Vitter: Obama administration hiding the ball on regulatory agenda

Sen. David Vitter on Wednesday accused the White House of concealing the president’s regulatory agenda, and demanded information from the Obama administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA.)

Vitter (La.), the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, issued a scathing statement, along with a missive to outgoing EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson questioning whether the agency missed deadlines for submitting its rulemaking plans.

At issue is the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs’s (OIRA) failure to release a spring 2012 government-wide agenda on federal regulations until late last month.

OIRA compiles the regulatory agendas of federal agencies and is supposed to issue a comprehensive overview twice a year.

“The administration is either intentionally hiding its regulatory agenda, or the leadership is in complete disarray,” said Vitter. “It really appears to be a coordinated effort across agencies to keep the American people in the dark.”

OIRA did not respond to a phone call Wednesday afternoon seeking comment on Vitter’s remarks.

The lawmaker suggested that OIRA was covering for EPA officials, who are weighing whether to propose various controversial rules, including regulations on emissions from existing power plants.

In the letter to Jackson, Vitter asked for information about when the agency submitted its agenda to OIRA and whether EPA officials were directed to hold the plan back.