![[logo] US EPA](../gif/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Public Involvement Network News
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
Out of the Shadows: The Management of Regulation Development
Once again, the IBM Center for the Business of Government has released a report that may be of interest to public involvement practitioners. It’s “Out of the Shadows: The Management of Regulation Development,” and you can find it on the Center’s website.
[Note: You do not have to fill in the form that appears on your screen; you can close it and you will be on the page that enables you to download or view the report.]
On the site, the Center states in the report abstract: “Policy makers need a better understanding of how individual policy tools such as regulation operate, how to measure their performance and effectiveness, which actors participate in implementing them, and what features are necessary to ensure accountability and oversight. “
Author Cornelius M. Kerwin (ckerwin@american.edu), newly-named President of American University in Washington, DC, contends that the greatest challenge facing the management of regulation development is the persistence of its obscurity.
So you don’t have to download the entire report to see them, the Findings and Recommendations follow. The full report may be helpful to you.
Findings:
Participation Management Is the Most Important Function and Skill in Regulation Development The challenges associated with staffing and information acquisition highlight the importance of participation management to effective regulation and experience needed for effective engagement of internal and external stakeholders is the most important skill set for regulation development managers. Useful tools are available in the areas of collaborative networks and public deliberation to support the participation dimension of the regulation development management.
Participation in Regulation Development Is a Key to Democratic Governance Participation in regulation development, particularly by affected external parties, is important to the quality and integrity of governance in the United States.
Regulation Management Lacks Visibility Regulation management is a well-developed function in federal agencies that bear significant rulemaking responsibilities. As an activity that supports what is arguably one of the most important functions performed by agencies of government, regulation management has little visibility outside the community of specialists that work in the area.
Regulation Development Management Lacks Focused Attention The management of regulation development enjoys little support in the form of funding, research, technical innovation, and career development from the public management and academic communities.
Regulation Development Is Complex Regulation development has become a highly complex task requiring the coordination and management of myriad legal requirements and stakeholder expectations in an environment characterized by constrained resources and frequently intense political pressures.
Key Elements Constitute the Management of Regulation Development Numerous functions make up a fully developed system of regulation management. three of them— staffing, information acquisition, and participation— are the most important.
Staffing Patterns Challenge Project Management Staffing a major or significant regulation development process requires involvement of staff from multiple offices within a single agency or department and, due to increasingly cross-cutting issues, multiple agencies with varied missions and jurisdictions. These offices and agencies have discrete missions, jurisdictions, and professional cultures that create significant challenges for the leadership of regulation development efforts.
Regulation Development Requires Multiple Types and Sources of Critical Information The development of regulations requires the acquisition of five types of information: legal, policy, technical content impact, implementation, and compliance. this information can be secured from multiple sources, but information acquisition must be carried out with careful attention to multiple legal and bureaucratic restrictions.
Recommendations:
Recommendations for Congress
- When enacting legislation that creates new or substantially altered regulatory authorities, Congress should routinely authorize and appropriate funds sufficient to ensure effective management of regulation development by responsible agencies. Authorizing legislation should note that all deadlines imposed on agencies for development of regulations are suspended should appropriating committees fail to fund the programs for rulemaking management.
- Congress should authorize and fund a program of research to support the management of regulation development in federal agencies. the initial priorities should include development of an inventory of best practices and methodologies to determine the linkage between management practices and regulatory outputs and outcomes. To administer this program, recently authorized by the administrative Conference of the United states, it should be fully funded and directed to draw upon the scholarly and practitioner expertise in all appropriate disciplines.
Recommendations for the Office of Management and Budget
- The management of regulation development should occupy a more prominent position in major government-wide management initiatives and programs. this includes a place in the President’s Management agenda initiative, pertinent goals in strategic plans mandated by the Government Performance and results act, and analytic inclusion that supports the Program assessment rating tool, or Part, program. Cross-walks between e-government and regulation development management goals should be explicit.
- When reaching agreements with agencies on major rules they will review under executive order 12,866 the office of information and regulatory affairs should require the regulation development management plan to include information on schedules, budgets, responsible personnel and participation.
Recommendations for Agencies
- Agencies should include the effective participation by internal and external stakeholders among their goals for rules under development. Specifically, these goals should focus on the building of social capital that enhances the willingness of the public to collaborate with government in the achievement of regulatory objectives.
- Departments, agencies, and commissions should review the mission, authorities, and resources of central offices that arrange or administer aspects of regulation development.
Recommendations for the Office of Personnel Management
- The office of Personnel Management, in collaboration with all federal agencies, should establish regulation development management as an area of specialization, with a career track that includes training and experience standards for each successive level of responsibility. Qualification for the senior executive service should include demonstration of competence in the major areas of regulation development management, with particular emphasis on the ability to facilitate and employ participation by internal and external stakeholders.
Recommendations for the Academic Community
- The National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (nasPaa) should consider the inclusion of mandatory coursework in regulation development management among its accreditation criteria.