THE BUSH BUDGET : White House Pushes Deregulation : Economy: The Vice President invited business executives to offer suggestions on ways to attack rules that they consider cumbersome.

The Bush Administration said Thursday that it will press its deregulation campaign well beyond the 90-day moratorium on new federal regulations and invited business executives to offer suggestions on ways to attack rules that they consider cumbersome.

“We are looking for a positive agenda far beyond the 90 days,” declared Michael J. Boskin, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, referring to the President’s order to most federal agencies to delay implementing new guidelines that might restrict economic recovery and growth.

The Administration at the same time may issue “pro-growth regulations and initiatives” to create an even more favorable business climate, Vice President Dan Quayle said. “Not all regulations are bad. Some are good,” he said.

In a meeting here with several hundred business leaders, Quayle, Boskin, White House counsel C. Boyden Gray and other Administration officials said deregulatory actions set for the next 30 days will:

* Simplify the payroll tax system for employers.

* Make it easier for banks to lend money.

* Allow thrifts to set up interstate operations.

* Reduce reporting requirements for healthy thrifts from 12 to four times annually.

* Simplify Securities and Exchange Commission registration requirements.

Those examples are just a beginning, Quayle said.

“Now’s your chance. Come and tell us what rules and regulations are burdening the private sector,” he said. “The President is serious about getting burdensome regulations repealed or modified.”

Quayle said the review will affect “banking, biotechnology, energy and the environment, transportation, copyright, just to name a few.”

Although his audience was the business community, the Vice President said he intends to consult widely on the matter. “I’m going to be seeking advice from all--business groups, consumer groups, labor leaders, academia--you name it. The door’s open,” he said.

Although Bush’s moratorium exempted “regulations that respond to emergencies . . . that pose an imminent danger to human health or safety,” labor and consumer groups have formed a coalition to join the battle, threatening to go to court if necessary to ensure that public safety or health is not compromised.

If the President’s exemptions turn out not to apply, for instance, to a host of pending regulations at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, several hundred workers could die--an estimate made by the President’s own budget proposal for fiscal year 1993, according to David Vladeck, senior attorney at the Public Citizen Litigation Group.

“You can see these numbers for yourself--on Page 403,” Vladeck added. “These OSHA rules were poised to be issued.”

If they are not, “we can go to court and get a hearing pretty quickly,” he said.

“It’s too soon yet to tell how the pending regulations will be affected,” a senior OSHA official said, adding that OSHA’s acting administrator, Dorothy L. Strunk, has commissioned a senior staff task force to review the moratorium.

The President in his Jan. 28 memorandum also exempted from the 90-day moratorium all rules that face deadlines set by the courts or Congress, such as the Food and Drug Administration’s impending regulations on nutritional labeling. Further exempted are rules that pertain to criminal investigations or affect the military or independent agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission. Those agencies, nevertheless, are being encouraged to join the moratorium voluntarily.

Environmental regulations, including those dealing with hazardous waste, are among those likely to face close review. “We’ve just begun the review, and there’s not a lot to say right now. But we think we can make a contribution,” an Environmental Protection Agency official said.

Christine Rand, a Consumers Union attorney, said she was troubled by the President’s order that every agency designate “a senior official” to serve as its “permanent regulatory oversight official” who would report to the Council of Competitiveness, headed by Quayle.

“This appears to be an effort to institutionalize the role of the council,” Rand said.

Industry officials representing banking and small businesses hailed the Administration’s deregulation initiatives.

Simplification of the payroll tax system--including establishment of a single wage reporting system and a voluntary electronic payment system--”make us jump up and down,” said John Satagaj, head of the Small Business Legislative Council.

James Chessen, deputy director for policy development at the American Bankers Assn., also welcomed the Administration’s actions. “We have an army of 75,000 people in the industry who do nothing but comply with regulations--at a cost of $500 million to $1 billion a year,” he said.