Regulatory Reform: How Can Congress Assess the Administration's
Initiatives?  (Testimony, 07/18/95, GAO/T-GGD-95-206).

The administration has announced a number of initiatives designed to
address problems in federal regulations and the federal regulatory
process.  Some of these initiatives have been governmentwide in scope,
while others have focused on particular agencies.  At least two central
themes run through many of the regulatory reform proposals: (1) an
attempt to reduce the burden federal regulations and regulatory agencies
imposed on the regulated public and (2) and attempt to change federal
agencies' regulatory approach from a focus on compliance with detailed
procedures to a focus on achieving desired outcomes. However, regulatory
burden and agencies' outcomes are each very difficult to measure.
Various measures of regulatory burden have been used in the past and
GAO's previous work indicates that these measures, such as the time
required to complete federal paperwork and the overall cost of complying
with regulations, must be interpreted very carefully.  The Government
Performance and Results Act of 1993 requires agencies to develop clear
statements of what their regulations are intended to accomplish.  Some
agencies are beginning to do so, but many still focus on process (e.g.,
the number of safety inspections completed), not results (e.g., whether
fatality rates are declining).  The act recognized that several years
would be required to change agencies emphasis from process to results.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-GGD-95-206
     TITLE:  Regulatory Reform: How Can Congress Assess the 
             Administration's Initiatives?
      DATE:  07/18/95
   SUBJECT:  Federal regulations
             Regulatory agencies
             Compliance
             Paperwork
             Economic analysis
             Cost effectiveness analysis
             Oversight by Congress
IDENTIFIER:  National Performance Review
             
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