Editing Rulemaking (section)

==Purposes==
Although executive agencies are usually charged with executing, not promulgating a regulatory scheme, the breadth and depth of regulation today renders it difficult, if not impossible, for legislatures to specify the details of modern regulatory schemes.  As a result, the specification of these details are mostly delegated to agencies for rulemaking.

Common purposes of rulemaking include:
* Adding scientific expertise.  For example, in the U.S., the [[Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act]] outlaws the sale of adulterated or impure drugs. The act requires that the [[Department of Health and Human Services]] promulgate regulations establishing which laboratory tests to use to test the purity of each drug.
* Adding implementation detail.  Legislation on automobile fuel efficiency, for example, often delegates the development of the actual engine tests used to calculate 'city mileage' and 'highway mileage'.
* Adding industry expertise.  The [[United States|U.S.]] [[Clean Air Act (United States)|Clean Air Act]] and [[Clean Water Act]] require the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] to determine the appropriate emissions control technologies on an industry-by-industry basis.
* Adding flexibility.  More detailed regulations allow for more nuanced approaches to various conditions than a single legislative standard could.  Moreover, regulations tend to be more easily changed as new data or technologies emerge.
* Finding compromise.  In some cases, a divided legislature can reach an agreement on a compromise legislative standard, while each side holds out hope that the implementing regulations will be more favorable to its cause.