[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 106 (Thursday, June 2, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 31884-31885]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13597]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

2 CFR Chapter XXIV

5 CFR Chapter LXV

12 CFR Chapter XVII

24 CFR Chapters I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VIII, IX, X, XII, and 
Subtitles A and B

48 CFR Chapter 24

[Docket No. FR-5506-N-02]


Reducing Regulatory Burden; Retrospective Review Plans Under E.O. 
13563

AGENCY: Office of the General Counsel, HUD.

ACTION: Request for information.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Executive Order 13563, ``Improving 
Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' HUD has developed a preliminary 
review plan for periodically analyzing its existing significant 
regulations to determine whether they should be modified, streamlined, 
expanded, or repealed. The preliminary plan also identifies specific 
regulatory actions rules that HUD will be undertaking to address 
regulations that the Department has identified as being outdated, 
ineffective, or excessively burdensome. The preliminary plans of the 
Federal agencies have been posted on the White House Web site at: 
http://www.slideshare.net/whitehouse/hud-combined. Through this notice, 
HUD solicits public comment on the Department's preliminary plan and 
list of candidate rules. The purpose of HUD's regulatory review is to 
make the Department's regulations more effective and less burdensome in 
achieving HUD's mission to create strong, sustainable, inclusive 
communities, and quality affordable homes for all.

DATES: Comment Due Date: Comments on HUD's preliminary regulatory 
review plan and list of candidate rules are due on or before: August 1, 
2011.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
HUD's preliminary regulatory review plan and list of candidate rules to 
the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department of 
Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW., Room 10276, 
Washington, DC 20410-0500. Communications must refer to the above 
docket number and title. There are three methods for submitting public 
comments. All submissions must refer to the above docket number and 
title.
    1. Submission of Comments by Mail. Comments may be submitted by 
mail to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department 
of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW., Room 10276, 
Washington, DC 20410-0001.
    2. E-mail Submission of Comments: Comments may be submitted by e-
mail to [email protected].
    3. Electronic Submission of Comments. Interested persons may submit 
comments electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
http://www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly encourages commenters to 
submit comments electronically. Electronic submission of comments 
allows the commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment, 
ensures timely receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to make them immediately 
available to the public. Comments submitted electronically through the

[[Page 31885]]

http://www.regulations.gov Web site can be viewed by other commenters 
and interested members of the public. Commenters should follow the 
instructions provided on that site to submit comments electronically.

    Note: To receive consideration as public comments, comments must 
be submitted through one of the three methods specified above. 
Again, all submissions must refer to the docket number and title of 
the rule. No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not 
acceptable.

    Public Inspection of Public Comments. All properly submitted 
comments and communications submitted to HUD will be available for 
public inspection and copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays at the 
above address. Due to security measures at the HUD Headquarters 
building, an advance appointment to review the public comments must be 
scheduled by calling the Regulations Division at 202-708-3055 (this is 
not a toll-free number). Individuals with speech or hearing impairments 
may access this number via TTY by calling the Federal Information Relay 
Service at 800-877-8339. Copies of all comments submitted are available 
for inspection and downloading at http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Camille E. Acevedo, Associate General 
Counsel for Legislation and Regulations, Office of General Counsel, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW., Room 
10282, Washington, DC 20410; telephone number 202-708-1793 (this is not 
a toll-free number). Persons with hearing or speech impairments may 
access this number through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal 
Information Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    On January 18, 2011, President Obama issued Executive Order 13563, 
``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.''\1\ The Executive Order 
requires Federal agencies to seek more affordable, less intrusive ways 
to achieve policy goals and give careful consideration to the benefits 
and costs of those regulations. The Executive Order recognizes that 
these principles should not only guide the Federal government's 
approach to new regulations, but to existing ones as well. To that end, 
agencies are required to review existing significant regulations to 
determine if they are outmoded, ineffective, insufficient or 
excessively burdensome. Executive Order 13563 also required that, by 
May 18, 2011, each agency develop and submit to the Office of 
Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs a 
preliminary plan for periodically reviewing existing significant 
regulations to determine whether they should be modified, streamlined, 
expanded, or repealed so as to make the agency's regulatory program 
more effective or less burdensome in achieving regulatory objectives.
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    \1\ The Executive Order was subsequently published in the 
Federal Register on January 21, 2011, at 76 FR 3821.
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    On March 2, 2011, at 76 FR 11395, HUD published a notice in the 
Federal Register inviting public comments, with a comment deadline of 
May 2, 2011, to assist in the development of the plan required by the 
Executive Order and in identifying specific current regulations that 
should be the subject of HUD review. HUD received 42 public comments 
from nonprofit advocacy groups, private industry groups, housing 
authorities, and private individuals, amounting to more than 300 
specific suggestions.
    The preliminary regulatory review plans of the Federal agencies 
have been posted on the White House Web site at: http://www.slideshare.net/whitehouse/hud-combined. The appendix to HUD's plan 
identifies the initial set of HUD regulatory actions being taken in 
response to Executive Order 13563. HUD carefully considered the 
comments received in response to the March 2, 2011, notice in 
development of its preliminary plan.
    Through this notice, HUD solicits public comment on the 
Department's preliminary plan and list of candidate rules. All comments 
will be considered in the development of HUD's final plan.

    Dated: May 26, 2011.
Camille E. Acevedo,
Associate General Counsel for Legislation and Regulations.
[FR Doc. 2011-13597 Filed 6-1-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P