White House releases Obama’s final regulatory agenda

The White House has released its semi-annual regulatory agenda detailing what the administration plans to finish before President Obama leaves office.

{mosads}The Office of Management and Budget quietly released the Unified Agenda last week. Regulatory advocates say the policy blueprint reads as if Obama were planning to stay in office, when it is likely to be overhauled dramatically by the Trump administration next year.

“We are taking the whole thing with a grain of salt,” said Lisa Gilbert, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division.

Under President-elect Donald Trump, there’s no guarantee any of the rules now expected after Jan. 20 will be issued. Trump is planning to issue a moratorium on new agency regulations that are not compelled by Congress or public safety.

Still, the 2016 fall agenda shows that the Obama administration is trying to tie up some loose ends before leaving office by finalizing some consumer health and safety protections, including final standards for worker exposure to beryllium.

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration expects to release a final rule for the cancer-causing metal in January.

The Department of Energy is planning to finalize new energy standards for 14 different products, but the seven most important include standards for walk-in coolers, residential non-weatherized gas furnaces, commercial water heaters and packaged boilers, fluorescent lamps, pool pumps and manufactured housing.

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration is planning to create new rules to better safeguard healthcare professionals who are exposed to infectious diseases like tuberculosis, chickenpox, shingles and the measles. A proposed rule is expected next October.

The Department of Transportation, meanwhile, plans to finalize new rules with the Federal Railroad Administration in July to improve oil spill response readiness and mitigate the effects of rail incidents that involve petroleum oil.

In March, the Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to finalize changes to its lead-based paint poisoning regulations to better protect young children that live in federally owned homes.