OMB Guide Seeks Sharper Focus On Rules’ Future Benefits, Baselines

The Office of Management & Budget’s (OMB) recent cost-benefit guidance update includes expanded language pressing EPA and other agencies to ensure they project their analyses far enough into the future to capture the full benefits and costs of rules and regulatory alternatives -- language that some observers say could help justify stronger regulations. The updated Circular A-4 also prods federal agencies to consider factoring other pending proposals into regulatory baselines for rules, which could have the effect of lowering the...