(2007-01-30) Bush Agency Oversight

George W Bush signed an Executive Order giving the White House greater control over Regulatory Agency-s. Bush said that each agency must have a regulatory policy office run by a political appointee, to supervise the development of rules and documents providing guidance to regulated industries. The White House will thus have a gatekeeper in each agency to analyze the costs and the benefits of new rules and to make sure the agencies carry out the president's priorities. (Boy that sounds a little like the Krem Lin, doesn't it? Will they call those folks "PoliticalOfficer-s"?) ...The directive issued by Bush says that, in deciding whether to issue regulations, federal agencies must identify "the specific Market Failure" or problem that justifies government intervention. Besides placing political appointees in charge of rule making, Bush said agencies must give the White House an opportunity to review "any significant guidance documents" before they are issued. (Actually, I kinda like that bit.)

(The Executive Branch does have jurisdiction over the Regulatory Agency-s, which are really Executive Department-s.)

Cindy Skryzycki gives more background/detail. Though the guidance isn't legally binding, companies pay close attention to it. More than 30 individuals and groups, including those representing funeral directors and ornithologists, filed comments about "good guidance practices" for a bulletin issued with the executive order. Some, such as the American Chemistry Council based in Arlington, said it was "frequently beneficial" for agencies to have the flexibility to issue guidance without a formal rule-writing process. Still, the council and most others who filed comments backed the plan to rein in the practice because of concern that guidance at times amounted to back-door rule writing.

Are they talking about the "GoodGuidancePractices"?