Regulatory Reform

The administration has announced a number of initiatives designed to address problems in federal regulations and the federal regulatory process. Some of these initiatives have been governmentwide in scope, while others have focused on particular agencies. At least two central themes run through many of the regulatory reform proposals: (1) an attempt to reduce the burden federal regulations and regulatory agencies imposed on the regulated public and (2) and attempt to change federal agencies' regulatory approach from a focus on compliance with detailed procedures to a focus on achieving desired outcomes. However, regulatory burden and agencies' outcomes are each very difficult to measure. Various measures of regulatory burden have been used in the past and GAO's previous work indicates that these measures, such as the time required to complete federal paperwork and the overall cost of complying with regulations, must be interpreted very carefully. The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 requires agencies to develop clear statements of what their regulations are intended to accomplish. Some agencies are beginning to do so, but many still focus on process (e.g., the number of safety inspections completed), not results (e.g., whether fatality rates are declining). The act recognized that several years would be required to change agencies emphasis from process to results.