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EO 13422Executive OrderG.W. Bush · R Quiet signal

Executive Order 13422

Further Amendment to Executive Order 12866 on Regulatory Planning and Review

This executive order amends the Clinton-era regulatory review framework (EO 12866) to expand White House oversight to agency "guidance documents"—not just formal regulations. It requires agencies to identify specific market failures before regulating, creates a new category of "significant guidance documents" subject to OIRA review, mandates each agency designate a Presidential Appointee as Regulatory Policy Officer, and requires aggregate cost-benefit estimates for annual regulatory plans.

Federal Register Open PDF 72 FR 2763

Impact dates

  1. Each agency head shall designate Regulatory Policy Officer and advise OMB

Key directives

  • Each agency must identify specific market failure or problem warranting new agency action (Sec. 1(a))
  • Guidance documents added to regulatory review framework throughout EO 12866 (Sec. 1-2)
  • Definition of "guidance document" and "significant guidance document" established (Sec. 3(g)-(h))
  • Significant guidance documents subject to advance OIRA notification and potential review (Sec. 7/new Sec. 9)
  • Director may convene agency heads for priority coordination (Sec. 4(a))
  • No rulemaking may commence without Regulatory Policy Office approval (Sec. 4(b))
  • Agencies must estimate combined aggregate costs and benefits of all planned regulations annually (Sec. 4(c))
  • Agencies must cite specific legal authority for regulations (Sec. 4(d))
  • Agencies may consider formal rulemaking for complex determinations (Sec. 5(a))
  • Each agency head must designate a Presidential Appointee as Regulatory Policy Officer and annually update OMB (Sec. 5(b))

Who is ordered

Timeline

Immediate

  • EO takes effect upon signing; agencies must designate Regulatory Policy Officers within 60 days

Near term (90d)

  • Regulatory Policy Officer designations due by March 19, 2007
  • OIRA to establish notification procedures for significant guidance documents

Long term

  • Structural shift in regulatory process expanding OIRA control over informal agency guidance
  • Persistent requirement for market failure justification in new regulations
  • Annual aggregate cost-benefit reporting for regulatory plans

Risks & tensions

  • Expands executive control over agency interpretive guidance, potentially constraining agency expertise and independence
  • 'Market failure' requirement may create ideological filter for new regulations
  • Aggregate cost-benefit estimate could bias against regulation by ignoring distributional effects
  • Vague: OIRA Administrator has broad exemptive authority over guidance categories (Sec. 3(h)(2)(D))
  • Tension: Presidential Appointee gatekeeper role may politicize career agency rulemaking
  • Quiet procedural change with substantial long-term impact on regulatory state capacity
Executive Order 13422: Further Amendment to Executive Order 12866 on Regulatory Planning and Review · Executive Orders