Streamline Internal Agency Rulemaking Procedures

1. Streamline internal agency rulemaking procedures. (1)

The President should direct heads of regulatory agencies to review and
streamline their internal rulemaking processes. The Regulatory
Coordinating Group (RCG), in consultation with the Administrative
Conference of the United States (ACUS), should assist the process by
providing a forum for agencies to exchange information and coordinate
hiring of contractors (if any are necessary) to avoid duplicative
efforts. A variety of principles should be adopted to streamline the
process and reduce the cost of issuing rules, including:

--Agencies should differentiate between significant and insignificant
rules and use a shorter process for insignificant rules. The new
regulatory review executive order requires OIRA review only for
significant rules. Agencies also should strive to group or tier rules
and to adjust the process so that the number of steps in the clearance
process varies with the significance or importance of the rule.

--Executive departments (such as the Department of Health and Human
Services) should review their internal delegations to determine whether
agencies headed by Presidential appointees (such as the Food and Drug
Administration) can issue some insignificant rules without departmental
review. It might be appropriate to develop a triage system similar to
the one in the new regulatory review executive order.

--Agencies should determine whether there are continuing, unnecessary
roadblocks in the process and then determine how to remove them.

--Agencies should get early input from top policymakers on the choice of
regulatory approach to be taken so that agency resources are not wasted
drafting regulations that are inconsistent with the desired policies.