What is the Unified Agenda of Regulatory & Deregulatory Actions?
The Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions – more commonly known as the “Unified Agenda” or, simply, “the Agenda” – is a list of all regulatory and deregulatory actions currently being developed at all federal departments and agencies. It is, in effect, a snapshot in time of the Executive Branch’s central regulatory database, including each upcoming regulation for which a regulatory docket has been created.
The Unified Agenda is published twice per year, once in the spring and once in the fall. The Fall Agenda is the bigger of the two, as it is published alongside the Regulatory Plan, which provides an overview of the President’s regulatory ambitions and philosophy, as well as agency-specific explanations of key regulatory priorities and principles.
The most current Unified Agenda (published in Spring 2024) is available online at: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaMain. President Trump’s Fall 2018 Regulatory Plan from then-OIRA Administrator Neomi Rao is also available online.
The final Biden Administration Regulatory Plan is expected to be published shortly, and will constitute the final look at President Biden’s regulatory plan.
What is the governing authority for the Agenda?
Executive Order 12866 provides the longstanding instruction to develop and publish the Unified Agenda. Previously, President Reagan’s Executive Order 12291 provided that instruction. The Regulatory Flexibility Act also requires publication of a “regulatory flexibility agenda,” which has largely been subsumed by the Unified Agenda.
Why is the Unified Agenda so important?
First, the Agenda serves as a helpful organizing mechanism for the President and the Executive Branch. It is published by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Agenda development process creates a systematic opportunity for each agency’s leadership to assess the rules being drafted across that agency’s components, to identify gaps, and to identify rules that need to be changed or removed from the regulatory pipeline. It can also provide OMB/OIRA and the White House an opportunity to review and coordinate on planned regulatory actions.
Second, the Agenda provides the public and Congress with a unique window into the upcoming regulatory actions of federal agencies. It helps to provides vital public transparency, enables Congressional oversight opportunities, and advances core constitutional principles such as fair notice and due process.
