Draft Report to Congress on the Costs and Benefits of Federal Regulations

SUMMARY: OMB requests public comment on its Draft Report to Congress on

the Costs and Benefits of Federal Regulations (1999). It will submit

its final version of the report in February, as required by section

638(a) of the 1999 Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental

Appropriations Act.

DATES: To ensure consideration of comments as OMB prepares its final

report for submission to Congress in February 2000, please submit all

comments to OMB so that they are received no later than January 21,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Please address all comments on the Draft Report to John

Morrall, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of

Management and Budget, NEOB, Room 10235, 725 17th Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20503.

You may submit comments by regular mail, by facsimile to (202) 395-

6974, or by electronic mail to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: You can review the Report on the

Internet at: ``http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/index.html''. You

may also request a copy from John Morrall, Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, NEOB, Room 10235,

725 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20503. Telephone: (202) 395-7316.

E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Draft Report has four chapters. Chapter

I presents OMB's estimates of total annual costs and benefits of

Federal regulation and paperwork in the aggregate, by agency, and by

agency program. It presents an analysis of the impact of Federal

regulation on State, local, and tribal government, small business,

wages, and economic growth. It also presents estimates of the costs and

benefits by agency of the major final regulations issued between April

1, 1995 and March 31, 1999 for which OMB could quantify and monetize

impacts. Chapter II uses agency regulatory impact analyses to present

quantitative estimates and qualitative descriptions of the benefits and

costs of the 44 major rules issued by Federal agencies for which OMB

concluded review during the 12-month period between April 1, 1998 and

March 31, 1999. This ``regulatory year'' is the same period OMB used

for the first two reports. Chapter III presents OMB's estimates of the

costs and benefits of major Federal regulations for which we concluded

review during the period April 1, 1995 to March 31, 1999. We included

only the regulations for which OMB had quantitative information on both

costs and benefits. For these regulations, we applied a uniform format

and standardized measures of costs and benefits to produce estimates

that could be more readily compared to each other. This information is

used in our aggregate and by-agency estimates of the total annual costs

and benefits of Federal regulation in Chapter I. Chapter IV presents

ten recommendations for reform of specific Federal regulations.

John T. Spotila,

Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

[FR Doc. 00-574 Filed 1-6-00; 12:15 pm]

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