OMB Seeking Input on Revising Regulatory Review

SRA Committee of Past Presidents' Submission to OMB on Regulatory Review (March 16, 2009)

Alert to SRA Members*

On Jan. 30, 2009, President Obama issued a memorandum to OMB, published at 74 Fed. Reg. 5977 (Feb. 4, 2009), seeking OMB's recommendations within 100 days on how best to revise Executive Order 12866 (Sept. 30, 1993) or issue a new EO governing Regulatory Review.  The memo identifies several issues that OMB should consider.  (On the same day, he also rescinded EO 13422 & 13258, in an order published at 74 Fed. Reg. 6113 (Feb. 4, 2009).) 

On Feb. 26, 2009, OMB issued a memorandum calling for public comments on its effort to recommend a new EO, published at 74 Fed. Reg. 8819 (Feb. 26, 2009).  While noting that an EO does not require public notice and comment, OMB nonetheless seeks, by March 16, 2009, "public comments on the principles and procedures governing regulatory review.  These comments will be read and considered seriously even though no responses will be given."

These two memoranda, and the public comments that OMB has received so far, are posted at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/jsp/EO/fedRegReview/fedRegReview.jsp .
 
Public comments may be submitted to OMB by email to oira_submission@omb.eop.gov or by fax to 202-395-7245.  SRA members, like other interested parties, may submit individual comments.

Also, SRA President Alison Cullen has convened an ad hoc committee of Past Presidents of the Society to collect and communicate ideas to OMB, and has asked immediate Past President Jonathan Wiener to chair it.  All of SRA's 28 Presidents to date were invited to participate, and 17 have joined the committee (Presidents Whipple, Slovic, Anderson, North, Tardiff, Paté-Cornell, Zimmerman, Haimes, Charnley, Kasperson, Ahearne, Cantor, Goldstein, Fischhoff, Frey, Wiener, and Cullen).  The committee is not preparing an "SRA Position" on regulatory review, nor requiring a consensus among its members; rather, it is collecting ideas identified as helpful.

In the future, SRA may also support additional activities related to Regulatory Review and OMB's role.

*Email to SRA members, 3/10/2009.