On September 2, US President Joe Biden nominated NYU Professor Richard L. Revesz to lead the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).
Professor Richard L. Revesz, AnBryce Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus at the New York University School of Law, is one of the leading voices in the fields of environmental and regulatory law and policy. He has published ten books and around 80 articles in major law reviews and journals advocating for protective and rational climate change and environmental policies, and examining the institutional contexts in which regulatory policy is made.
Among his latest publications, Reviving Rationality: Saving Cost-Benefit Analysis for the Sake of the Environment and Our Health (Oxford University Press), which explains how and why US governments have abandoned rationality in recent years, and why it is so important for future administrations to restore rigorous cost-benefit analysis to return to a policymaking approach that effectively tackles the most pressing problems of our era.
The latter being an hot-topic in the discussion between Democrats and Republicans.
OIRA is the United States Government’s central authority for the review of Executive Branch regulations, approval of Government information collections, establishment of Government statistical practices, and coordination of Federal privacy policy. The office is comprised of six subject matter branches and is led by the OIRA Administrator, who is appointed by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate, which Professor Revesz is still waiting.
The role might become even more relevant if President Biden will focus more on regulations (as he is already doing) than legislations, in case of a negative result in the forthcoming midterm elections.