Rounds Joins Colleagues on Letter Questioning Delayed OMB Report

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) and chairman of the Senate EPW Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight, today joined his colleagues in a letter to the Hon. Shaun Donovan, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), regarding OMB’s delay in publishing the required report to Congress on the benefits and costs of federal regulations.

“Your office has yet to publish its statutorily required 2015 Draft Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations,” the Senators wrote. “Under section 624 of Public Law 106-554, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is required to submit to Congress, along with the President’s Budget Request, an accounting statement and report of the annual costs and benefits of federal regulations.”

The Senators went on to say, “This report is not only a statutory mandate, it also provides critical information to the public and helps Congress fulfill its oversight responsibilities.  As you are aware, the report is the only government-issued document that discloses the overall annual costs and benefits of federal regulations.”

“Overall, we are disappointed your office is ignoring a statutory mandate to publish the report and are concerned the delay may be an effort to withhold key information on the costs and benefits of its regulatory agenda from the public.  To demonstrate that this is not your intent, we request that your office release a draft statement and report for public comment as soon as possible and schedule a briefing with EPW Committee and RAFM Subcommittee majority staff on the reason for delay, the process used in compiling a draft report, and plans for finalizing the report,” the Senators concluded.

Other signers include Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee; Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management; Sens. David Vitter (R-La.), chairman of the Senate EPW Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure; John Barrasso (R-Wyo.); Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.); and Deb Fisher (R-Neb.).

Earlier this year, Rounds introduced the bipartisan Regulation Sensibility Through Oversight Restoration (RESTORE) Resolution, which  would establish a Joint Select Committee to conduct a comprehensive review of rules enacted by federal agencies and analyze the feasibility and options for creating a rules review process in congress. The committee would also hold hearings on the effects of these rules and recommend ways to reduce the regulatory burden on the American people.

To read the full text of the letter, click here.