President Joe Biden presented his first regulatory to-do list on Friday, outlining his ambitions to dramatically expand the scope of the federal government’s engagement in areas such as education, healthcare and the environment.
Stricter rules to prevent healthcare discrimination, increase wages for tipped workers, and make student loan borrowers easier are on the agenda, which outlines each federal agency’s regulatory priorities for the months ahead. On the agenda are the agency’s plans to revise Trump-era rules on pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and public land. And it includes proposals that would strengthen the protection of immigrants who arrived in the US as children to change which asylum seekers are allowed to enter the US
Typically issued twice a year, the list represents a significant departure from the Trump administration’s focus on reducing the size, cost, and scope of federal regulation. As Congress is tightly divided, it provides insight into how Biden’s did he wants to use the federal agencies he oversees to advance his ambitious agenda through regulation.
“The past four years have taught a clear lesson about what happens when the executive branch fails to meet its responsibilities to protect the American people,” Sharon Block, acting administrator of the White House Regulatory Bureau, said in a statement. “Our first regulatory agenda shows our commitment to reverse this trend.”
The list of regulations is not exhaustive. Agencies must perform a number of tasks before they become law, including creating rules and soliciting feedback. The White House Regulatory Bureau, initially run by Block, will sign off each rule before it is released.
As a private person, Block wrote last year that companies have an “oversized” influence on this office. That will not happen under her leadership, she said in an interview on Thursday.
“We listen to everyone, but we have no confusion about what our priorities are and where the regulations we are working on should end,” said Block.
Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who oversaw budget and regulation during the George W. Bush administration, contradicted the Biden administration’s plan to expand federal corporate engagement. Portman is now the top Republican on the committee overseeing the White House regulatory bureau and will help lead a confirmatory hearing for the leader of that bureau when the Biden administration selects a candidate.
“We should look for ways to increase productivity,” Portman said in a statement.
The official list includes more than 2,500 items. Here are some of the key takeaways:
Climate fight
Much of Biden’s climate agenda has been tied to infrastructure negotiations on Capitol Hill, where discussions for the past few days have stalled between competing plans. The agenda outlines Biden’s strategy to advance his environmental ambitions while these talks continue.
The Environmental Protection Agency is planning a quick turnaround in regulations to gradually remove partially halogenated fluorocarbons, or “super-polluting” greenhouse gases, which warm the earth a hundred times more than carbon dioxide.
Democrats and Republicans agreed on a compromise in December as part of a comprehensive energy package to gradually reduce the strong greenhouse gases. The EPA plans to issue final rulings on this issue in October.
At the same time, the Department of Energy is writing regulations to strengthen conservation standards for dozens of products, including walk-in coolers, oven fans, and tumble dryers.
Federal authorities are planning to increase the regulation of PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals”, in drinking water. Some PFAS are linked to increased cholesterol levels, changes in liver enzymes, and lower birth weights in infants, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agencies will also write tougher standards for natural resource development on public land and revise Trump-era rules to tighten pollution regulations.
The Department of Transportation also plans to improve pipeline safety, including through new leak detection and repair requirements.
Share boost
Biden made a pledge at the beginning of his presidency to fight racial and social inequalities, and the agenda outlines how the agencies intend to achieve this.
The Department of Health and Human Services plans to strengthen protections against racial, gender and disability discrimination in the healthcare sector.
Regardless of sexual orientation or gender, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will establish rules that give people equal access to government-funded housing and facilities.
Economic recovery
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intend to meet the requirements for airlines to collect information on communicable diseases and make it available to the agency by April 2022.
Both the Trump and Obama administrations have failed to create a national aviation preparedness plan for disease outbreaks, making it difficult for the CDC to track passengers infected with the coronavirus in the early days of the pandemic.
The Department of Labor will endeavor to make the recently announced wage increases for state contractors permanent and to adjust wages for workers who tip.
The Ministry of Education will come up with proposals to make it easier for borrowers to relieve their student loans and end aid to low-quality vocational schools in 2022.
The Small Business Administration plans to promote regulations that ease debt refinancing requirements and expand other loan programs.
The Food and Drug Administration plans to propose new ways to regulate manufacturing and packaging requirements for tobacco products in October.
Health insurance
The Department of Health and Welfare will propose repealing a provision in a Trump administration rule that would allow states to use brokers and health insurers to enroll consumers directly in affordable care plans. The provision would largely bypass the state exchange HealthCare.gov, as Georgia has suggested.
Immigration regulations
The Department of Justice and Homeland Security plan to propose new criteria for asylum seekers as part of Biden’s broader goal to retrofit the country’s immigration system.
The Department of Homeland Security will work through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to develop ways to strengthen protection for undocumented individuals who were illegally brought to the United States as children. She expects her proposal to be published by August
source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/biden-regulatory-playbook-revives-more-active-government-3/
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