As part of its annual report to Congress on the costs and benefits of federal regulation, released last week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a list of 23 "high priority" regulations it believes should be rescinded or revised. Many of these regulations are health, safety, and environmental standards, including major clean air and water standards (e.g., New Source Review and Total Maximum Daily Loads). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the most rules on the list with eight, while the Department of Labor is second with five, including one under the Fair Labor Standards Act and another under the Family and Medical Leave Act. This target list is another sign that John Graham, administrator of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which has responsibility for carrying out the report, intends to make his office an aggressive player in setting the regulatory agenda across agencies, likely at the expense of strong health, safety and environmental protections. It also marks a departure from the Clinton-era OIRA, which gave agencies greater deference to define their own objectives and priorities; agencies, after all, have the statutory authority delegated by Congress, the technical and scientific expertise, and the proximity to affected parties -- including regulated interests and the intended beneficiaries of regulation -- that OIRA lacks. In its draft report published last May, OMB asked for suggestions from the public on specific regulations that could be rescinded or changed to increase benefits to the public. OMB received 71 such suggestions -- 44 of which were from George Mason's conservative Mercatus Center -- and after its initial review of the comments, placed the suggestions into three categories: "high priority," "medium priority," and "low priority." There were 23 rules rated "high priority," which, OIRA explained, it is inclined to agree with and will examine further. There were 30 rules listed as "medium priority," about which OIRA decided it needs more information, and 24 other suggestions were listed as "low priority," the merits of which OIRA was not convinced. As for the cumulative cost-benefit analysis, OMB's report estimated that the costs of complying with environmental, health, and safety regulations range from about $150 billion to $230 billion annually, while benefits range from $250 billion to more than $1 trillion. These estimates -- which HREF="/regs/1999/testify-4-22.html">OMB Watch has argued contain enormous analytical limitations -- are similar to estimates made by the Clinton administration in last year's report.