[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 108 (Monday, June 6, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32331-32332]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13801]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

6 CFR Chapter I

8 CFR Chapter I

19 CFR Chapter I

33 CFR Chapter I

44 CFR Chapter I

46 CFR Chapters I and III

49 CFR Chapter XII

[Docket No. DHS-2011-0015]


Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Review of Existing Regulations

AGENCY: Office of the General Counsel, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announces the 
availability of its Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Review of 
Existing Regulations (Preliminary Plan). Pursuant to Executive Order 
13563, ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' which the 
President issued on January 18, 2011, DHS developed its Preliminary 
Plan to facilitate the review of existing DHS regulations through the 
use of retrospective review. DHS is seeking public comment on its 
Preliminary Plan.

DATES: Written comments are requested on or before June 25, 2011. Late-
filed comments will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number DHS-
2011-0015, through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christina E. McDonald, Acting 
Associate General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, U.S. Department of 
Homeland Security, Office of the General Counsel. E-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Public Participation

    Interested persons are invited to comment on this notice by 
submitting written data, views, or arguments using the method 
identified in the ADDRESSES section.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number for this notice. All comments received will be posted 
without change to http://www.regulations.gov.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov.

II. Background

    On January 18, 2011, the President issued Executive Order 13563, 
``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' to ensure that Federal 
regulations seek more affordable, less intrusive means to achieve 
policy goals and that agencies give careful consideration to the 
benefits and costs of those regulations. 76 FR 3821. The Executive 
Order requires each Executive Branch agency to develop a preliminary 
plan to periodically review its existing regulations to determine 
whether any regulations should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or 
repealed so as to make the agency's regulatory program more effective 
or less burdensome in achieving its regulatory objectives.
    DHS's approach to conducting retrospective review focuses on public 
openness and transparency and on the critical role of public input in 
conducting retrospective review. To that end, DHS published a notice 
and request for comments in the Federal Register on March 14, 2011, 
``Reducing Regulatory Burden; Retrospective Review Under Executive 
Order 13563.'' 76 FR 13526. In that notice, DHS solicited public input 
on how DHS should structure its retrospective review and which DHS 
rules would benefit from retrospective review. In addition, DHS 
launched an IdeaScale Web page; this social media tool provided an 
additional means for DHS to solicit input from the public, and more

[[Page 32332]]

importantly, to foster dialogue among members of the public.
    DHS has incorporated the public input in developing its Preliminary 
Plan. The Preliminary Plan establishes a process for identifying 
regulations that may be obsolete, unnecessary, unjustified, excessively 
burdensome, or counterproductive. The DHS retrospective review process 
will help identify rules that warrant repeal or modification, or 
strengthening, complementing, or modernizing, where necessary or 
appropriate. The DHS Preliminary Plan is available for viewing online 
at http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/open-government.shtm and http://www.regulations.gov. We welcome public comment on its content.

Ivan K. Fong,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2011-13801 Filed 6-3-11; 8:45 am]
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