Earlier today, the White House Office of Management and Budget released its semi-annual Unified Regulatory Agenda and Regulatory Plan for Fall 2015, covering 59 Federal departments, agencies, and commissions. Entries are categorized in one of five rulemaking stages: Prerule Stage, Proposed Rule Stage, Final Rule Stage, Long-Term Actions, and Completed Actions.

The Agenda and Plan are preliminary statements of regulatory and deregulatory policies and priorities under consideration. They include "active rulemakings" that agencies could possibly conclude over the next year. The Plan provides a list of important regulatory actions that agencies are considering for issuance in proposed or final form during the 2016 fiscal year. In contrast, the Agenda is a more inclusive list, including numerous ministerial actions and routine rulemakings, as well as long-term initiatives that agencies do not plan to complete in the coming year but on which they are actively working.