Global Indicators of Regulatory Governance

Forward regulatory plans are published as Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. (http://www.regulations.gov; http://www.reginfo.gov) Fall editions of the Unified Agenda include the Regulatory Plan, which presents agency statements of regulatory priorities and additional information about the most significant regulatory activities planned for the coming year. Regulatory Plans are also published in the Federal Register.

The plans are accessible online (http://www.regulations.gov; http://www.reginfo.gov).

While not a requirement set out in law, in practice U.S. agencies provide the public with an opportunity to provide comments on the proposed regulations. In addition, the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) does not prescribe a minimum public comment period. However, presidential Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 encourage agencies to provide at least 60 days for public comment, to the extent feasible and permitted by law. Agencies often provide 30 days, and will frequently provide longer comment periods when stakeholders may need more time to understand and analyze a complex regulatory proposal.

http://www.regulations.gov

The Federal Register can be accessed online. (http://www.federalregister.gov)

The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) allows for both the proposed text and “the substance of the rule” to be used as the consultation document, given the APA's notice requirements. While not a requirement set out in law, in practice U.S. agencies provide the public with an opportunity to provide comments on the actual texts of proposed regulations before agencies issue them in the final form.

The preamble to each proposed rule provides instructions and contact information to facilitate the submission of public comments. In addition, sometimes public meetings are required or held.

http://www.regulations.gov

They are accessible on the unified website. (http://www.regulations.gov)

The Administrative Procedure Act, Sect. 5 Art. 553. (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/553)

http://www.regulations.gov

Final rules are published in the Federal Register and on the unified website. (http://www.FederalRegister.gov; http://regulations.gov) The preamble of the final regulatory text responds to major criticisms raised in the proposed rule comments in the “Supplementary Information” section.

US policy is that all "significant rules" include an assessment of the costs and benefits of the regulatory action. In addition, a more extensive assessment is conducted for all "economically significant" regulations. Section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866 defines an "economically significant" regulation as one that is likely to result in a "regulation that may have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or communities". Finally, for a small subset of regulations that impose a federal requirement that may result in the expenditure of funds by state, local, or tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector of $100 million or more in any one year, a cost-benefit assessment and a description of the macroeconomic effects is required. The Regulatory Flexibility Act also requires agencies to determine whether a proposed rule will have a “significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities”.

OMB Circular A-4 on Regulatory Analysis (https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/circulars/A4/a-4.pdf) and the Regulatory Flexibility Act (http://www.sba.gov/advocacy/guide-government-agencies-how-comply-regulatory-flexibility-act)

The following impose requirements for these assessments on some agencies: Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, National Environmental Policy Act and Regulatory Flexibility Act.

http://www.regulations.gov

https://www.congress.gov/

After the President signs a legislative bill into law, it is delivered to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), where it is assigned a public law number and legal statutory citation. It is then published, through the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO). (https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=PLAW.)

Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act requires federal agencies to review regulations that have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities within 10 years of their adoption as final rules.

Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act

The APA requires agencies to give interested persons the right to petition for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of a regulation. In addition, certain agencies are required to provide more extensive rights of reconsideration and rulemaking petitions, depending on the individual statute.

Judicial review is available with few exceptions. Depending on the decision, administrative review may also be available, prior to judicial review.

President Obama's Executive Order 13563 directed agencies to produce plans to engage in retrospective review of existing significant regulations to determine whether they should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed. Executive Order 13610, “Identifying and Reducing Regulatory Burdens,” institutionalized retrospective review. It requires agencies to request on a regular basis public suggestions about regulations in need of retrospective review and about appropriate modifications to such regulations.