OMB outlines risk assessment proposal

It is typically the case that government agencies and offices are urged to emulate the practices of businesses in the private sector. Here is a case showing that, at times, it would not be a bad idea for businesses to emulate government practices. The Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) regulatory division has issued a proposed risk assessment bulletin which would create new rules for regulators in the interest of promoting “sound science.” The guidelines, which were published as a draft bulletin on 9 January, will be open to public comment through 15 June and have been forwarded to the National Academy of Sciences for review. The bulletin would apply to all federal agencies covered by the 1995 Paperwork Reduction Act, but is likely to have the most impact on the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the departments of Commerce, Health and Human Services, Interior, Labor, and Transportation, according to an OMB official who asked to remain anonymous. Assessments identified as influential — defined as having a “clear and substantial impact” on public policies or private sector decisions — would be subject to more rigorous standards. The guidelines also would require in-depth risk analyses to include a range of estimates, including central and nonconservative estimates in addition to conservative “upper-bound” estimates. Assessments of the degree of uncertainty associated with each estimate would need to be included.

-read more in this GovExec.comreport; and see the OMB publication (.pdf)