On February 17, President Reagan took the most significant step yet in his administration's campaign to relieve the private sector of the burden of complying with federal regulations. Executive Order No. 12291,¹ entitled simply "Federal Regulation," is designed

to reduce the burdens of existing and future regulations, increase agency accountability for regulatory actions, provide for presidential oversight of the regulatory process, minimize duplication and conflict of regulations, and insure well-reasoned regulations. . . .²

To this end, the Order subjects past, pending, and future regulations to strict requirements of economic justification as well as factual and legal support. In addition, it vests and unprecedented degree of regulatory oversight authority in the newly-formed Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief.³ Not surprisingly, there is some uncertainty as to the extent to which the Order conflicts with existing laws and whether from a policy standpoint it will prove workable.