[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 14 (Friday, January 21, 2011)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 3825-3826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-1386]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 76 , No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2011 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 3825]]


                Memorandum of January 18, 2011

                
Regulatory Compliance

                Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and 
                Agencies

                My Administration is committed to enhancing 
                effectiveness and efficiency in Government. Pursuant to 
                the Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, 
                issued on January 21, 2009, executive departments and 
                agencies (agencies) have been working steadily to 
                promote accountability, encourage collaboration, and 
                provide information to Americans about their 
                Government's activities.

                To that end, much progress has been made toward 
                strengthening our democracy and improving how 
                Government operates. In the regulatory area, several 
                agencies, such as the Department of Labor and the 
                Environmental Protection Agency, have begun to post 
                online (at ogesdw.dol.gov and www.epa-echo.gov), and to 
                make readily accessible to the public, information 
                concerning their regulatory compliance and enforcement 
                activities, such as information with respect to 
                administrative inspections, examinations, reviews, 
                warnings, citations, and revocations (but excluding law 
                enforcement or otherwise sensitive information about 
                ongoing enforcement actions).

                Greater disclosure of regulatory compliance information 
                fosters fair and consistent enforcement of important 
                regulatory obligations. Such disclosure is a critical 
                step in encouraging the public to hold the Government 
                and regulated entities accountable. Sound regulatory 
                enforcement promotes the welfare of Americans in many 
                ways, by increasing public safety, improving working 
                conditions, and protecting the air we breathe and the 
                water we drink. Consistent regulatory enforcement also 
                levels the playing field among regulated entities, 
                ensuring that those that fail to comply with the law do 
                not have an unfair advantage over their law-abiding 
                competitors. Greater agency disclosure of compliance 
                and enforcement data will provide Americans with 
                information they need to make informed decisions. Such 
                disclosure can lead the Government to hold itself more 
                accountable, encouraging agencies to identify and 
                address enforcement gaps.

                Accordingly, I direct the following:

                First, agencies with broad regulatory compliance and 
                administrative enforcement responsibilities, within 120 
                days of this memorandum, to the extent feasible and 
                permitted by law, shall develop plans to make public 
                information concerning their regulatory compliance and 
                enforcement activities accessible, downloadable, and 
                searchable online. In so doing, agencies should 
                prioritize making accessible information that is most 
                useful to the general public and should consider the 
                use of new technologies to allow the public to have 
                access to real-time data. The independent agencies are 
                encouraged to comply with this directive.

                Second, the Federal Chief Information Officer and the 
                Chief Technology Officer shall work with appropriate 
                counterparts in each agency to make such data available 
                online in searchable form, including on centralized 
                platforms such as data.gov, in a manner that 
                facilitates easy access, encourages cross-agency 
                comparisons, and engages the public in new and creative 
                ways of using the information.

                Third, the Federal Chief Information Officer and the 
                Chief Technology Officer, in coordination with the 
                Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
                and their counterparts in each agency, shall work to 
                explore how

[[Page 3826]]

                best to generate and share enforcement and compliance 
                information across the Government, consistent with law. 
                Such data sharing can assist with agencies' risk-based 
                approaches to enforcement: A lack of compliance in one 
                area by a regulated entity may indicate a need for 
                examination and closer attention by another agency. 
                Efforts to share data across agencies, where 
                appropriate and permitted by law, may help to promote 
                flexible and coordinated enforcement regimes.

                This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
                entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
                other person. Nothing in this memorandum shall be 
                construed to impair or otherwise affect the functions 
                of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
                relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative 
                proposals.

                The Director of OMB is authorized and directed to 
                publish this memorandum in the Federal Register. 
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    Washington, January 18, 2011

[FR Doc. 2011-1386
Filed 1-20-11; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3110-01-P