OMB has issued its latest annual report on the costs and benefits of major regulations issued by agencies, concluding that the average yearly cost of the major regulations issued between 2001 and 2006 is $2.9 billion which OMB said is about 47 percent less than the previous 20 year average of $5.5 billion.
The report also provides a summary of the analysis of major regulatory activity by the “independent” regulatory agencies over the past ten years.
However, the report cautions that the actual costs and benefits of regulations, especially those in the social realm, can be difficult to tabulate and may be significantly different that the indicated totals.
The report also provides an update on agency implementation of the Information Quality Act (IQA), and summarizes agency annual reports for the Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review. This is the first year for which reports on the implementation of the Bulletin were required.
The report is here.
