; (3) identify and assess available alternatives to direct regulation, including providing economic incentives to encourage the desired behavior, or providing information upon which choices can be made by the public; (4) consider to the extent reasonable in setting regulatory priorities, the degree and nature of the risks posed by various substances or activities within its jurisdiction; (5) design its rules in the most cost-effective manner to achieve the regulatory objective and, in doing so, consider incentives for innovation, consistency, predictability, the costs of enforcement and compliance (to the Federal Government, regulated entities, and the public), flexibility, distributive impacts, and equity; (6) assess the costs and the benefits of the intended rule and, recognizing some costs and benefits are difficult to quantify, propose or adopt a rule only upon a reasoned determination that the benefits of the rule justify its costs; (7) base its rulemaking decisions on the best reasonably obtainable scientific, technical, economic, and other information concerning the need for, and consequences of, the intended rule; (8) identify and assess alternative forms of regulation and, to the extent feasible, specify performance objectives, rather than specifying the behavior or manner of compliance that regulated entities must adopt; (9) seek the views of appropriate State, local, and tribal officials before imposing regulatory requirements that might significantly or uniquely affect State, local, or tribal governmental entities, whenever feasible; (10) avoid rules that are inconsistent or incompatible with, or duplicative of, other rules of the independent regulatory agency or other agencies