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OIRA prompt letter
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An OIRA prompt letter, in the context of administrative rulemaking, is a letter issued to a federal agency by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) that proposes a recommendation for new regulatory action. The letters are independently developed by OIRA and are not sent as response letters to ongoing agency rulemaking activity.
Background
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator John D. Graham created OIRA prompt letters in 2001. The letters serve as a tool for OIRA to issue recommendations to federal agencies to prioritize certain rulemaking actions in an effort to improve the regulatory environment. OIRA prompt letters either suggest the development of a new rule, the modification of an existing rule, or the removal of an unnecessary rule.[1][2][3]
Prompt letters are proactively sent by OIRA rather than issued as response letters to ongoing agency rulemaking activity. The letters do not have the force of law, but rather serve as suggestions for future agency action. Agencies are expected to respond to OIRA prompt letters within 30 days.[2][4][5]
According to the OIRA website, 15 prompt letters had been issued as of September 2019.[2]
Use of OIRA prompt letters
Graham issued the first OIRA prompt letter in 2001 in order to encourage the Food And Drug Administration to accelerate the finalization of a rule requiring food companies to include trans fat content on food labels. He went on to issue an additional 14 prompt letters between 2001 and 2006 during his tenure as OIRA administrator under President George W. Bush (R).[6]
The prompt letters were not popular among agency heads, according to Graham, because they preferred to discuss rulemaking proposals during informal meetings. As a result, Graham later shifted toward holding informal meetings with agency staff rather than issuing prompt letters:[6]
| “ | [L]ater in my tenure at the OIRA, my staff persuaded me that we could often achieve the same result we had achieved on trans fats by simply scheduling a meeting with a regulator, where the topic might be a draft prompt letter or a draft return letter. Nonetheless, I favor public prompt letters from the OIRA because they exemplify the transparency in government that I believe will increase public trust in the OIRA. The public nature of the prompt letters also encourages outside groups to suggest promising topics for prompt letters to the OIRA and serves as an occasional reminder of the need for the OIRA staff to address shortages as well as excesses of regulation.[6][7] | ” |
List of OIRA prompt letters
The following table features a list of OIRA prompt letters sent to federal agencies as of February 2023:[2]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Office of Management and Budget, "Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Q&A’s," accessed August 16, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, "OIRA Prompt Letters," accessed August 16, 2017
- ↑ Center for Effective Government, "The Players in Rulemaking," accessed August 16, 2017
- ↑ Lubbers, Jeffrey S. (2006). A Guide to Federal Agency Rulemaking. Chicago, Illinois: American Bar Association. (page 204)
- ↑ Funk, William F., Lubbers, Jeffrey S., & Pou, Charles. (2008). Federal Administrative Procedure Sourcebook. Chicago, Illinois: American Bar Association. (pages 327-328)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Oxford University Press, "The Evolving Regulatory Role of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget," 2007
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
