Included among the seventeen executive orders signed by President Biden on his first day in office was an order revoking six regulatory reform executive orders issued by President Trump.
Which Orders Were Revoked?
Executive Order 13771, "Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs," required agencies to repeal two regulations for each new regulation they issued and to ensure that all new regulations were budget neutral.
Executive Order 13777, "Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda," required all agencies to designate a "Regulatory Reform Officer and Task Force" to identify regulations for repeal, replacement, or modification.
Executive Order 13875, "Evaluating and Improving the Utility of Federal Advisory Committees," required each agency to terminate at least one-third of its advisory committees and capped the number of advisory committees government-wide at 350.
Executive Order 13891, "Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents," required that guidance documents be published on the internet and rescinded if no longer effective. It also required agencies to finalize regulations that established procedures for issuing guidance documents, including more robust procedures for significant guidance documents.
Executive Order 13892, "Promoting the Rule of Law Through Transparency and Fairness in Civil Administrative Enforcement and Adjudication," required agencies to provide clearer notice to regulated parties before initiating enforcement actions. Among its specific directives, the order required agencies to publish claims of new jurisdiction, provide pre-enforcement hearings, and propose voluntary self-reporting procedures.
Executive Order 13893, "Increasing Government Accountability for Administrative Actions by Reinvigorating Administrative PAYGO," required an agency, prior to taking administrative action that would increase mandatory spending, to submit to the Office of Management and Budget a proposal to take other administrative actions that would comparably reduce mandatory spending.
How Will the New Order Be Implemented?
The new order's revocation of the prior orders is effective immediately. The new order also directs the Office of Management and Budget and agency heads to "promptly take steps to rescind any orders, rules, regulations, guidelines, or policies, or portions thereof, implementing or enforcing the [revoked orders]," including disbanding the regulatory reform officers and task forces established under E.O. 13777. The new order further requires that if immediate rescission of some action is not possible, the agency utilize all available exemptions and waivers in order to prevent the revoked orders from being invoked.
Businesses in regulated industries should consider how the revocation of these regulatory reform orders, and any forthcoming agency efforts to promulgate and implement new guidance documents, may affect their legal and business strategies.
Originally published JANUARY 2021.
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