2021 Regulatory Year in Review
This Regulatory Insight recaps ten important developments related to federal regulations that occurred in 2021.
Commentaries & Insights
Our Commentaries and Insights are short-form publications intended to distill long-form research and synthesize current policymaking activity into easily understood concepts.
When Regulating An Appliance ... Follow The Science!
Read Susan Dudley's latest column for Forbes, "When Regulating An Appliance . . . Follow The Science!"
A Study To Evaluate OIRA Review of Treasury Regulations
In a new study, we aim to learn more about the effect of Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) review of Treasury Department regulations interpreting the Internal Revenue Code. What contributions does OIRA review offer the tax regulatory process? What are its limitations?
Regulatory Reform: Tracking the Watchwords of a Movement
This commentary examines the history of the phrase “regulatory reform,” tracking the phrase from the early 20th century to its proliferation during the Ford administration to today.
Federal Agencies are Publishing Fewer but Larger Regulations
The pace of rulemaking has declined for several decades, with the number of final and proposed rules falling from 1995 to 2020. One plausible explanation for this trend is that federal agencies are crafting bigger rules over time, in terms of both page length and economic impact.
On Friday, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs released its annual Regulatory Plan and semiannual Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. Most agencies echo the Biden administration’s desire to focus on equity concerns in rulemaking in their statements of regulatory priorities. Aside from routine rulemakings, most of the large rules published for the first time in the Fall 2021 Unified Agenda are regulatory actions related to the COVID-19 pandemic or environmental policy.
The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) of 1946 celebrated a milestone birthday this year. Its requirements—that regulations be grounded in statutory law and an administrative record that includes public notice-and-comment—have guided executive branch rulemaking without significant amendment for 75 years. It is one of the most important and enduring pieces of legislation ever enacted, yet its passage wasn’t always assured. This commentary, excerpted from my recent Daedalus essay on “Milestones in the Evolution of the Administrative State,” reviews the contentious and messy, yet constructive, process that yielded this landmark act.
Increasing Early, Transparent Consideration of Regulatory Alternatives
In an article originally published by The Regulatory Review, Professors Carrigan and Shapiro summarize their research on studying agency consideration of alternatives during rulemakings.
ACUS Publishes Draft Recommendations to Improve the Congressional Review Act
A new project at the Administrative Conference of the United States will consider technical reforms to the Congressional Review Act. The recently-issued draft report is an excellent primer on the details of regulatory agency and congressional staff implementation of the CRA. It provides a deep dive analysis of several policy options available to Congress to improve the CRA. ACUS is going through its process to develop draft recommendations now.
Unpacking the OECD Recommendation on Agile Regulatory Governance
On October 6, the OECD Council adopted a Recommendation at the ministerial level related to agile regulatory governance. The Recommendation is designed to help governments consider regulatory structures that best bolster innovation in their countries. Overall, this Recommendation signals that the OECD sees regulation focused on promoting innovation as valuable—particularly in light of the rapidly-evolving nature of emerging technologies.