WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2010—Some agencies under the Obama administration have energetically laid out a clear rulemaking agenda, while others have been stymied by a variety of factors, according to a new OMB Watch report. The report, The Obama Approach to Public Protection: Rulemaking, was released today and evaluates the regulatory activity of several environmental, worker safety, and consumer protection agencies within the federal government.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) have begun the process for setting fuel efficiency standards for light-duty vehicles (cars and light-duty trucks) for model years 2017 through 2025. The regulatory initiative comes at a time in which the EPA is under bipartisan attack for addressing climate change issues in the absence of congressional action.
The National Mining Association (NMA) filed a 
Opponents of climate change regulation are attempting to dismantle the regulatory framework the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has crafted thus far under the Obama administration. The Senate unsuccessfully attempted to overturn a scientific determination in which the agency found that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. However, EPA still faces court challenges by industry groups on regulations limiting emissions from both vehicles and industrial sources.
Developments behind the scenes of a new EPA proposal to regulate coal ash undermine several core tenets of the Obama presidency, conflict with pledges to reform the way government works, and expose the flaws in a regulatory process that too often does not do enough for the public.
On April 26, federal agencies published their updated rulemaking agendas outlining past, present, and future regulations. The agendas provide insight into the Obama administration's plans and expectations in the coming months.