Reviewing Independent Agency Rulemaking

Rules promulgated by independent agencies may have annual economic effects in the hundreds of millions of dollars, but unlike executive branch agencies, independent agencies are not subject to Executive Orders prescribing rulemaking analytical requirements, retrospective review efforts, and OIRA review.  OMB’s Draft 2015 Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations and Agency Compliance with the Unfunded Mandates Act found that 10 of the 16 major rules issued by independent agencies provided some information on the benefits and costs of the regulation, and that independent agencies continue to struggle in providing monetized estimates of benefits and costs of regulation.

In this hearing, we examined how independent regulatory agencies could improve their regulatory processes through quality analysis of the rules they propose, compliance with applicable statutory requirements, retrospective review efforts, and potential improvements that could be implemented to improve the overall independent agency regulatory process.