[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 45 (Monday, March 9, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 12372-12373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-05303]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Chapter 1

[EPA-HQ-OA-2011-0156; FRL-9923-87-OA]


Improving EPA Regulations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is requesting public 
input on the agency's periodic retrospective review of its regulations. 
Executive Order 13563, ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' 
and Executive Order 13610, ``Identifying and Reducing Regulatory 
Burdens,'' call on all federal agencies to conduct a retrospective 
analysis of rules that may be outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or 
excessively burdensome and to modify, streamline, expand, or repeal 
them in accordance with what has been learned. The EPA is particularly 
seeking public input on how the agency can promote regulatory 
modernization through business-process streamlining, facilitated by 
improved technology.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 8, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-
2011-0156, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. EPA 
may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit 
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute. If you need to include CBI as part of your comment, please 
visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html for instructions. 
Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a 
written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment 
and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. For 
additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment policy, and 
general guidance on making effective comments, please visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on this 
document, please contact Nathaniel Jutras, Office of Policy, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Mail Code 1803A, Washington, DC 20460, Phone: 
(202) 564-0301; Fax: (202) 564-8601; [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is 
committed to a regulatory strategy that effectively achieves the 
Agency's mission of protecting the environment and the health, welfare, 
and safety of Americans while also supporting economic growth, job 
creation, competitiveness, and innovation.
    Recognizing the importance of reducing unnecessary red tape--
especially for America's small businesses--with Executive Orders 13563 
and 13610 President Obama launched a historic review of existing rules 
to eliminate, streamline or update those that no longer make sense in 
their current form. This effort is on track to produce completed 
actions that will reduce nearly $20 billion in regulatory costs in the 
near term.
    As part of this review, in August 2011 the agency issued its Final 
Plan for Periodic Retrospective Reviews of Existing Regulations (http://www.epa.gov/regdarrt/). This Plan was developed after extensive public 
outreach that sought input on an agency plan for retrospective review, 
as well as on possible reforms to modify, streamline, expand or repeal 
existing regulations. That outreach included 20 public meetings, town 
halls, and Webinars with over 600 participants. Since 2011, the EPA has 
maintained an open comment docket for public feedback on the existing 
Plan for Periodic Retrospective Review of Existing Regulations and the 
subsequent progress reports. To date, we have completed 21 of our 
original 35 retrospective reviews. We added five new reviews in July 
2014.
    The EPA views this review process as an ongoing exercise and is 
seeking further public input to ensure our regulations continue to 
maximize net social benefit. The focus of this new request for input is 
on how the agency can promote regulatory modernization through 
business-process streamlining facilitated by improved technology. We 
specifically solicit comments on the following questions:
    [ssquf] Which regulations, including economically significant 
rules, could be transitioned from paper to electronic reporting?
    [ssquf] How can the EPA reduce duplicative reporting requirements 
in existing regulations that may overlap other federal requirements?
    [ssquf] How can the EPA streamline or consolidate reporting 
requirements to reduce burden?
    [ssquf] Which regulations could benefit from the use of existing 
shared services (such as the Substance Registry System) or new shared 
services?
    [ssquf] Should the EPA create a joint registry of regulated 
facilities with states and tribes to streamline electronic reporting to 
multiple programs and maximize burden reduction?
    [ssquf] Which regulations could be improved through the use of 
advance monitoring techniques or the development of mobile applications 
to facilitate environmental protection?
    [ssquf] Which regulations could be amended to reduce the frequency 
of reporting while maintaining effective programs?
    [ssquf] Is the same information being collected in multiple places, 
either across different regulations, or across different levels of 
government (Federal, State, Tribal, and local)?
    We request that commenters be as specific as possible, include any 
supporting data or other information, and provide a citation when 
referencing a specific regulation. In addition, in drafting comments, 
bear in mind that

[[Page 12373]]

the EPA must uphold both its legal obligations under governing statutes 
and its mission to protect human health and the environment; and that 
the EPA's retrospective review will be tailored to reflect its 
resources, rulemaking schedule, and workload.
    Additionally, the EPA published a notice on January 26, 2015 
seeking comment on the development of an online portal to serve as a 
consolidated entry point for providing information, tools and 
streamlined interactions with the EPA by the public and regulated 
entities (80 FR 3962). Commenters may wish to review this notice and 
consider how such a portal could be used while considering regulations 
that the EPA should include in its review.
    The EPA is accepting comments until April 8, 2015. Although the 
agency will not respond to individual comments, the EPA values and will 
give careful consideration to all input that it receives. Please see 
http://www.epa.gov/regdarrt/retrospective/history.html for additional 
information and updates.

    Dated: February 26, 2015.
Joel Beauvais,
Associate Administrator, Office of Policy.
[FR Doc. 2015-05303 Filed 3-6-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P