White House Regulatory Office Too Quiet About Its Activities, Study Finds (over last 12 yrs)
A notable portion of meeting records, oral communications and public comments related to agency rulemaking are absent from the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website, according to a new study that faults OIRA for less-than-full transparency during the last 12 years.
Since 1981, the office has been under executive order to review the costs and benefits of all proposed agency rules that exceed a certain threshold of economic impact. Consumer, environmental and workplace safety advocates worried, however, that secrecy in the reviewing process could delay or water down rules in ways favorable to industry lobbyists, according to a capsule history from the Center for Effective Government (formerly OMB Watch).
An agreement by the Reagan administration—converted to an executive order under President Clinton—required OIRA to publish logs of its meetings with outsiders, which have been posted on the Office of Management and Budget website since 2001. The office regularly updates its Regulatory Review Dashboard graphic.
In its recent study, the center examined all rulemaking logs from the Transportation and Labor departments as well as the Environmental Protection Agency. “The staggering discrepancy among reported meetings, written comments, and substantive conversations suggests OIRA's review of rules remains unreasonably opaque despite its stated disclosure policy,” the study found.
http://www.govexec.com/management/2013/02/white-house-regulatory-office-too-quiet-about-its-activities-study-finds/61536/?oref=river
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