Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)

Only a Trickle of New Rules, Not a Wave

The business community and its allies on Capitol Hill have warned for over a year that a "tsunami" of new regulations will be flowing out of the Obama administration, undermining the anemic growth of the economy. To prevent this imagined emergency, they continue to propose draconian "reforms" of the regulatory system – changes that would further delay and obstruct the work of federal agencies attempting to implement the laws they were established to enforce.

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Shelanski Lays Out Top Priorities if Confirmed as Next OIRA Administrator

Jun 12, 2013 by Katie Weatherford

At his Senate confirmation hearing this morning, Howard Shelanski, nominated to serve as the next administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), laid out his top priorities for the office. Among them are addressing long-standing delays of crucial standards and safeguards and the lack of transparency in OIRA's rule review process.

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Obama Nominates Howard Shelanski to Lead Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Jun 10, 2013 by Katie Weatherford

On April 25, President Obama nominated Howard Shelanski as administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). If confirmed, Shelanski would replace Cass Sunstein, who resigned from the position last August, leaving behind a record of lengthy delays.

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Former EPA Official Sheds Light on Problems with White House Review of Rules and Standards

Recent reflections of a former executive agency official illustrate the troubling role the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) plays in reviewing all agency rules before they can be issued. In a new article, Lisa Heinzerling shares her perspective on OIRA review during her tenure at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Notably, Heinzerling gives a first-hand account of how the White House interacts with agencies regarding rules, contradicting the story being told by former OIRA Administrator Cass Sunstein and challenging the unrecognizably rosy picture of rule reviews he spins. Indeed, Heinzerling identifies a number of problems with OIRA, including significant delays and a lack of transparency, that resonate with health and safety advocates.

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Food Safety Rules the Latest to be Weakened During Regulatory Review

Recently disclosed documents show that the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) weakened a proposed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food safety rule. During the regulatory review process, OIRA removed important safety testing requirements from the "preventative controls" rule, which were intended to prevent foodborne pathogens from entering the food supply. Unfortunately, this is nothing new. OIRA has a long track record of changing the draft rules it reviews, often weakening them to appease regulated entities. In this case, the public was made aware of the rule revisions only because FDA followed the requirement to disclose changes made during OIRA review.

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How Many More Food Recalls Will It Take to End Delay on New Food Safety Rules?

Aug 24, 2012 by Jessica Randall

On Aug. 22, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that cantaloupes from Chamberlain Farms in Indiana are being recalled because of Salmonella contamination, which has infected 178 people in 21 states, causing 62 hospitalizations and 2 deaths.

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Where Have All the New Rules Gone?

Aug 13, 2012 by Katie Greenhaw

An editorial published in The New York Times over the weekend describes the trend – a matter of serious concern in the public interest community – of public protections being put on hold, due in large part to industry interference.

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International Regulatory Cooperation: Will Harmonization Protect the Public or Prioritize Corporate Profits?

May 3, 2012 by Jessica Randall

A May 1 Executive Order on international regulatory cooperation has raised questions about how regulatory agencies set their priorities. Regulatory cooperation is neither a particularly new idea, nor an inherently bad one – but if not handled carefully, it could undercut the public protections on which Americans depend.

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OIRA Issues Implementation Memo on Retrospective Review Process

Oct 28, 2011 by Katie Greenhaw

A memorandum issued Oct. 26 by the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Cass Sunstein, instructs federal agencies to submit reports on the implementation of their retrospective review plans for periodically evaluating existing rules. The plans were required by President Obama's Jan. 18 Executive Order 13563, "Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review" (E.O. 13563), and thus far in the process, agencies have largely managed to keep their focus on their main mandate: protecting the public.

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Agencies Will Revise Their FOIA Regulations (...Or Not)

Jul 7, 2011 by Gavin Baker

The Spring 2011 Unified Agenda was released today, reporting agencies' regulatory changes to be considered in the next six months. According to the Unified Agenda, several agencies intend to revise their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulations this year, but there are reasons to take that with a grain of salt.

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