White House Releases Fall 2024 Unified Agenda Of Federal Regulatory And Deregulatory Actions
Federal departments and agencies have highlighted their rulemaking priorities in the (usually) twice yearly Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions since the early 1980s. This weekend, the Biden administration Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the Fall 2024 edition.
The Agenda presents for public consumption the status of active and longer-term federal rules and regulations moving through the pipeline, along with a selection of rules finalized since the prior edition.
Ideally, the Agenda and related publications like the Information Collection Budget and the Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations emphasize paperwork reduction, regulatory oversight and the balancing of costs and benefits. But the Agenda has never been a complete inventory—nor does the “Deregulatory” in the title figure in that much. The bottom line is that agencies’ rulemakings are not constrained to those disclosed in the Agenda unless an administration requires it, and the Agenda becomes a weaker depiction of reality as “regulations” manifest themselves in ways other than rules (such as via guidance documents).
Atop those shortcomings, Biden’s transformational “Modernizing Regulatory Review” memorandum and Executive Order 14,094 markedly shifted OMB’s emphasis from that of watchdog to advancing net benefits as progressive activists see them.
While the terse OMB preamble for this final Agenda reflects none of the flowery pro-government emphasis evident early in Biden’s term, it is present, for example, in the Department of Agriculture’s preamble: “All of USDA’s programs, including the priorities contained in this Regulatory Plan, will be structured to advance the cause of equity by removing barriers and opening new opportunities for all of our customers.”
Who knew USDA was a business with “customers”? Similar, the Environmental Protection Agency’s preamble singles out “communities with environmental justice concerns” in its very first sentence. Such custodial attitudes are deeply rooted now and pose challenges for the incoming Trump administration and the advisory Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Agencies finalize thousands of rules and regulations every year compared to the handful of laws Congress enacts. There have been 3,059 final rules in 2024 as of today, amid a 101,836 page Federal Register that already outstrips Obama’s 2016 record of 95,894 pages.
The Fall 2024 Agenda showcases 3,331 rules overall at various stages of production, from over 60 federal departments, agencies and commissions. While this tally is down markedly from Spring’s 3,698 (and Fall 2023’s 3,599) we’ll see later that costlier subsets are higher. The overall breakdown looks like this:
Active Actions (2,233)
These are pre-rule documents and proposed and final rules anticipated or prioritized for the near future. The Fall count is down from 2,361 in Spring (and 2,524 in fall 2023).
Rules in the Unified Agenda may stew for years across editions before completion, and that is reflected here. In Fall 2024, just 275 of the Active elements are appearing in the Agenda for the first time, compared to 405 newcomers in Spring 2024 (and 320 new in the fall 2023). Despite these declines, there may yet appear a surge of Biden midnight rules in the coming five weeks.
Completed Actions (453)
These are subset of rulemakings completed since the prior Agenda, therefore during (approximately) the previous six months. The new tally marks a massive one-third drop from Spring’s 689 (and is comparable to Fall 2023’s 431 rules completed). This surge-and-dip could, in part, reflect the vulnerability of rules issued late in 2024 to the Congressional Review Act’s (CRA) 60-legislative-day window for a “resolution of disapproval” process by the upcoming 119th Congress and new administration.
Notably, forty-five completed actions in the Agenda were appearing there for the first time, putting a dent in the notion that the Agenda serves a predictive function.
Long-term Actions (645)
These actions signify anticipated longer-term priority rulemakings beyond 12 months. The fresh count is similar to Spring’s 648 and last Fall’s 644, but there’s been a jump in the costlier subset, perhaps indicating the necessity for an outgoing administration to settle for Christmas wishes instead of active pursuit of some rules. Thirty-eight Long-term actions are appearing in the Agenda for the first time.
A Complete Breakdown of the 3,331 Rules
A handful of executive departments account for the greatest number of the rules in the pipeline. The Departments of the Treasury, Interior, Transportation, Commerce and Health and Human Services comprise the top five with 1,449 rules among them, accounting for 43 percent of the total. The Environmental Protection Agency is sixth place with 190 rules in the pipeline. Among independent agencies, the Federal Communications Commission leads with 113 rules. Just below appears agency detail on which Agencies are responsible for the 3,331 rules currently in the pipeline.
High-Dollar Rules Jumped in 2024
A costlier subset of total rules deserves some degree of attention. So-called “major” rules retain the $100 million threshold stipulated in the Congressional Review Act. Biden’s Modernizing Regulatory Review executive order, however, raised the threshold for “Section 3(f)(1) Significant” rules (the term refers to clause in the Clinton-era Executive Order 12,866) warranting deeper analysis from $100 million to $200 million or more, creating a tension between congressional intent and this administration. (Other criteria, such as a rule’s raising novel legal issues also renders significance, but cost gets most attention.) The table just below breaks down rules of various significance levels in the Fall Agenda compared to Spring.
Read more at Forbes