[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 119 (Thursday, June 22, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28429-28431]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13062]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary

25 CFR Chapters I-VII

30 CFR Chapters II, IV, V, VII, XII

36 CFR Chapter I

43 CFR Subtitles A, B Chapter I, II

50 CFR Chapter I

[133D5670LC DS10100000 DLCAP0000.000000 WBS DX.10120]


Regulatory Reform

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior.

ACTION: Request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This document requests public input on how the Department of 
the Interior (Interior) can improve implementation of regulatory reform 
initiatives and policies and identify regulations for repeal, 
replacement, or modification. This document also provides an overview 
of Interior's approach for implementing the regulatory reform 
initiative to alleviate unnecessary burdens placed on the American 
people, which was established by President Trump in Executive Order 
(E.O.) 13777, ``Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda.''

DATES: No deadline for the receipt of comments on this effort has been 
established at this time; Interior will review comments on an ongoing 
basis.

ADDRESSES: Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: 
www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter the appropriate document 
number from the table below. Please comment on the document number that 
correlates to the agency most relevant to your comments:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Agency(ies)                          Document No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of the Assistant          DOI-2017-0003-0002.
 Secretary--Indian Affairs,
 Bureau of Indian Affairs,
 Bureau of Indian Education.
Bureau of Land Management......  DOI-2017-0003-0003.
Bureau of Ocean Energy           DOI-2017-0003-0004.
 Management.
Bureau of Reclamation..........  DOI-2017-0003-0005.
Bureau of Safety and             DOI-2017-0003-0006.
 Environmental Enforcement.
National Park Service..........  DOI-2017-0003-0007.
Office of Surface Mining         DOI-2017-0003-0008.
 Reclamation and Enforcement.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  DOI-2017-0003-0009.
U.S. Geological Survey.........  DOI-2017-0003-00010.
Other Interior agencies and      DOI-2017-0003-00011.
 offices.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    You may then submit information by clicking on ``Comment Now!'' If 
your information will fit in the provided comment box, please use this 
feature of www.regulations.gov, as it is most compatible with our 
information review

[[Page 28430]]

procedures. If you attach your information as a separate document, our 
preferred file format is Microsoft Word. If you attach multiple 
comments (such as form letters), our preferred format is a spreadsheet 
in Microsoft Excel.
    Alternatively, you may submit comments by mail to: Office of the 
Executive Secretariat--ATTN: Reg. Reform, U.S. Department of the 
Interior, 1859 C Street NW., Mail Stop 7328, Washington, DC 20240. 
Additional information on this effort can be found at www.doi.gov/regulatory-reform/implement.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Lawyer, Office of the Executive 
Secretariat, (202) 208-5257, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Goals of the Regulatory Reform Initiative

    E.O. 13777 establishes two main goals \1\ for Federal agencies in 
furtherance of alleviating unnecessary burdens placed on the American 
people:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See Sec. 3(g) of E.O. 13777.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (1) Improve implementation of the regulatory reform initiatives and 
policies specified in section 2 of E.O. 13771 [E.O. 13771 (Reducing 
Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs); E.O. 12866 (Regulatory 
Planning and Review), as amended; Section 6 of E.O. 13563 (Improving 
Regulation and Regulatory Review) regarding retrospective review; and 
termination, consistent with applicable law, of programs and activities 
that derive from or implement E.O.s, guidance documents, policy 
memoranda, rule interpretations, and similar documents, or relevant 
portions thereof, that have been rescinded]; and
    (2) Identify regulations for repeal, replacement, or modification 
considering, at a minimum, those regulations that:
     Eliminate jobs, or inhibit job creation;
     Are outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective;
     Impose costs that exceed benefits;
     Create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with 
regulatory reform initiatives and policies;
     Rely, in part or in whole, on data or methods that are not 
publicly available or insufficiently transparent to meet the standard 
for reproducibility; or
     Derive from or implement E.O.s or other Presidential 
directives that have been subsequently rescinded or substantially 
modified.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ See Sec. 3(d) of E.O. 13777.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interior's Progress and Plan for Regulatory Reform

    To lead regulatory reform efforts at Interior, the Acting Chief of 
Staff established Interior's Regulatory Reform Task Force on March 15, 
2017, pursuant to E.O. 13777. The Task Force is closely examining all 
regulatory actions that are currently in process and identifying 
potential deregulatory actions to ensure compliance with regulatory 
reform goals. Interior and the Task Force welcome public input on 
regulatory and deregulatory actions that could quantifiably lessen the 
burden on the American public.
    A cornerstone of the Task Force's review of Interior's regulatory 
burden on the American public has been its thoughtful approach to 
Interior's regulatory portfolio. The regulatory portfolio includes 
significant regulations subject to retrospective review under Section 6 
of E.O. 13563, meaning that they are periodically reviewed to determine 
whether they may be outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively 
burdensome. The Task Force is rolling these efforts into the larger 
regulatory reform effort to change or repeal unduly burdensome rules, 
as appropriate. The Task Force is also taking a holistic approach to 
ensure that each individual regulatory action it pursues and Interior's 
future regulatory portfolio as a whole advance the goal of alleviating 
unnecessary regulatory burdens placed on the American people, 
consistent with the law. The Task Force is accomplishing this by 
examining each regulatory action for alignment with the priorities of 
the Administration, the goals and requirements of applicable Executive 
Orders issued by the President, and Secretary's Orders issued by the 
Secretary of the Interior. This deliberate approach ensures that each 
semi-annual regulatory agenda published under E.O. 12866 will list only 
those regulations that the Department has a relatively high degree of 
confidence will move forward within the coming 12 months. With the 
publication of each semi-annual regulatory agenda, the public will have 
the opportunity to provide feedback, which the Task Force will consider 
as part of the regulatory reform effort. For individual regulations, 
the Task Force also intends to make greater use of advance notices of 
proposed rulemaking (ANPRMs), where possible, to solicit input on the 
front end as to how any given regulatory action could be tailored to 
reduce or eliminate burden.
    Part of the regulatory reform effort underway in Interior includes 
implementing the requirement known colloquially as the ``two-for-one'' 
requirement. This requirement was established by President Trump in 
E.O. 13771, and detailed in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
Interim Guidance issued February 2, 2017, and OMB Guidance of April 5, 
2017. These documents require Federal agencies to: (1) Issue two 
``deregulatory'' actions for each new significant regulatory action 
that imposes costs; and (2) fully offset the total incremental cost of 
such new significant regulatory action. Interior is in the process of 
reviewing existing regulations (significant and non-significant) to 
identify actions that can be repealed. The cost savings associated with 
to-be-repealed actions will offset the costs of any new significant 
regulations that are necessary for promulgation; to account for these 
offsets, bureaus are working to quantify undue burden, where possible.
    The Task Force has also taken initial steps toward deregulatory 
actions, using specific rule rescissions already identified through 
various means as a starting point for a more widespread reduction in 
regulatory actions. For example, the Task Force's review will encompass 
actions that were initiated by the previous Administration and subject 
to repeal under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The President 
approved a joint resolution of disapproval for the following 
regulations under the CRA:
     The Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Resource Management 
Planning; 43 CFR part 1600;
     The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services' Non-Subsistence Take 
of Wildlife, and Public Participation and Closure Procedures, on 
National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska; 50 CFR parts 32 and 36; and
     The Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and 
Enforcement's (OSMRE) Stream Protection Rule; 30 CFR parts 700, 701, 
773, 774, 777, 779, 780, 783, 784, 785, 800, 816, 817, 824, and 827.
    Through Secretary's Order No. 3349, American Energy Independence 
(Mar. 29, 2017), Interior announced its intention to review all 
existing actions that potentially burden the development or utilization 
of domestically produced energy resources and suspend, revise, or 
rescind such agency actions as soon as practicable. Interior's review 
will also give particular attention to the four Interior rules related 
to United States oil and gas development that are identified in section 
7 of E.O. 13783 (Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth). 
Specifically, Secretary's Order 3349 provides that:

[[Page 28431]]

     BLM will proceed expeditiously with a proposed rule to 
rescind the final rule entitled ``Oil and Gas; Hydraulic Fracturing on 
Federal and Indian Lands,'' 80 FR 16128 (March 26, 2015).
     The National Park Service will review the final rule 
entitled ``General Provisions and Non-Federal Oil and Gas Rights,'' 81 
FR 77972 (November 4, 2016);
     The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will review the final 
rule entitled ``Management of Non Federal Oil and Gas Rights,'' 81 FR 
79948 (November 14, 2016); and
     The BLM will review the final rule entitled ``Waste 
Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource 
Conservation,'' 81 FR 83008 (November 18, 2016).
    The Office of Natural Resources Revenue has already taken the 
following actions in accordance with this objective:
     Published a proposed rule to repeal the ``Consolidated 
Federal Oil & Gas and Federal & Indian Coal Valuation Rule'' published 
on July 1, 2016 (81 FR 43338). See 82 FR 16323 (April 4, 2017).
     Published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) 
on April 4, 2017 (82 FR 16325) seeking comments on whether revisions 
are needed to the regulations governing valuation, for royalty 
purposes, of oil and gas produced from Federal onshore and offshore 
leases and coal produced from Federal and Indian lands, and if 
revisions are appropriate, what specific revisions merit consideration.
    Interior is also reviewing regulations to determine whether any 
require revision or rescission based on the mitigation policy review, 
climate change policy review, and review of other actions affecting 
energy development required by E.O. 13783.
    Interior's review also gives particular attention to the three 
Interior rules related to offshore energy that are identified in 
sections 7, 8, and 11 of E.O. 13795 (Implementing an America-First 
Offshore Energy Strategy). To implement E.O. 13795, Interior issued 
Secretary's Order 3350, America-First Offshore Energy, which provides 
deadlines for review of the rules identified in the E.O. Specifically, 
the Secretary's Order directs the Bureau of Safety and Environmental 
Enforcement and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to review:
     The proposed rule ``Offshore Air Quality Control, 
Reporting, and Compliance'' published on April 5, 2016. See 81 FR 
19717;
     The final rule ``Oil and Gas and Sulfur Operations in the 
Outer Continental Shelf--Blowout Preventer Systems and Well Control,'' 
published on April 29, 2016. See 81 FR 25887.
     The final rule ``Oil and Gas and Sulfur Operations on the 
Outer Continental Shelf--Requirements for Exploratory Drilling on the 
Arctic Outer Continental Shelf,'' published on July 15, 2016. See 81 FR 
46478.
    Secretary's Order 3350 also requires identifying other rules that 
have been adopted or are in the process of being developed that relate 
to the above rules.
    As it identifies any other potential deregulatory actions and their 
cost savings, the Task Force will consider input from the public as 
guidance for prioritizing its efforts. In the coming months, the Task 
Force will be working with the affected bureaus to calculate the cost 
savings from any repeal, replacement, or modification.

Request for Public Input

    Interior is seeking public input on how it can best meet the above 
goals and, specifically, where redundancies and inefficient processes 
can be eliminated, while ensuring that Interior continues to fulfill 
our legal obligations, resource stewardship, and Tribal trust 
responsibilities and minimizes the risk of lengthy and costly appeals 
and litigation. E.O. 13777 requires the Regulatory Reform Task Force, 
in performing the evaluation of regulations to seek input and other 
assistance, as permitted by law, from entities significantly affected 
by Federal regulations, including State, local, and Tribal governments, 
small businesses, consumers, non-governmental organizations, and trade 
associations. See Sec.  3(e), E.O. 13777. To comply with this 
requirement and promote transparency in regulatory reform efforts, 
Interior has established a Regulations.gov docket to provide the public 
with the ability to provide comments on regulatory reform on an ongoing 
basis. Interior encourages the public, and particularly anyone 
significantly affected by regulations, to provide input and assistance 
in identifying regulations for repeal, replacement, or modification 
that:
     Eliminate jobs, or inhibit job creation;
     Are outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective;
     Impose costs that exceed benefits;
     Create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with 
regulatory reform initiatives and policies;
     Rely, in part or in whole, on data or methods that are not 
publicly available or insufficiently transparent to meet the standard 
for reproducibility; or
     Derive from or implement E.O.s or other Presidential 
directives that have been subsequently rescinded or substantially 
modified.
    Periodically, Interior will review the written input to determine 
whether additional regulations should be targeted for review and 
considered for suspension, revision, or rescission.

Measuring Future Progress

    To measure future progress, Interior will incorporate performance 
indicators for the regulatory reform initiative into Interior's annual 
performance plan under the Government Performance and Results Act. OMB 
has issued guidance regarding the appropriate performance indicators 
and established deadlines for setting targets for each of those 
indicators in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 and FY 2019 annual performance 
plans.

Authority

    This notice is published pursuant to E.O. 13777, 82 FR 12285 
(February 24, 2017).

    Dated: June 15, 2017.
James Cason,
Associate Deputy Secretary and Regulatory Reform Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-13062 Filed 6-21-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4334-64-P