Purposes
At first blush, executive agency rulemaking appears to be an oxymoron. Executive agencies are usually charged with executing, not making, the rules. Given the scope of modern regulation, however, legislatures frequently find areas where it is impractical for lawmakers to apply the level of detail or expertise required to establish complete standards. These they delegate to agencies for follow-up rulemaking.
Common purposes of rulemaking include:
- Adding scientific expertise. For example, in the U.S., the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act outlaws the sale of adulterated or impure drugs. The act requires that the Department of Health and Human Services promulgate regulations establishing which laboratory tests to use to test the purity of each drug.
- Adding implementation detail. Legislation on automobile fuel efficiency, for example, often delegates the development of the actual engine tests used to calculate 'city mileage' and 'highway mileage'.
- Adding industry expertise. The U.S. Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act require the United States Environmental Protection Agency to determine the appropriate emissions control technologies on an industry-by-industry basis.
- Adding flexibility. More detailed regulations allow for more nuanced approaches to various conditions than a single legislative standard could. Moreover, regulations tend to be more easily changed as new data or technologies emerge.
- Finding compromise. In some cases, a divided legislature can reach an agreement on a compromise legislative standard, while each side holds out hope that the implementing regulations will be more favorable to its cause.
Read more about this topic: Rulemaking
Famous quotes containing the word purposes:
“There has been and always will be plenty of arguments about the usefulness and harm of the spreading of the Bible. In my view the Bible will continue to cause harm when used in a dogmatic and fantastic manner; it will do good when used for didactic purposes and with sensitivity.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)
“[Girls] study under the paralyzing idea that their acquirements cannot be brought into practical use. They may subserve the purposes of promoting individual domestic pleasure and social enjoyment in conversation, but what are they in comparison with the grand stimulation of independence and self- reliance, of the capability of contributing to the comfort and happiness of those whom they love as their own souls?”
—Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)
“To be President of the United States, sir, is to act as advocate for a blind, venomous, and ungrateful client; still, one must make the best of the case, for the purposes of Providence.”
—John Updike (b. 1932)