Under a deadline imposed by White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, federal agencies were to propose any regulation they wished to finalize under President Bush's watch by June 1 or wait for a new president to take the reigns of government. But several controversial rules that missed the June 1 deadline appeared destined for completion nonetheless. Reg•Watch has been keeping track of the controversial rules which include rules which would allow local law enforcement to engage in domestic spying without good cause; change the way government agencies comply with the Endangered Species Act; educe women's access to federally funded reproductive health services; change the way occupational health agencies calculate estimates for on-the-job risks; and require mandatory drug testing for miners. Evidence indicates the Bush administration intends to finalize these rules even though they missed the June 1 deadline ordered by Bolten in a May 2008 memo. Most went through an expedited review at OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) — the White House office in charge of reviewing agency rules — and were open to public comment for only a short time. The Institute for the Study of Regulation — a project of the NYU School of Law — wrote to OMB expressing concern about some of the rules and questioning their status under the Bolten deadline. (h/t The Pump Handle.) Susan Dudley, head of OIRA, responded: "[T]he Memorandum was not intended to be a moratorium on proposed regulations, and thus excludes from its terms regulations proposed after June 1, 2008 that are not finalized during this Administration." Dudley's statement implies because the batch of rules mentioned above missed the June 1 deadline, they won't be finalized under Bush's term. That would certainly be good news. Unfortunately, she follows with this statement: "It further contemplates some circumstances in which it would be appropriate for individual regulations to proceed without regard to deadlines if approved by OIRA." Indeed, at least the rule that would change the way government agencies treat endangered species is proceeding apace. The Department of Interior instructed its employees to review the 300,000 comments it received on the proposal — most of which opposed the plan — in just one week. An environmental assessment of the regulation is open for public comment …for just 10 days. Whether proposed rules made or missed the June 1 deadline, agencies are now in a rush to comply with the second deadline in the memo which requires agencies finalize rules by November 1. But with that deadline fast approaching, and some Bush administration whims not yet satisfied, even more rules may violate the Bolten memo. The administration is pushing other rules which would ease restrictions on mountaintop mining; allow truck drivers to work longer hours without taking breaks; restrict access to family and medical leave for workers; and exempt factory farms from reporting air pollution. Dudley's office is in the process or reviewing a these controversial rules, among others, and agencies may be sending more rules over to OIRA in the coming days. After OIRA's review, agencies may still need to dot i's and cross t's making the November 1 deadline increasingly impractical. The only conclusion one can draw from these circumstances is that the Bush administration will do what it wants, when it wants. Is anyone surprised? OMB Watch Executive Director Gary Bass appeared on the Diane Rehm show today to discuss the issue of midnight regulations and President Bush's attempt to secure an administrative legacy. Listen to it here.