All Publications

OMB Reports Higher Costs and Lower Benefits in 2015 Draft Report

October 21, 2015

The Office Management and Budget (OMB) released its annual Draft Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations (“the Report”), which provides a window into regulatory activity conducted by federal agencies in Fiscal Year 2014. The Report indicates that the new regulations issued last fiscal year have both higher costs and lower benefits than those issued in FY 2013, and that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) remains by far the largest contributor to both regulatory costs and benefits in this Report.

The Tension between Optimization and Competition in Rulemaking: The Case of Proposed Fuel-Efficiency Standards for Trucks

October 8, 2015

Executive Order No. 12866, signed by President Clinton, directs agencies to analyze the benefits and costs of regulations, and to try to maximize the excess of the former over the latter.  It is a sound principle, but it needs to be applied with an appropriate measure of humility. 

EPA’s Ozone Rule and the Scientization of Policy

October 7, 2015

EPA standards on Clean Air Act reflect hidden policy choices

EPA and NHTSA's Proposed Rule: Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles – Phase 2

October 1, 2015

In response to a directive from President Obama, and using their respective statutory authorities, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have jointly proposed a set of standards to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and (almost equivalently) fuel efficiency for medium and heavy-duty engines and vehicles.

With Data, Will Regulators Show Humility or Hubris?

September 23, 2015

A Review of Regulatory Reform Proposals

September 16, 2015

Testimony before the United States Senate Homeland Security & Government Affairs Committee.

The Questionable Benefits of Energy Efficiency Standards

September 15, 2015

Whose Benefits Are They, Anyway? Examining the Benefits of Energy Efficiency Rules 2007 - 2014

September 2, 2015

Consistent Inconsistencies: Misclassification of Rules Could Hamper International Regulatory Cooperation

August 26, 2015

Agencies could work more consistently to identify which regulations are likely to have a significant effect on international trade and investment.

The Role of Transparency in Regulatory Governance

August 11, 2015

This article examines the transparency of procedures in the US and the EU related to impact analysis and public comment. It examines the importance of transparency for ensuring the effectiveness of these two regulatory practices, summarizes regulatory procedures in the US and the EU, compares the different approaches, and highlights the relative merits of each.