Senate Governmental Affairs Chairman Thompson and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., will present, perhaps as early as today, a managers' amendment to their regulatory reform legislation as part of a long-sought deal with the White House.
The White House previously had withheld its support for the regulatory reform measure, but now, with the revisions, sources said the Clinton administration is expected to accept the package.
Sources said the administration had been waiting for Levin and Thompson to bring their bill into line with a set of principles laid out in March by then-Office of Management and Budget Director Franklin Raines, who stated, among other things, that the legislation must impose no "needless burdens" on agencies, nor add significant new costs and delays to the rulemaking process.
The managers' amendment, which could be offered today or early next week, reportedly answers those concerns to the degree that Thompson and Levin now believe their bill has the backing of the White House, and by extension, the crucial support of additional Senate Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., has yet to schedule floor time for the newly revised measure, but earlier in the year indicated he would schedule a vote if Levin was able to secure enough Democratic support for it.
One U.S. Chamber of Commerce official, who has been tracking the bill but has not yet seen the new language, said it is her understanding that the revised bill nonetheless retains "the heart" of the original proposal, including the cost-benefit analyses and risk assessment provisions, and a peer review requirement.
Environmental advocates have not yet seen the language, either.
Nevertheless, said Gene Karpinski of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, the environmental community expects to remain unappeased by the changes.
Karpinski said he is quite certain those revisions will not be enough to salvage the bill either "from a consumer or environmental perspective."
Moreover, Karpinski said he is highly doubtful the changes will bring the bill into compliance with all of the criteria laid out in the Raines letter.
"It would shock me if it was able to do that," he said. "[The bill] flunks the basic test of [does it inhibit] the agencies from doing their jobs. It's still going to create a lot more hoops to jump through and red tape to get through."
Karpinski, along with representatives from two other environmental organizations, Monday met with Vice President Gore to discuss the status of the legislation, and to air their concerns.
Karpinski and Gary Bass of OMB Watch, who was also in attendance, agreed it was unclear at the conclusion of that meeting whether the administration would support the revised legislation, or whether it would simply refrain from actively opposing it.
A representative of the Natural Resources Defense Council also attended the meeting.
Overall, Bass said, the clearest message emerging from the Gore meeting was that "if Levin meets the Raines letter, then the administration would withdraw its opposition."
However, Bass said, Gore declined to say whether the new language met that criteria, or, if it does, whether the administration would become an advocate for the legislation.
Efforts to obtain comment from Gore's office late Thursday were unsuccessful.
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