In a sign that the Obama Administration may be preparing to rush the publication of the FAR Council’s final rules implementing the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” executive order in order to avoid timing problems associated with the Congressional Review Act, the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (responsible for reviewing the rules before sending them to the FAR Secretariat for publication, discussed here), now lists the new rules as not “Economically Significant.”  The determination that the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rules are not Economically Significant will allow the Administration to avoid the requirements under EO 12866 to provide a more detailed assessment of the likely benefits and costs of the regulatory action; however, it contradicts the Administration’s prior designation of the burdensome new compliance and reporting obligations in the Proposed Rule as Economically Significant, and it seems at odds with the designation of other rules, such as “Serving Sizes of Foods That Can Reasonably Be Consumed At One Eating Occasion” and “Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential Dehumidifiers,” as Economically Significant.

See OIRA’s links to the Rule and DoL Guidance here and here.