Strengthening America by Modernizing Regulatory Review and Information Policy: 2023 at OIRA

By OIRA Administrator Richard L. Revesz

The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to investing in America, lowering costs for families, combating climate change, and growing the economy from the middle out and bottom up—and is using every available tool to improve Americans’ lives, including Federal regulations. OIRA is responsible for coordinating the review of these proposed and final regulations consistent with Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 14094. OIRA also reviews Federal agencies’ information collections under the Paperwork Reduction Act, and has a variety of other responsibilities related to privacy, science and statistical policy, and other areas.

In addition to these important roles, OIRA undertakes proactive work to improve and modernize the regulatory review process. This year has been a significant one for OIRA—publishing analysis, updating guidance, and engaging in numerous proactive efforts worth celebrating—showing just how much the small but mighty team of OIRA staff have been able to achieve:

Strengthening and Modernizing Our Regulatory System

• On April 6, the President issued Executive Order 14094, “Modernizing Regulatory Review” and OIRA issued guidance on the implementation of the Executive Order. These actions help focus both federal agencies’ and OIRA’s time and resources where they can have the greatest positive effect, by updating the threshold for regulations subject to more rigorous analysis of benefits and costs. They also encourage agencies to bring more voices into the regulatory process, particularly earlier in the development of regulations. For more, see the Strengthening Our Regulatory System for the 21st Century blog post.

Lowering Costs, Tackling the Climate Crisis, and Investing in America by Improving Regulatory Analysis

• On April 6, OIRA published draft revisions to Circular A-4 and an explanatory Preamble. And on November 9, OIRA finalized revisions to Circular A-4 along with an Explanation and Response to Public Input document. Revising Circular A-4 (which had not been updated since 2003) is particularly significant because it covers an array of important topics—the valuation of future consequences, the distribution of a policy’s effects, the scope of effects to analyze, and the best way to account for effects that are difficult to monetize—that are at the core of determining the benefits and costs of regulations. For more, see the Final Guidance to Improve Regulatory Analysis fact sheet.

• On August 1, OIRA published draft Guidance for Assessing Changes in Environmental and Ecosystem Services in Benefit-Cost Analysis for public comment and peer review. This is the first-ever Federal government-wide guidance on accounting for ecosystem services in benefit-cost analysis, a critical step to help agencies account more fully for costs and benefits linked to the environment. For more, see Accounting for Ecosystem Services in Benefit-Cost Analysis.

• On October 11, OIRA published Guidance on Accounting for Competition Effects When Developing and Analyzing Regulatory Actions. This guidance helps agencies design regulations that promote competition in the marketplace while also achieving other important policy goals. For more, see the Promoting Competitive Markets Through Regulatory Design blog post.

Making It Easier to Access Government Benefits and Services

• On July 10, OIRA published a report entitled Tackling the Time Tax, which describes OIRA and agency partners’ efforts to utilize the regulatory process to reduce burdens on members of the public looking to access government benefits and services. Administrative burdens can make it unnecessarily difficult to access much-needed programs, and can keep some families and small businesses from accessing these programs altogether. OIRA is working to ensure that the government minimizes these administrative burdens. For more, see the Reducing Time Taxes and Administrative Burdens blog post. This report built on OIRA’s Strategies for Reducing Administrative Burden in Public Benefit and Service Programs, published December 15, 2022.

Promoting Public Participation in Rulemaking

• On April 6, OIRA published draft guidance on revisions to its policies and practices regarding meetings with OIRA while regulations are under review (Executive Order 12866 meetings).
• On December 20, OIRA finalized guidance on its policies and practices regarding these meetings. These meetings are important because they offer an opportunity for individuals to provide OIRA with information that may be relevant for the regulatory review process. The guidance describes steps that OIRA is taking to encourage feedback from a broad array of stakeholders through these meetings. For example, OIRA is making it easier to request meetings through OIRA’s online portal; providing plain language information on OIRA’s website to help individuals prepare for these meetings; posting a video how-to guide for how to request meetings (Español); and offering periodic and accessible public trainings on effective participation in these meetings. For more, see the Promoting Public Engagement in OIRA’s Regulatory Review Process blog post.

• On July 19, OIRA published guidance entitled Broadening Public Participation and Community Engagement in the Regulatory Process. This guidance details new steps that Federal agencies should take to make it easier for interested members of the public to voice their views in the regulatory process. It emphasizes the importance of reaching out to interested members of the public early in the regulatory development process to help ensure that the Federal government is addressing the most pressing concerns of communities throughout the country. For more, see the Making Voices Heard in the Regulatory Process blog post.

• On December 6, OIRA released the 2023 Fall Regulatory Agenda. Consistent with Executive Order 14094 and OIRA’s guidance on Broadening Public Participation and Community Engagement in the Regulatory Process, this is the first Regulatory Agenda in which agencies discuss their efforts to encourage public participation and engagement in the rulemaking process, and share how this engagement has informed the development of regulatory priorities. For more, see the 2023 Fall Regulatory Agenda blog post.

Protecting the Environment and Encouraging Innovative Solutions with Science and Statistical Policy

• On January 19, OIRA, OSTP, and the Department of Commerce published the final National Strategy to Develop Statistics for Environmental-Economic Decisions (SEED). Current national economic statistics measure the U.S. economy in a manner that does not account for the role and value of underlying natural assets, such as land, water, minerals, animals, and plants. SEED is a historic, multi-year effort to expand the national economic accounting system by including natural capital, which will better capture the links between nature and the economy and lead to a more comprehensive account of the role of nature in economy activity. For more, see the National Strategy to Put Nature on the Nation’s Balance Sheet fact sheet.

• On December 14, OIRA, OSTP, and CEA published Advancing the Frontiers of Benefit Cost Analysis: Federal Priorities and Directions for Future Research. This is the first report from a new, whole-of-government initiative to improve policymaking by catalyzing collaboration between the Federal government and the research community to improve benefit-cost analysis. The report identifies specific areas where further research could significantly benefit government decision making by helping agencies improve quantification and monetization of the effects of their actions. For more, see the Initiative to Advance the Frontiers of Benefit-Cost Analysis fact sheet.

I am so proud of what OIRA accomplished in 2023, and look forward to more progress throughout 2024.