Regulatory Compliance

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 14 (Friday, January 21, 2011)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 3825-3826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-1386]

Memorandum of January 18, 2011

Regulatory Compliance

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and
Agencies

My Administration is committed to enhancing
effectiveness and efficiency in Government. Pursuant to
the Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government,
issued on January 21, 2009, executive departments and
agencies (agencies) have been working steadily to
promote accountability, encourage collaboration, and
provide information to Americans about their
Government's activities.

To that end, much progress has been made toward
strengthening our democracy and improving how
Government operates. In the regulatory area, several
agencies, such as the Department of Labor and the
Environmental Protection Agency, have begun to post
online (at ogesdw.dol.gov and www.epa-echo.gov), and to
make readily accessible to the public, information
concerning their regulatory compliance and enforcement
activities, such as information with respect to
administrative inspections, examinations, reviews,
warnings, citations, and revocations (but excluding law
enforcement or otherwise sensitive information about
ongoing enforcement actions).

Greater disclosure of regulatory compliance information
fosters fair and consistent enforcement of important
regulatory obligations. Such disclosure is a critical
step in encouraging the public to hold the Government
and regulated entities accountable. Sound regulatory
enforcement promotes the welfare of Americans in many
ways, by increasing public safety, improving working
conditions, and protecting the air we breathe and the
water we drink. Consistent regulatory enforcement also
levels the playing field among regulated entities,
ensuring that those that fail to comply with the law do
not have an unfair advantage over their law-abiding
competitors. Greater agency disclosure of compliance
and enforcement data will provide Americans with
information they need to make informed decisions. Such
disclosure can lead the Government to hold itself more
accountable, encouraging agencies to identify and
address enforcement gaps.

Accordingly, I direct the following:

First, agencies with broad regulatory compliance and
administrative enforcement responsibilities, within 120
days of this memorandum, to the extent feasible and
permitted by law, shall develop plans to make public
information concerning their regulatory compliance and
enforcement activities accessible, downloadable, and
searchable online. In so doing, agencies should
prioritize making accessible information that is most
useful to the general public and should consider the
use of new technologies to allow the public to have
access to real-time data. The independent agencies are
encouraged to comply with this directive.

Second, the Federal Chief Information Officer and the
Chief Technology Officer shall work with appropriate
counterparts in each agency to make such data available
online in searchable form, including on centralized
platforms such as data.gov, in a manner that
facilitates easy access, encourages cross-agency
comparisons, and engages the public in new and creative
ways of using the information.

Third, the Federal Chief Information Officer and the
Chief Technology Officer, in coordination with the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
and their counterparts in each agency, shall work to
explore how

best to generate and share enforcement and compliance
information across the Government, consistent with law.
Such data sharing can assist with agencies' risk-based
approaches to enforcement: A lack of compliance in one
area by a regulated entity may indicate a need for
examination and closer attention by another agency.
Efforts to share data across agencies, where
appropriate and permitted by law, may help to promote
flexible and coordinated enforcement regimes.

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person. Nothing in this memorandum shall be
construed to impair or otherwise affect the functions
of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative
proposals.

The Director of OMB is authorized and directed to
publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

Washington, January 18, 2011