[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 22 (Tuesday, February 3, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 5715-5716]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-01916]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

5 CFR Chapter XLII

20 CFR Chapters IV, V, VI, VII, and IX

29 CFR Subtitle A and Chapters II, IV, V, XVII, and XXV

30 CFR Chapter I

41 CFR Chapters 50, 60, and 61

48 CFR Chapter 29


Retrospective Review and Regulatory Flexibility

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Labor.

ACTION: Request for information.

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SUMMARY: In response to the President's Executive Order 13563 on 
improving regulation and regulatory review, and Executive Order 13610 
on identifying and reducing regulatory burden, the Department of Labor 
(DOL or the Department) is continuing to review its existing 
significant regulations that impose large, ongoing burdens on the 
public. The purpose of this document is to invite public comment on how 
the Department can improve any of its significant regulations by 
modernizing, modifying, redesigning, streamlining, expanding, or 
repealing them.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 25, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments through the Department's Regulations 
Portal at http://www.dol.gov/regulations/regreview/.
    All comments will be available for public inspection at http://www.dol.gov/regulations/regreview/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pamela Peters, Program Analyst, Office 
of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Avenue NW., Room S-2312, Washington, DC 20210, 
[email protected], (202) 693-5959 (this is not a toll-free number). 
Individuals with hearing impairments may call 1-800-877-8339 (TTY/TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 18, 2011, President Obama issued 
Executive Order 13563, ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.'' 
The Order explains the Administration's goal of creating a regulatory 
system that protects ``public health, welfare, safety, and our 
environment while promoting economic growth, innovation, 
competitiveness, and job creation'' while using ``the best, most 
innovative, and least burdensome tools to achieve regulatory ends.'' 
The Executive Order required agencies to develop and submit a 
preliminary plan within 120 days from the January 18 issuance date that 
explained how each agency reviewed existing significant regulations to 
identify whether any regulations may be made more effective or less 
burdensome.
    On March 21, 2011, the Department published a Request for 
Information (RFI) in the Federal Register seeking public input to 
inform development of its Preliminary Plan and providing an opportunity 
for the public to identify potential regulations. The Department 
published its Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing 
Rules on May 20, 2011.\1\
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    \1\ http://www.whitehouse.gov/files/documents/2011-regulatory-action-plans/DepartmentofLaborPreliminaryRegulatoryReformPlan.pdf.
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    The Department launched a second interactive Web site on June 2, 
2011 and requested public input on certain aspects of the Preliminary 
Plan.
    After receipt and consideration of comments, the Department issued 
its Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules in August 2011.
    On May 12, 2012, President Obama issued Executive Order 13610, 
``Identifying and Reducing Regulatory Burdens.'' This Order explained 
that ``it is particularly important for agencies to conduct 
retrospective analyses of existing rules to examine whether they remain 
justified and whether they should be modified or streamlined in light 
of changed circumstances, including the rise of new technologies.'' 
Since August 2011, the Department has issued six updates to its August 
2011 Plan.

Request for Comments

    The Department recognizes the importance of conducting 
retrospective review of regulations and is once again seeking public 
comment on how the Department can increase the effectiveness of its 
significant regulations while minimizing the burden on regulated 
entities. The Department recognizes that the regulated community, 
academia, and the public at large have an understanding of its programs 
and their implementing regulations, and therefore is requesting public 
comment on how the Department can prepare workers for better jobs, 
improve workplace safety and health, promote fair and high-quality work 
environments, and secure a wide range of benefits for employees and 
those who are seeking work, all in ways that are more effective and 
least burdensome.
    This request for public input will inform development of the 
Department's future plans to review its existing significant 
regulations. To facilitate receipt of the information, the Department 
has created an Internet portal specifically designed to capture your 
input and suggestions, http://www.dol.gov/regulations/regreview/. The 
portal contains a series of questions to gather information on how DOL 
can best meet the requirements of the Executive Order. The portal will 
be open to receive comments from January 28, 2015 through February 25, 
2015.

Questions for the Public

     What regulations and reporting requirements should be 
considered for review, modification due to conflicts, inconsistencies, 
or duplication among the regulations or requirements of the 
Department's agencies or other federal agencies?
     What reporting requirements and information collections 
can be streamlined or reduced in frequency while achieving the same 
level of protections for workers, job-seekers, and retirees? Are there 
less costly methods, advances in technology, or innovative techniques 
that can be leveraged toward these purposes?
     What regulatory reforms may require short-term cost 
increases to the regulated entities while creating longer-

[[Page 5716]]

term savings, for example, through the adoption of new technologies? 
What information, data, or technical assistance do regulated entities 
need in order to better assess these opportunities?
     How should the Department capture information about 
changes in firm and market behavior in response to a regulation?
     What data or other indicators suggest that the estimated 
costs and benefits of an existing regulation should be reviewed? What 
other strategies exist for increasing the flexibility of regulations 
without limiting important protections?
     What information, data, or other technical assistance do 
stakeholders require in order to better assess the long-term impact of 
these reforms upon such protections?
    The Department is especially interested in candidates for review 
for which there is evidence of rapid technological change in a sector 
that could influence the structure and need for the regulation, whether 
the chosen regulatory approach will impose large ongoing costs on 
regulated entities, whether the agency is regulating in an area of 
significant uncertainty that may be lowered with a future retrospective 
study, and other similar conditions.
    The Department intends the questions on the portal to initiate 
public dialogue, and does not intend to restrict the issues that may be 
raised or addressed. The questions were developed with the intent to 
probe a range of areas, including tools that can be used to prioritize 
regulations for review; strategies that can be used to increase 
flexibility of regulations; and measures to ensure scientific integrity 
of data.
    Please note that these questions do not pertain to DOL rulemakings 
currently open for public comment. To comment on an open rulemaking, 
please visit regulations.gov and submit comments by the deadline 
indicated in that rulemaking. Comments that pertain to rulemakings 
currently open for public comment will not be addressed by the 
Department in this venue, which focuses on retrospective review.
    When addressing the questions in the portal, the Department 
requests that commenters identify with specificity the regulation or 
reporting requirement at issue, providing legal citation(s) where 
available. The Department also requests that submitters provide, in as 
much detail as possible, an explanation of why a regulation or 
reporting requirement should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or 
repealed, as well as specific suggestions of ways the Department can 
better achieve its regulatory objectives. Whenever possible, please 
provide empirical evidence and data to support your response.
    The Department will consider public comments as we update our plan 
to review the Department's significant rules. The Department is issuing 
this request solely to seek useful information as we update our review 
plan. While responses to this request do not bind the Department to any 
further actions related to the response, all submissions will be made 
available to the public on http://www.dol.gov/regulations/regreview/.

    Authority: E.O. 13653, 76 FR 3821, Jan. 21, 2011; E.O. 12866, 58 
FR 51735, Oct. 4, 1993.

    Dated: January 28, 2015.
Christopher P. Lu,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-01916 Filed 2-2-15; 8:45 am]
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