The rebates, which consist in granting a lump sum discount to the ...

each "major rule" pending, subject to review by the OIRA. A federal agency could not publish anotice of proposed rulemaking until an OIRA review was complete and its concerns had beenaddressed.In total, the Reagan regulatory reforms resulted in an estimated $9 billion to $11 billion in one-timesavings and an additional $10 billion in annual savings.In 1985 President Regan issued another important executive order for the development of theregulatory reform, the Executive Order 12498, according to which agencies annually send OMB adetailed plan on all the significant rules that they had under development. OMB coordinated theplans with other interested agencies and could recommend modifications. It also compiled thesedetailed descriptions of the agencies' most important rules in one volume called the RegulatoryProgram of the U.S. Government 46 .Under the Bush Administration the main goal of the reform continued to be the minimization ofregulatory burdens faced by the economy. The Task Force on Regulatory Relief was replaced byCouncil on Competitiveness, established in March 1989 and headed by the Vice president with themission to provide regulatory relief.The reform continued under Clinton Administration tried with the issuing of the Executive Order12866, according to which OMB was reaffirmed as central agency in the review of proposedregulations. With the new executive order the president Clinton reaffirmed the supremacy of federalagencies in the decision making process and fixed the general principle that the benefits of intendedregulations should justify the costs. In addition, the executive order try to respond to somecriticisms of the previous regulatory reform: the OMB review was restricted to the most significantrules, assuring to OMB to add greater value to its review by focusing on the most important rules.d) Among alternative approaches to any given regulatory objective, the alternative involving the least net cost to societyshall be chosen; ande) Agencies shall set regulatory priorities with the aim of maximizing the aggregate net benefits to society, taking intoaccount the condition of the particular industries affected by regulations, the condition of the national economy, andother regulatory actions contemplated for the future.46 OMB, “The Role of Economic Analysis in Regulatory Reform”, chapter 1 of OMB Report to Congress on the Costsand Benefits of Federal Regulations, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/chap1.html – visited 10 July200954