[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 227 (Monday, November 25, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 70529]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-29480]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 227 / Monday, November 25, 2002 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 70529]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Business-Cooperative Service

7 CFR Chapters XVIII and XLII


Policy Statement for Direct Final Rulemaking

AGENCY: Rural Business-Cooperative Service, USDA.

ACTION: Policy statement.

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SUMMARY: The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) is implementing a 
new rulemaking procedure to expedite making noncontroversial changes to 
its regulations. Rules that RBS judges to be noncontroversial and 
unlikely to result in adverse comments will be published as ``direct 
final'' rules. ``Adverse comments'' are those comments that suggest 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 is received within 
30 days from the date the direct final rule is published in the Federal 
Register, the rule will be effective 45 days from the date the direct 
final rule is published in the Federal Register. At the same time, RBS 
may publish a document in the proposed rules section of the same issue 
of the Federal Register proposing approval of and soliciting comments 
on the same action contained in the direct final rule. If adverse 
comments or notice of intent to file adverse comments are received by 
RBS, the direct final rule will be withdrawn prior to the effective 
date. RBS will address the comments received in response to the direct 
final rule in a subsequent final rule. This new policy should expedite 
promulgation of non-controversial rules by reducing the time that would 
be required to develop, review, clear, and publish separate proposed 
and final rules.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pandor H. Hadjy, Assistant Deputy 
Administrator, Business Programs, RBS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Room 5050-S, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 3220, Washington, DC 
20250-3220; Telephone: 202-720-9693; Facsimile: 202-690-0097; E-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: RBS 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 RBS rules.

The Direct Final Rule Process

    Rules that RBS judges to be noncontroversial and unlikely to result 
in adverse comments will be published in the Federal Register as direct 
final rules. At the same time, RBS may publish a document in the 
proposed rules section of the same issue of the Federal Register 
proposing approval of and soliciting comments on the same action 
contained in the direct final rule. Each direct final rule will advise 
the public that no adverse comments are anticipated, and that, unless 
adverse comments are received within 30 days, the direct final rule 
will be effective 45 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 RBS in other programs or situations outside the scope of 
the direct final rule will not be considered adverse. If RBS 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 
document withdrawing the direct final rule prior to its effective date 
will be published in the Federal Register stating that adverse comments 
were received. If RBS concurrently published a notice of proposed 
rulemaking RBS will address the comments received in response to the 
direct final rule in a subsequent final rule on the related proposed 
rule. In such cases, RBS will not institute a second comment period on 
the action.
    In accordance with rulemaking provisions of the Administrative 
Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 533), the direct final rulemaking procedure 
gives the public general notice of RBS' intent to adopt a new rule and 
gives interested persons an opportunity to participate in the 
rulemaking process through submission of and consideration by RBS of 
comments. The major feature of the direct final rulemaking process is 
that if RBS receives no written adverse comments and no written notice 
of intent to submit adverse comments within the comment period 
specified, RBS will publish a document 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 in 
the direct final rule.

Determining When To Use Direct Final Rulemaking

    Not all RBS rules are good candidates for the direct final 
rulemaking. RBS intends to use the direct final rulemaking procedure 
only for rules that we consider non-controversial and unlikely to 
generate adverse comments. The decision whether to use the direct final 
rulemaking process for a particular action will be based on RBS' 
experience with similar actions.

    Dated: October 31, 2002.
John Rosso,
Administrator, Rural Business-Cooperative Service.
[FR Doc. 02-29480 Filed 11-22-02; 8:45 am]
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