Number: 96-949
Title: Environmental Reauthorizations and Regulatory Reform: From the 109th Congress through the 106th
Authors: John E. Blodgett, Resources, Science, and Industry Division 
Abstract: The 104th Congress addressed the environmental regulatory process by reviewing regulatory decision-making processes and requiring assessments of unfunded mandates and of costs and benefits of selected regulations; attaching specific reforms to funding bills; establishing a House corrections day calendar for bills addressing specific regulatory problems; and incorporating regulatory reforms into individual program reauthorization bills. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was directed to prepare a report on the costs and benefits of federal regulations. The 105th Congress pursued similar regulatory reforms: proposals for comprehensive cost-benefit/risk analysis of regulations; private property takings bills; revisions of individual environmental statutes; selected riders on appropriations bills; and oversight of environmental programs. OMB was directed to continue its report on overall regulatory impacts. The 106th Congress permanently authorized the annual OMB report, and it enacted a 3-year pilot project under which Committee Chairmen or Ranking Members could ask the General Accounting Office (GAO) to evaluate and send reports to Congress on major rules issued by federal agencies. Section 15 of H.R. 5658, enacted by P.L. 106-554, required OMB to issue guidelines for federal data quality and provided for a mechanism for public correction of erroneous data.
Pages: 6
Date: December 27, 2000