Executive Order 14094, signed by President Biden on April 6, 2023, amended the federal government’s regulatory review process by raising the dollar threshold for the most closely scrutinized rules, opening up participation in Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) meetings, and pushing agencies to hear from communities that rarely engage with federal rulemaking.1Federal Register. Modernizing Regulatory Review It is no longer in effect. President Trump revoked it on January 20, 2025, through Executive Order 14148, and the regulatory review framework has reverted to Executive Order 12866 as it stood before 2023.2Federal Register. Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions
The $200 Million Significance Threshold
The most concrete change in EO 14094 was doubling the dollar threshold that triggers the highest level of regulatory scrutiny. Under EO 12866, a rule qualified as a “significant regulatory action” if it could affect the economy by $100 million or more in a single year.3US EPA. Summary of Executive Order 12866 – Regulatory Planning and Review EO 14094 raised the figure to $200 million, reflecting roughly three decades of inflation and economic growth since 1993.1Federal Register. Modernizing Regulatory Review
Fewer rules crossed the higher line, so routine and narrower regulations could move through OIRA with less friction. To keep the new figure from aging the way the old one had, the order required the OIRA Administrator to adjust the $200 million threshold every three years based on changes in gross domestic product.1Federal Register. Modernizing Regulatory Review
After the January 2025 revocation, the threshold reverted to $100 million, and the automatic GDP indexing no longer applies.2Federal Register. Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions
OIRA Review and Transparency
EO 14094 directed OIRA to concentrate its deepest analysis on regulations carrying the largest potential public impact and to engage with agencies earlier in drafting rather than functioning primarily as a final checkpoint.
The order also expanded public disclosure around the review process. The subject, date, and participants of every regulatory review meeting were published on Reginfo.gov, along with any written materials that outside parties submitted.4Reginfo.gov. EO 12866 Meeting Request OIRA also committed to releasing meeting request data in an open, machine-readable format so that researchers and watchdog groups could track who was influencing which rules.
Broader Public Participation
A central aim of EO 14094 was lowering the barriers that kept ordinary people out of the regulatory process. The order pushed reforms to “12866 meetings,” the formal sessions where outside parties discuss pending regulations with OIRA staff.5The White House. Guidance Implementing Section 2(e) of Executive Order 14094 Those meetings had long been dominated by industry groups with Washington offices.
Under implementing guidance, OIRA kept virtual meetings as the exclusive format through platforms like WebEx and Zoom, with dial-in options for participants without reliable internet. A redesigned portal on Reginfo.gov let anyone request a meeting without first locating a rule’s Regulatory Identification Number, which had been a common stumbling block.6The White House. Guidance Implementing Section 2(e) of Executive Order 14094
Any member of the public could request these meetings at both the proposed and final rule stages. OIRA framed them as listening sessions for scientific, technical, or economic information, or simply for describing how a proposed rule would affect the participant. They were not a substitute for filing formal written comments with the agency proposing the rule.7The White House. EO 12866 Meeting Request – A Video How-To Guide Transcript
Outreach to Underserved Communities
The order required that opportunities for public participation “be designed to promote equitable and meaningful participation by a range of interested or affected parties, including underserved communities.”1Federal Register. Modernizing Regulatory Review Agencies were encouraged to move past posting a Federal Register notice and waiting for comments, and instead to use community listening sessions, local partnerships, and outreach through trusted community leaders.
The order did not spell out a detailed list of underserved communities, but the concept covered groups that historically had little voice in federal rulemaking, including rural populations, low-income households, and communities with limited English proficiency.
A companion revision to Circular A-4, the government’s main guidance for regulatory analysis, formally incorporated distributional effects as a required analytical component. Agencies had to assess how regulatory costs and benefits fell across different income groups and demographic populations, using both quantitative and qualitative measures.8The White House. Circular No. A-4
Petitions for Regulatory Reform
Federal law has long allowed anyone to petition an agency to create, amend, or repeal a regulation, but many agencies treated these petitions as low-priority paperwork. EO 14094 directed agencies to clarify the petition process, respond efficiently, and keep a log of petitions received. OIRA could request status information on pending and recently resolved petitions.9Federal Register. Modernizing Regulatory Review For small businesses and advocacy groups without lobbying resources, the petition pathway offered a more direct route to changing burdensome rules.
Revocation and the Current Framework
EO 14094 was in effect for less than two years. On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed EO 14148, which revoked EO 14094 along with dozens of other Biden-era executive actions.2Federal Register. Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions The regulatory review framework returned to EO 12866 as it existed before the 2023 amendments, including the $100 million significance threshold.
The 2023 revision of Circular A-4 was rescinded by a separate memorandum in March 2025, which reinstated the original 2003 version and removed the distributional analysis and equity requirements.10The White House. Rescission and Reinstatement of Circular A-4
For anyone trying to understand how federal regulatory review works today, the operative documents are the original EO 12866 and the 2003 Circular A-4. The reforms introduced by EO 14094, from the $200 million threshold to the underserved-community engagement requirements, are no longer binding on federal agencies. Some practical infrastructure, like virtual meetings on Reginfo.gov, may continue as a matter of administrative convenience, but agencies are not required to maintain it.