[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 194 (Friday, October 7, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-24777]


  Federal Register / Vol. 59, No. 194 / Friday, October 7, 1994 /
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[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: October 7, 1994]


                                                   VOL. 59, NO. 194

                                            Friday, October 7, 1994

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Chapters I, IX, X, and XI

[Docket No. L&RRS-94-001]

 

Use of Direct Final Rulemaking

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Policy statement.

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SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service is implementing a new 
rulemaking procedure to expedite making noncontroversial changes to its 
regulations. Rules that the agency judges to be non-controversial and 
unlikely to result in adverse comments will be published as ``direct 
final'' rules. (``Adverse comments'' are comments that suggest that a 
rule should not be adopted or suggest that a change should be made to 
the rule.) Each direct final rule will advise the public that no 
adverse comments are anticipated, and that unless written adverse 
comments or written notice of intent to submit adverse comments are 
received within 30 days, the revision made by the rule will be 
effective 60 days from the date the direct final rule is published in 
the Federal Register. This new policy should expedite the promulgation 
of routine or otherwise noncontroversial rules by reducing the time 
that would be required to develop, review, clear, and publish separate 
proposed and final rules.

DATES: Policy Statement effective October 7, 1994; comments should be 
received by December 6, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to Director, Legislative and 
Regulatory Review Staff, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, Room 3510-S, 
Washington, DC 20090-6456.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Bryant at 202-720-3203.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Agricultural Marketing Service is 
committed to improving the efficiency of its regulatory process. In 
pursuit of this goal, we plan to employ the rulemaking procedure known 
as ``direct final rulemaking'' to promulgate some Agricultural 
Marketing Service rules.

The Direct Final Rule Process

    Rules that the Agricultural Marketing Service judges to be 
noncontroversial and unlikely to result in adverse comments will be 
published as direct final rules. Each direct final rule will advise the 
public that no adverse comments are anticipated, and that unless 
written adverse comments or written notice of intent to submit adverse 
comments are received within 30 days, the revision made by the direct 
final rule will be effective 60 days from the date the direct final 
rule is published in the Federal Register.
    ``Adverse comments'' are comments that suggest that the rule should 
not be adopted, or that suggest that a change should be made to the 
rule. A comment expressing support for the rule as published will not 
be considered adverse. Further, a comment suggesting that requirements 
in the rule should, or should not, be employed by the Agricultural 
Marketing Service in other programs or situations outside the scope of 
the direct final rule will not be considered adverse.
    In accordance with the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative 
Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553), the direct final rulemaking procedure 
gives the public general notice of the Agricultural Marketing Service's 
intent to adopt a rule, and gives interested persons an opportunity to 
participate in the rulemaking through submission of comments. The major 
feature of direct final rulemaking is that if the Agricultural 
Marketing Service receives no written adverse comments and no written 
notice of intent to submit adverse comments within 30 days of the 
publication of the direct final rule, the rule will become effective 
without the need to publish a separate final rule. However, the 
Agricultural Marketing Service will publish a notice in the Federal 
Register stating that no adverse comments were received regarding the 
direct final rule, and confirming that the direct final rule is 
effective on the date stated in the direct final rule.
    If the Agricultural Marketing Service receives written adverse 
comments or written notice of intent to submit adverse comments within 
30 days of the publication of a direct final rule, a notice of 
withdrawal of the direct final rule will be published in the Federal 
Register. If the Agricultural Marketing Service intends to proceed with 
the rulemaking, the direct final rule will be republished as a proposed 
rule and we will proceed with the normal notice-and-comment rulemaking 
procedures.

Determining When to Use Direct Final Rulemaking

    Not all Agricultural Marketing Service rules are good candidates 
for direct final rulemaking. The Agricultural Marketing Service intends 
to use the direct final rulemaking procedure only for rules that we 
consider to be noncontroversial and unlikely to generate adverse 
comments. The decision to use direct final rulemaking for a rule will 
be based on the Agricultural Marketing Service experience with similar 
rules.

    Dated: October 3, 1994.
Lon Hatamiya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-24777 Filed 10-6-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P