Regulatory Relief for Manufacturers Is Targeted The Office of Management and Budget is seeking public help in compiling a hit list of regulations that harm U.S. manufacturers. Responding to the loss of more than 2 million manufacturing jobs since the turn of the century, and headed into a presidential election campaign, OMB Director Joshua Bolten said, “No sector of our economy is more in need of regulatory reform than manufacturing.” OMB said it is seeking “public nomination of manufacturing regulations in need of modernization to reduce costs, increase effectiveness and enhance the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers.” The initiative is included in OMB’s draft 2004 Report to Congress on the Costs and Benefits of Regulation, which is required by the Regulatory Right to Know Act of 2000. The request is for regulatory reforms that can be implemented through administrative action. Final reform initiatives will be outlined in OMB’s Final Report, to be published later this year, after public comment, peer review and formal interagency review. The agency said its review of the economic literature found that the costs of regulation to the manufacturing sector are larger than the costs imposed on other sectors of the economy, and disproportionately large for small and medium-sized manufacturers. “The U.S. manufacturing industry is hindered by regulations that often don’t account for improvements in science and technology over the last twenty years,” said Dr. John D. Graham, Director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at OMB.” The draft 2004 Report to Congress on the Costs and Benefits of Regulation is available at www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/regpol-reports_congress.html