AGC submitted its first set of comments on a Biden administration guidance implementing a new executive order that changes the process of developing regulations (Executive Order 14094 on Modernizing Regulatory Review). The new policy would limit the business community’s access to the administration during the inter-agency review process, while encouraging feedback from groups that ordinarily would not engage in the regulatory process. The policy effectively closes the door on the very entities that stand to bear the compliance cost of a proposed regulation. The executive order also raises the threshold of a significant regulatory action, meaning fewer regulations would be required to undergo review. AGC encourages the administration to abandon the executive order.
The administration has provided an extension of the comment period to June 20, 2023, for related policy changes to Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-4, ‘Regulatory Analysis’. Updated: In a separate set of comments, filed June 20, AGC urged the Administration to rethink its proposed changes to the cost benefit analysis in Circular A-4 with twelve specific recommendations to make the process more objective. For example, the agencies should avoid unquantifiable benefits and limit consideration of global impacts.
For more information, contact Jordan Howard at jordan.howard@agc.org or (703) 837-5368.