[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[January 28, 1992]
[Pages 166-168]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Memorandum on Reducing the Burden of Government Regulation

January 28, 1992
Memorandum for Certain Department and Agency Heads

Subject: Reducing the Burden of Government Regulation

    As you know, excessive regulation and red tape have imposed an 
enormous burden on our economy--a hidden tax on the average American 
household in the form of higher prices for goods and services. Just as 
Americans have the right to expect their

[[Page 167]]

government to spend tax dollars wisely, they have the right to expect 
cost-effective and minimally burdensome regulation. Although the 
Congress has thus far failed to pass most of the Administration's 
regulatory reform proposals, there is much the Administration can and 
should do on its own to reduce the burden of regulation.
    A major part of this undertaking must be to weed out unnecessary and 
burdensome government regulations, which impose needless costs on 
consumers and substantially impede economic growth. We must be 
constantly vigilant to avoid unnecessary regulation and red tape.
    We must also remember that even those regulatory programs that may 
have been justified when adopted often fail to keep pace with important 
innovations. New technologies and markets can quickly make existing 
rules obsolete. By the same token, existing regulations often impose 
unnecessary constraints on emerging technologies and markets that could 
not have been foreseen at the time the regulations were promulgated. 
Existing regulatory programs also need to be revised to take advantage 
of regulatory innovations, such as the flexible, market-based approaches 
to regulation that many of your agencies have developed over the past 
few years.
    I am concerned that, because of the constant pressure to develop new 
programs, we are not doing nearly enough to review and revise existing 
programs. For that reason, I ask that each of your agencies set aside a 
90-day period, beginning today, to evaluate existing regulations and 
programs and to identify and accelerate action on initiatives that will 
eliminate any unnecessary regulatory burden or otherwise promote 
economic growth. During this period, agency resources should, to the 
maximum extent possible, be devoted to these efforts. Specifically, I 
request that you take the following steps:
    1. During the 90-day review period, your agency should work with the 
public, other interested agencies, the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, and the Council on Competitiveness to (i) identify 
each of your agency's regulations and programs that impose a substantial 
cost on the economy and (ii) determine whether each such regulation or 
program adheres to the following standards:
    (a) The expected benefits to society of any regulation should 
clearly outweigh the expected costs it imposes on society.
    (b) Regulations should be fashioned to maximize net benefits to 
society.
    (c) To the maximum extent possible, regulatory agencies should set 
performance standards instead of prescriptive command-and-control 
requirements, thereby allowing the regulated community to achieve 
regulatory goals at the lowest possible cost.
    (d) Regulations should incorporate market mechanisms to the maximum 
extent possible.
    (e) Regulations should provide clarity and certainty to the 
regulated community and should be designed to avoid needless litigation.
    2. To the maximum extent permitted by law, and as soon as possible, 
your agency should propose administrative changes (including repeal, 
where appropriate) that will bring each regulation and program into 
conformity with the standards set forth above. As you implement these 
proposals, you should carefully order your agency's regulatory 
priorities to ensure that programs imposing the largest unnecessary 
burden are the first to be revised or eliminated.
    3. You should designate, in consultation with the Council on 
Competitiveness, a senior official to serve as your agency's permanent 
regulatory oversight official. This person will be responsible for 
conducting the review, for implementing the resulting proposals, and for 
ensuring that future regulatory actions conform to the standards set 
forth in this memorandum and in applicable Executive orders.
    4. To the maximum extent permitted by law, and subject to the 
exceptions listed below, your agency should refrain from issuing any 
proposed or final rule during the 90-day review period. This moratorium 
on new regulations will ensure that, to the maximum extent possible, 
agency resources are devoted to reducing the regulatory burden on the 
economy. Of course, you should not postpone any regulation that is 
subject to a statutory or judicial deadline

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that falls during the review period. This moratorium does not apply to:
    (a) regulations that you determine, after consultation with the 
working group of the Council on Competitiveness described below, will 
foster economic growth;
    (b) regulations that respond to emergencies such as situations that 
pose an imminent danger to human health or safety;
    (c) regulations that you determine, after consultation with the 
working group of the Council on Competitiveness described below, are 
essential to a criminal law enforcement function of the United States;
    (d) regulations issued with respect to a military or foreign affairs 
function of the United States;
    (e) regulations related solely to agency organization, management, 
or personnel; and
    (f) formal regulations required by statute to be made on the record 
after opportunity for an agency hearing.
    5. At the end of the review period, each agency should submit a 
written report to me. Each report should indicate the regulatory changes 
recommended or made during the review period and the potential savings 
to the economy of those changes, including an estimate of the number of 
jobs that will be created. It should also include a summary of any 
regulatory programs that are left unchanged and an explanation of how 
such programs are consistent with the regulatory standards set forth in 
paragraph 1 above.
    The 90-day review, and the preparation of the reports described in 
paragraph 5 above, will be coordinated by a working group of the Council 
on Competitiveness, chaired by the Chairman of the Council of Economic 
Advisers and the Counsel to the President.
    I look forward to your reports on this important undertaking. I am 
confident that, with your help, the executive branch can do much to 
create conditions conducive to a healthy and robust economy.

                                                             George Bush

The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney 
General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, 
the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Energy, 
the Secretary of Education, the Chairman of the Interstate Commerce 
Commission, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System, the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, the 
Chairperson of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Chairman 
of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Chairman of the Federal 
Communications Commission, the Chairman of the Federal Maritime 
Commission, the Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Chairman 
of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Chairman of the Commodity 
Futures Trading Commission, the Chairman of the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission

                    Note: This memorandum was released by the Office of 
                        the Press Secretary on January 30.