Regulatory Report Card FAQ
How does the Regulatory Report Card work?
What is the goal of the Mercatus Center in producing the Regulatory Report Card?
Who can use the Regulatory Report Card?
How do I use the Regulatory Report Card?
What does it mean if a final rule is under review at OIRA?
For more, please see the Regulatory Report Card home page.
How does the Regulatory Report Card work?
Mercatus scholars used the requirements in Executive Order 12866 and the Office of Management and Budget Circular A-4 on Regulatory Analysis to develop 12 main scoring criteria. A research team reads the preamble to each proposed rule, the accompanying RIA, and relevant support documents in its evaluation and then assigns a score ranging from 0 to 5 for each criterion. Thus, a regulation's overall score could range from 0–60 points.
For more information, visit our expanded explanation of the Regulatory Report Card methodology.
What is the goal of the Mercatus Center in producing the Regulatory Report Card?
Through the Regulatory Report Card, as in our other regulatory research and analysis, the Mercatus Center seeks to encourage the production and use of excellent, substantive analysis that contributes to the quality of regulation in the United States.
Who can use the Regulatory Report Card?
Policy makers at all levels of federal government can use the Regulatory Report Card to track proposals for new economically significant regulations and evaluate the quality and use of RIAs. Economists in the federal government can use it to identify best practices in the various components of RIAs.
Researchers of regulatory policy can tap the Regulatory Report Card for the wealth of data it presents on many different aspects of RIAs and regulatory practices.
Stakeholders interested in a specific economically significant regulation can use the Regulatory Report Card as the starting point for commenting on the regulation in light of the strengths and weaknesses of the RIA and its use in making a regulatory decision.
People interested in the regulatory process can use the Regulatory Report Card as a tool to understand how RIAs work, what effect they have in the regulatory process, and how agencies use them to improve the quality of individual regulations, as well as the overall quality of the regulatory process.
How do I use the Regulatory Report Card?
In one location, you can view a copy of the notice of proposed rulemaking, the regulatory impact analysis (RIA), and a printable Excel version of the report card. You can search the Regulatory Report Card database by agency, year, or term; take a quick look at agency report card ranking; and locate additional information on regulatory analysis and oversight. You can even subscribe for email updates on the posting of new report cards.
What does it mean if a final rule is under review at OIRA?
This means that a final regulation has been written by the agency and is being reviewed by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. These rules are more likely to be midnight regulations since they are at a stage where publication of the final rule is imminent.