The agencies indicated in the preambles that they had conducted federalism assessments for 5 of these 11,414 rules—2 in 1996 and 3 in 1997. Of the 11,414 final rules that nonindependent agencies issued between April 1996 and December 1998, 117 of them were identified as “major” rules by the agencies and OMB. rules they issued between April 1996 and December 1998 (about 25 percent of the total). The agencies did not indicate that any other assessments had been prepared, and generally said that their rules did not have sufficient federalism implications to trigger the executive order’s requirements. Selected Agencies Have Taken Some Actions to Implement Executive Order 12612

Federal departments and agencies are primarily responsible for implementing Executive Order 12612. Section 6 of the executive order delineates the agencies’ responsibilities, requiring them to (1) designate an official to be responsible for ensuring implementation of the order,  (2) have the designated official determine which proposed regulations have sufficient federalism implications to warrant the preparation of a federalism assessment, and (3) send each federalism assessment to OMB as a part of the regulatory review package sent pursuant to Executive Order 12866. Agencies Have Written Guidance and Designated Officials or Offices

Each of the three agencies we visited—EPA, HHS, and USDA—has some kind of written guidance on how to implement Executive Order 12612. OMB Has Taken Little Specific Action to Ensure Implementation of Executive Order 12612

Section 7 of Executive Order 12612 indicates that, in implementing Executive Order 12866, OMB should, to the extent permitted by law, “take action to ensure that the policies of Executive departments and agencies are consistent with the principles, criteria, and requirements” of the federalism executive order. The fact that agencies have prepared federalism assessments for only 5 of the more than 11,000 final rules issued in recent years suggests that the agencies are not implementing the order as vigorously as they could.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the implementation of Executive Order 12612 on federalism, focusing on: (1) how often the preambles to covered agencies' final rules issued between April 1, 1996, and December 31, 1998, mentioned Executive Order 12612 and how often they indicated that the agencies had conducted federalism assessments under the order; (2) what selected agencies have done to implement the requirements of Executive Order 12612; and (3) what the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has done to oversee federal agencies' implementation of Executive Order 12612 in the rulemaking process.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) federal agencies covered by Executive Order 12612 mentioned the order in about 27 percent of the more than 11,000 final rules they issued between April 1996 and December 1998; (2) the agencies indicated, however, that they had prepared federalism assessments for only five of these rules; (3) of the 117 major rules issued by these agencies during this period, the preambles indicated that only 1 had a federalism assessment; (4) state and local representatives that GAO consulted said that certain federal agencies should have done assessments for more of these major rules; however, the agencies said that their rules did not have sufficient federalism implications to trigger the executive order's requirements; (5) all three of the federal agencies GAO visited had some kind of written guidance on the executive order and had designated an official or office responsible for ensuring its implementation; (6) however, the methods the agencies use to determine whether federalism assessments are needed varied among the agencies; and (7) OMB officials told GAO that they have taken no specific actions to implement the executive order, but said the order is considered along with other requirements as part of their regulatory review process under Executive Order 12866.