to encourage participation by the public and stakeholders even prior to proposed rulemaking in order to level the playing field.
E.4. Agencies should make better use of advisory committees to serve as vehicles for hearing the views of stakeholder groups and the public at-large, especially in the pre-rule stage.

 

ORGANIZED BY DECISION MAKER

In each recommendation in the report, the Steering Committee has identified one or more decision making bodies responsible for carrying out the recommendation. This list categorizes recommendations by decision making body — either Executive Branch (the President, the Executive Office of the President, or federal agencies) or Congress. Where a recommendation is the responsibility of both branches, it is included in both categories and marked with an asterisk (*).

Executive Branch

Next Administration 1. Place a moratorium on finalizing any new regulations, and review those rules finalized but not yet in effect.
Next Administration 2. To set a new tone for the new administration, the president should pursue the timely appointment of qualified individuals to regulatory agencies critical to protecting the public.
Next Administration 3. Increase agency funding for regulatory implementation and enforcement.
Next Administration 4. The president should form a blue ribbon commission to analyze the regulatory process with the goals of examining existing requirements and reducing unnecessary delay.
Next Administration 5. The president should appoint a qualified administrator for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and Budget who can lead the office in fulfillment of its statutory obligations and transform the role of OIRA.
Next Administration 6. The president should rescind E.O. 13422 immediately.
Next Administration 7. The president should improve executive branch transparency by replacing the Ashcroft memorandum with another memorandum directing agencies to make more information publicly available.

A.1. Regulatory solutions and the analysis of regulatory alternatives should be consistent with statutory provisions.
A.2. To the extent that cost-benefit analyses are done, they should be guided by a set of core principles.
A.3. Scientific uncertainty per se does not provide sufficient justification to avoid promulgating regulations.
A.4. Agencies should be encouraged to clearly state problems, identify data gaps, restore needed collection and monitoring programs, and address new information needs as they are confronted with new regulatory problems.
A.6. Agencies should develop their own standards for the use of risk assessment according to best practices applicable to the issues with which they are confronted.
A.7. Implied preemption in rulemakings must be curtailed.

B.1. The president should instruct his agency heads that scientific integrity must be a core component of regulatory actions.
B.2. Federal protections for public and private sector whistleblowers need to be strengthened to serve as a check on misconduct.*
B.3. Strengthen the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).*
B.4. Improve conflicts of interest laws.*
B.5. Disclose the scientific, technical, economic and social analyses used in the formation and promulgation of regulatory documents.*
B.7. For key areas of international health and safety regulation affecting Americans and U.S. businesses, Congress and the president should call for greater transparency in order to make the process more democratic.*
B.8. The president should encourage agency heads to adopt (or modify) guidelines to allow scientists to communicate directly with interested parties.
B.9. Agencies should abstain from inappropriate interference in the work of other agencies and end secretive interagency reviews of scientific and technical information.

C.1. Funding for enforcement of regulations must be increased.*
C.2. Develop a comprehensive regulatory compliance initiative.
C.3. Modernize enforcement requirements across government to assure credible deterrence.

D.1. Agency rulemaking dockets should be expanded, complete, and available online.
D.1.a. Agencies should disclose online all studies in their possession related to a rulemaking, regardless of whether the study was used to inform the policy option the agency chose.
D.1.b. Agencies should disclose online all written communications among federal officials from different agencies, including the White House, regarding rules under development or under review.
D.1.c. Agencies should disclose online all communications, written or oral, between any White House office and any nongovernmental entity regarding rules under development or under review.
D.1.d. Agencies should disclose online all substantive communications between the agency and nongovernmental entities regarding regulations.
D.2. Create a system that allows the public to track the status of a rule and its associated paperwork requirements.
D.3. To the extent permitted by law, agencies should make government information publicly available.
D.3.a. The president should instruct the attorney general to issue a memo calling on agencies to make government information publicly available under FOIA whenever possible.
D.3.b. Agencies should work to reduce the FOIA backlog.
D.3.c. The president should request, Congress should appropriate, and agencies should use more funds to fulfill FOIA requests.*
D.3.d. Agencies should develop plans for digitizing non-digital information.
D.3.e. Agencies should not use the Confidential Business Information (CBI) claim under FOIA during public health emergencies.
D.3.f. Agencies should disclose online the calendars of senior agency officials.
D.3.g. The president should ensure the FOIA ombudsman is housed at the National Archives and Records Administration, not the Department of Justice.

E.1. The federal e-rulemaking initiative needs to be reformed and accelerated to strengthen public engagement in the rulemaking process.
E.2. Agencies should be encouraged to experiment with interactive technology during comment periods.
E.3. Agencies should experiment with new ways to encourage participation by the public and stakeholders even prior to proposed rulemaking in order to level the playing field.
E.4. Agencies should make better use of advisory committees to serve as vehicles for hearing the views of stakeholder groups and the public at-large, especially in the pre-rule stage.

Congress

Next Congress 1. Use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to stop ill-advised "midnight regulations" from the previous administration.
Next Congress 2. As the new Congress organizes itself, it should clarify committee jurisdiction and reassert its responsibilities for review and oversight of cross-cutting regulatory issues.
Next Congress 3. Increase agency funding for regulatory implementation and enforcement.
Next Congress 4. Strengthen federal protections for whistleblowers by passing pending legislation in both chambers.

A.5. The Paperwork Reduction Act needs to be amended and reauthorized.

B.2. Federal protections for public and private sector whistleblowers need to be strengthened to serve as a check on misconduct.*
B.3. Strengthen the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).*
B.4. Improve conflicts of interest laws.*
B.5. Disclose the scientific, technical, economic and social analyses used in the formation and promulgation of regulatory documents.*
B.6. Resurrect the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA).
B.7. For key areas of international health and safety regulation affecting Americans and U.S. businesses, Congress and the president should call for greater transparency in order to make the process more democratic.*

C.1. Funding for enforcement of regulations must be increased.*
C.4. Fund an historical assessment of regulatory agency budgets and resource needs.

D.3.c. The president should request, Congress should appropriate, and agencies should use more funds to fulfill FOIA requests.*