Regulatory Policy Officer

Administrative State
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A regulatory policy officer (RPO) is a staff member of a federal administrative agency charged with overseeing the agency's rulemaking process. The position was established in 1993 by President Bill Clinton's (D) Executive Order 12866, which directs RPOs to "be involved at each stage of the regulatory process to foster the development of effective, innovative, and least burdensome regulations."^[1]

Background[edit]

Executive Order 12866, "Regulatory Planning and Review," was issued by President Bill Clinton (D) on September 30, 1993. The order established principles and processes to govern federal agency rulemaking, regulatory planning, and regulatory review. It was designed to guide presidential oversight of regulatory and administrative policy. E.O. 12866 directed the heads of federal agencies (except for those defined as independent regulatory agencies under 44 U.S.C. 3502) to appoint an employee to the position of regulatory policy officer. Under E.O. 12866, an RPO is required to oversee their agency's regulatory process and promote more effective rulemaking:^[1][2][3]

E.O. 12866 does not place restrictions on which agency staff can be designated as an RPO; the agency head may choose a civil servant or a political appointee for this role.^[1][5][6][7]

Presidential administrations[edit]

George W. Bush and Barack Obama[edit]

In 2007, President George W. Bush (R) issued Executive Order 13422, which required RPOs to be selected from among each agency's presidential appointees and gave those officers the ability to approve or reject proposed rules. The order also required agencies to send significant guidance documents to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review, and tasked RPOs with ensuring their agency's compliance with that provision.^[5][6][7] This amending order was withdrawn by Bush's successor, President Barack Obama (D), on January 30, 2009, under Executive Order 13497.^[8]

Donald Trump[edit]

See also: Regulatory reform officer

On February 24, 2017, President Donald Trump (R) issued Presidential Executive Order 13777, which established the position of regulatory reform officer with the responsibility to "ensure that agencies effectively carry out regulatory reforms, consistent with applicable law." As with regulatory policy officers, an RRO is designated by the head of a federal administrative agency from among the existing agency staff. Under E.O. 13777, each agency is also required to establish a regulatory reform task force consisting of the agency RRO, the agency regulatory policy officer, and at least one other agency official.^[9][10]

See also[edit]

• Presidential Executive Order 12866
• Regulatory reform officer
• Guidance (administrative state)
• U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

External links[edit]

• Executive Order 12866, "Regulatory Planning and Review" (1993)
• Definitions of agency and independent regulatory agency (44 U.S.C. 3502)
• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes[edit]

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Western Pacific Railroad Co. • Universal Camera Corporation v. National Labor Relations Board • Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council • Wayman v. Southard • Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service • Whitman v. American Trucking Associations • Wickard v. Filburn • Wiener v. United States Terms Adjudication (administrative state) • Administrative judge • Administrative law • Administrative law judge • Administrative state • Arbitrary-or-capricious test • Auer deference • Barrier to entry • Bootleggers and Baptists • Chevron deference (doctrine) • Civil servant • Civil service • Code of Federal Regulations • Codify (administrative state) • Comment period • Compliance costs • Congressional Record • Coordination (administrative state) • Deference (administrative state) • Direct and indirect costs (administrative state) • Enabling statute • Ex parte communication (administrative state) • Executive agency • Federal law • Federal Register • Federalism • Final rule • Formal rulemaking • Formalism (law) • Functionalism (law) • Guidance (administrative state) • Hybrid rulemaking • Incorporation by reference • Independent federal agency • Informal rulemaking • Joint resolution of disapproval (administrative state) • Major rule • Negotiated rulemaking • Nondelegation doctrine • OIRA prompt letter • Organic statute • Pragmatism (law) • Precautionary principle • Promulgate • Proposed rule • Publication rulemaking • Regulatory budget • Regulatory capture • Regulatory dark matter • Regulatory impact analysis • Regulatory policy officer • Regulatory reform officer • Regulatory review • Rent seeking • Retrospective regulatory review • Risk assessment (administrative state) • Rulemaking • Separation of powers • Significant regulatory action • Skidmore deference • Statutory authority • Substantive law and procedural law • Sue and settle • Sunset provision • Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions • United States Code • United States Statutes at Large Bibliography "Administrative Law - The 20th Century Bequeaths an 'Illegitimate Exotic' in Full and Terrifying Flower" by Stephen P. Dresch (2000) "Confronting the Administrative Threat" by Philip Hamburger and Tony Mills (2017) "Constitutionalism after the New Deal" by Cass R. Sunstein (1987) Federalist No. 23 by Alexander Hamilton (1787) "From Administrative State to Constitutional Government" by Joseph Postell (2012) "Interring the Nondelegation Doctrine" by Eric A. Posner and Adrian Vermeule (2002) "Rulemaking as Legislating" by Kathryn Watts (2015) "The Checks & Balances of the Regulatory State" by Paul R. Verkuil (2016) "The Myth of the Nondelegation Doctrine" by Keith E. Whittington and Jason Iuliano (2017) "The Progressive Origins of the Administrative State: Wilson, Goodnow, and Landis" by Ronald J. Pestritto (2007) "The Rise and Rise of the Administrative State" by Gary Lawson (1994) "The Study of Administration" by Woodrow Wilson (1887) "The Threat to Liberty" by Steven F. Hayward (2017) "Why the Modern Administrative State Is Inconsistent with the Rule of Law" by Richard A. Epstein (2008) Agencies Administrative Conference of the United States • United States Civil Service Commission • U.S. Government Accountability Office • U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs • U.S. Office of Management and Budget