Chapter 1. The Independent Status of the Regulatory Commissions. A. Development of the Independent Commission---. B. Structural Features of the Independent Commission.. C. General Limitations on Independence_-. D. Limitation on Independence: Supervision by the Office of Manage- E. Limitation on Independence: Supervision by the Justice Depart F. Effectiveness of the Independent Form_ G. Summary of Recommendations___ Chapter 2. Coordination of Regulatory Programs‒‒‒‒‒ Chapter 3. Separation of Regulation from Promotion_----- Chapter 5. Transportation Regulation B. Federal transportation programs: Mission and issues_. C. Effectiveness of current structure: Some deficiencies__. SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS A. Food regulation SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS (1) Responsibility for Federal food regulation, which is currently divided, should be assigned to a single agency. The food regulatory functions of the Department of Agriculture should be transferred to the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA should be given more stature and independence within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and be taken out of the Public Health Service. The Commissioner of Food and Drugs should be elevated from Level V to a Level III on the executive pay scale, with his deputies elevated accordingly. The Commissioner should be a Presidential appointee, subject to Senate confirmation. The Commissioner should have final authority for decisions regarding the safety of food and drugs, but the Secretary of HEW should be permitted to propose rules, regulations, and statements of policy, and to set deadlines for FDA action. (2) Until the USDA food regulatory functions can be transferred to FDA, the following measures should be undertaken on an interim basis: (a) USDA and FDA should systematically review their food regulations and jointly propose regulations to correct disparities in labeling, standards, or other requirements; (b) USDA should alter its regulations to provide for generic approval of food labels, and enforcement of such standards should be required to take place on a systematic basis; (c) USDA and FDA should designate continuing long-range planning committees and devise a regular procedure for coordinating their enforcement activities. B. Transportation policy and regulation (1) In order to consolidate Federal transportation planning, the Department of Transportation should have control of investment and subsidy programs now located in other departments. Subsidy programs for ship construction and operation now located in the Department of Commerce's Maritime Administration, and the navigation planning, investment analysis, and construction activities of the Civil Works Division of the Corps of Engineers, should be transferred to the Department of Transportation. Subsidy programs now contained within transportation regulatory agencies, such as the CAB's local service airline subsidy program, should also be transferred to the Department of Transportation. (2) In order to establish a unified transportation policy, Congress should enact a National Transportation Policy Act on the model of the National Environmental Policy Act. The new Act should set. national goals and priorities for transportation, and establish procedures for government-wide planning of Federal transportation programs and activities. The Secretary of Transportation should be responsible for administration of the Act. (3) The National Transportation Policy Act should empower the Secretary to propose rules, regulations and statements of policy of general applicability, and to establish strict deadlines for agency action, with respect to any function of the transportation regulatory agencies. Such provision should be modeled on section 403 of the Department of Energy Act, which gives similar powers to the Secretary of Energy for proceedings of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. For the present, the Interstate Commerce Commission, Civil Aeronautics Board, and Federal Maritime Commission should otherwise remain separate and independent from the Department of Transportation. (4) In order to improve coordination among agencies and to permit planning for a national transportation policy, Congress and the Executive Branch should institute a combined transportation budget account, to include all water, air, highway, rail and mass transit grants, programs and investments, whether under the authority of the Department of Transportation or otherwise. C. Banking regulation Congress should enact legislation to merge the bank regulatory functions of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Federal Reserve Board into a single Federal banking commission. Specifically, the legislation should provide that: (a) The FDIC be retained as a distinct entity in the new consolidated commission, to provide insurance to both national and state banks: (b) The non-regulatory functions of the Federal Reserve Board remain independent of the consolidated commission, with the Board retaining its independent authority over monetary policy, and continuing to conduct discount window operations and set interest rate ceilings and margin requirements; (c) State banking authorities be strengthened to preserve the balance between innovation and stability, and be reimbursed by the commission for examinations and supervisory activities that are relied upon by the commission: (d) The Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board have the authority to initiate and participate in proceedings of the Federal banking commission which the Chairman determines may have an impact on monetary policy. The Chairman should be authorized to require the commission to initiate proceedings to consider new rules, regulations, statements of policy, or interpretations, and to establish deadlines for commission action. The Chairman should also be empowered to participate in adjudications before the commission. D. Antitrust enforcement The current system of dual Federal antitrust enforcement, with responsibilities assigned jointly to the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, should be maintained. However, the system can be improved, as follows: (1) The liaison process between the FTC and the Justice Department should be expanded. Specifically, (a) the antitrustrelated activities of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection should be included in the liaison process; (b) more realistic time tables should be set for resolution of clearance requests; (c) representatives of the agencies should meet at least once a week to resolve clearance decisions; and (d) the agencies should be required to report to Congress any clearance dispute which takes more than two months to resolve. (2) More coordination should take place between the agencies at lower levels. Among other things, the agencies should (a) expand efforts to share the use of computer facilities, (b) fully exchange information between staff attorneys and other staff professionals, (c) coordinate, as far in advance as possible, the anticipated issuance of any trade regulation rules, and (d) transfer personnel between agencies on a temporary basis. E. Energy policy and regulation Congress' recent consolidation of Federal energy programs in a new Department of Energy should assure more effective management of the nation's energy programs. Congress should exercise vigorous oversight of the liaison arrangements established by the Department of Energy Act— specifically, the Leasing Liaison Committee between the Departments of Energy and Interior, the liasion between the Departments of Energy and Transportation for the fuel efficiency standards program, and the coordination between the Departments of Energy and Housing and Urban Development in the development of energy conservation standards for buildings and residences. Congress should also reexamine the Federal government's activities in the areas of environmental protection, land management, public land development, and ocean policy, and consider whether some or all of these functions. should be consolidated into a counterpart agency to the Department of Energy. F. Health and safety regulation (1) There should be a much greater degree of inter-agency cooperation and coordination between the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This can be achieved without actually merging or radically restructuring these Federal agencies. One mechanism for assuring coordinated Federal action has recently been established by Congress in the area of toxic substances. In the Toxic Substances. |