The last-minute activity has made this a busy period for lobbyists who fear that industry views will hold less sway after the November elections.
According to the Office of Management and Budget's regulatory calendar, representatives of the commercial scallop fishing industry came in two weeks ago to urge that proposed catch limits be eased, nearly bumping into National Mining Assn. officials who want to ease rules meant to keep coal slurry waste out of Appalachian streams. A few days earlier, lawyers for kidney dialysis and biotechnology companies registered their complaints at the OMB about new Medicare reimbursement rules.
Bush's aides are acutely aware of the political risks of completing their regulatory work too late. On the afternoon of Bush's inauguration, Jan. 20, 2001, his chief of staff issued a government-wide memo that blocked the completion or implementation of regulations drafted in the waning days of the Clinton administration that had not yet taken legal effect.
"Through the end of the Clinton administration, we were working like crazy to get as many regulations out as possible," said Donald Arbuckle, who retired in 2006 after 25 years as a career official at the OMB. "Then on Sunday, the day after the inauguration, OMB Director Mitch Daniels called me in and said, 'Let's pull back as many of these as we can.' "
Clinton's appointees paid a heavy price for procrastination. Bush's team was able to withdraw 254 regulations that covered matters from drug and airline safety to immigration and indoor air pollutants. After further review, many of the proposals were modified to reflect Republican policy ideals or were scrapped altogether.
Seeking to avoid falling victim to the same partisan tactics, White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten in May imposed a Nov. 1 government-wide deadline to finish major new Bush administration regulations, "except in extraordinary circumstances."
That gives officials just weeks to meet an effective Nov. 20 deadline for the publication of economically significant rules, which take effect only after a 60-day congressional comment period. Less important rules take effect after a 30-day period, creating a second deadline of Dec. 20.
As the deadlines near, the administration has begun to issue regulations of great interest to industry, including, in recent days, a rule that allows the nation's natural gas pipelines to operate at higher pressures and new Homeland Security rules that shift passenger security screening responsibilities from airlines to the federal government. The OMB also approved a new limit on airborne emissions of lead this month, acting under a court-imposed deadline.
