Regulatory experts across the country are angling to change the way federal regulations are written and approved. Since President Barack Obama issued a memo Jan. 30 instructing his administration to rethink the executive order that governs the federal regulatory process, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been accepting public comments on ideas for reform and meeting with stakeholders.

Effective Feb. 10, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will begin enforcing new standards for children's products containing lead and phthalates. The standards take effect just days after a federal court voided a Bush administration effort to legalize the sale of products not meeting the standards if the products had been manufactured before Feb. 10. CPSC is enforcing the regulations in response to a 2008 law that gives the agency new powers and responsibilities to protect the public from potentially dangerous consumer products.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2009—OMB Watch applauds President Barack Obama’s decision to undo one of former President George W. Bush’s attempts to paralyze the regulatory process. In an executive order published in today's issue of the Federal Register, Obama revokes Executive Order 13422 and all implementing guidelines and documents.