WASHINGTON-The Office of Management and Budget has forwarded the results of its request for nominations for regulatory review to the related agencies. In its 2002 Report to Congress, OMB said it was sending out all 267 comments on regulations for agency review and 49 comments regarding agency guidance. Of these, OMB specifically requested agencies to review 126 regulations and 35 guidance nominations. While OMB has no oversight responsibility over independent agencies, like the Federal Reserve Board or NCUA, it did forward comments for 49 regulations and two guidance suggestions to all the independent agencies. A third category included 92 rules and 12 regulatory guidances with suggested changes already contemplated or recently under consideration by the appropriate agency. "Through OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), the Administration is striving for a regulatory process that adopts new rules when necessary to serve the public interest, simplifies and modifies existing rules to make them more effective and/or less costly or less intrusive, and rescinds outmoded rules whose benefits do not justify their costs," the report read. CUNA and NAFCU each submitted nomination letters to OMB in May recommending the Fed rescind its Home Mortgage Disclosure Act regulation requiring the collection of race, gender, etc. over the phone, study and/or revision of Regulation D reserve requirements, and permit electronic delivery of disclosures. NAFCU also asked that the requirement for mortgage lenders to report the spread between the annual percentage rate and the return on government bonds of similar maturity be eliminated. In addition, CUNA requested that the central bank streamline the calculation of reserve requirements, that mortgage disclosures at closing be simplified, that the Fed review the Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act for duplicative requirements, and that the Small Business Administration be encouraged to expand credit union access to its 7(a) lending program. OIRA recommended that agencies keep in mind three criteria-efficiency, fairness, and practicality-in their review of the regulations. OMB received a total 316 nominations for the 2002 review, whereas only 71 nominations were passed along in 2001. This was also OMB's first request for nominations of guidances in need of amendments. [email protected]