[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 17, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 16785-16786]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-07963]



[[Page 16785]]

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LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION

45 CFR Part 1603


State Advisory Councils

AGENCY: Legal Services Corporation.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule removes the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) 
regulation on state advisory councils. LSC believes this action is 
appropriate because the state advisory councils are no longer active 
and their oversight functions have been replaced adequately by other 
offices and processes established since the regulation was promulgated. 
Executive Orders 13563, ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' 
and 13771, ``Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs,'' 
direct agencies to review their existing regulations and repeal or 
revise any that are obsolete or unnecessarily burdensome. Although LSC 
is not an agency of the Federal government subject to either Executive 
order, LSC regularly reviews its regulations and has determined that 
this regulation can be eliminated.

DATES: This final rule is effective on May 17, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stefanie K. Davis, Assistant General 
Counsel, Legal Services Corporation, 3333 K Street NW, Washington, DC 
20007; (202) 295-1563 (phone), (202) 337-6519 (fax), or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Section 1004(f) of the Legal Services Corporation Act of 1974 
required that ``within six months after the first meeting of the Board, 
the Board request the Governor of each State to appoint a nine-member 
advisory council for each state.'' 42 U.S.C. 2996c(f). If ninety days 
elapsed without the Governor's appointing the advisory council, then 
``the Board [was] authorized to appoint such a council.'' Id. LSC 
implemented this statutory requirement in 1975 at 45 CFR part 1603.
    The state advisory councils' primary duty was to notify LSC of any 
``apparent violation'' by a recipient. 45 CFR 1603.5. LSC defined 
``apparent violation'' as ``a complaint or other written communication 
alleging facts which, if established, constitute a violation of the 
[LSC] Act, or any applicable rules, regulations or guidelines 
promulgated pursuant to the Act.'' Id. Sec.  1603.2(b).
    LSC met the requirements of Sec.  1004(f) of the LSC Act by 
requesting state governors to appoint state advisory councils within 
the period established by the Act and part 1603. In 1976, 46 state 
advisory councils were in existence, but later reports reflect that 
many of these councils rarely, if ever, met. Letter from Suzanne B. 
Glasow, Senior Counsel for Operations and Regulations, Office of 
General Counsel, to Mike Sims, Office of Rep. Pete Laney at 1 (Sept. 
19, 1989). By 1983, only six state advisory councils appeared to be 
operational and by 1989, only Colorado and Indiana had functioning 
state advisory councils. Id. After a diligent search of its records, 
LSC concluded that there currently are no active state advisory 
councils and that LSC has no records of complaints forwarded from the 
state advisory councils.

II. History of This Rulemaking

    In 2014, LSC's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recommended 
that LSC either ensure that the state advisory councils have been 
established and are operational or rescind part 1603. LSC is rescinding 
part 1603 for four reasons: (1) LSC complied with the requirements of 
section 1004(f) of the LSC Act by requesting state governors to appoint 
state advisory councils within the period established by the Act and 
part 1603; (2) section 1004(f) of the LSC Act and part 1603 provide LSC 
with discretion to exercise or not exercise the option to appoint state 
councils; (3) to LSC's knowledge, there are no functioning state 
advisory councils; and (4) there are now numerous oversight mechanisms 
that fulfill the function of the state advisory councils.
    At its January 2015 meeting, the Operations and Regulations 
Committee (Committee) of LSC's Board of Directors (Board) recommended 
including the repeal of part 1603 on LSC's regulatory agenda, but made 
the initiative a low priority.
    On January 30, 2017, the President signed Executive Order 13771, 
``Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs.'' Through this 
Executive order, the President directed the heads of executive 
departments and agencies to identify at least two prior regulations to 
be repealed for each new regulation issued. By operation of the LSC 
Act, LSC is not an executive department or agency subject to the 
Executive order. 42 U.S.C 2996d(e). Consistent with the intent of the 
Executive order to reduce unnecessary regulations, however, LSC 
prioritized the repeal of part 1603.
    Prior to initiating rulemaking, LSC conducted an analysis of the 
oversight mechanisms that have developed since the LSC Act was passed 
in 1974. LSC determined that the state advisory councils' oversight 
functions have been replaced adequately by other offices and processes 
established since 1974. Complainants not only have more audiences--
including LSC's OIG, LSC's Office of Compliance and Enforcement (OCE), 
and state bodies--for their complaints, but they also have more 
vehicles for filing complaints, including by phone, postal mail, email, 
online, and through grantee grievance procedures. The OIG and OCE go 
beyond the state advisory committees' narrow role of collecting alleged 
violations by also investigating the allegations and using various 
tools to ensure grantee compliance. Furthermore, state and local 
funding, state access to justice commissions, and the role of state and 
local bars in appointing grantee board members all ensure that there is 
continued local involvement in legal aid funded by LSC. LSC's analysis 
of these mechanisms is covered in greater detail in the Justification 
Memorandum for Rulemaking to Rescind 45 CFR part 1603--State Advisory 
Councils (Justification Memo), available at www.lsc.gov/rulemaking.
    On April 23, 2017, the Committee approved Management's proposed 
2017-2018 rulemaking agenda, which included rescinding 45 CFR part 1603 
as a priority rulemaking item. On October 15, 2017, the Committee voted 
to recommend that the Board authorize LSC to begin rulemaking on part 
1603. On October 17, 2017, the Board authorized LSC to begin 
rulemaking. On January 21, 2018, the Committee voted to recommend that 
the Board authorize publication of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
(NPRM) proposing to repeal part 1603. On January 23, 2018, the Board 
authorized publication of the NPRM with a 30-day comment period. On 
February 1, 2018, LSC published the NPRM in the Federal Register, 83 FR 
4826.
    On April 8, 2018, the Committee voted to recommend that the Board 
adopt this final rule and approve its publication in the Federal 
Register. On April 10, 2018, the Board voted to adopt and publish this 
final rule.

III. Discussion of the Comment

    During the 30-day public comment period, LSC received one comment 
from a current law student. The commenter generally supported LSC's 
proposal to remove part 1603, citing reasons similar to those presented 
by LSC in the Justification Memo and NPRM. The commenter suggested that 
the councils could be re-established to ensure continued local 
involvement. LSC's Justification Memo addressed this

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concern directly by describing the variety of mechanisms--for example, 
state Access to Justice Commissions and recipients' own grievance 
procedures--that ensure local involvement in the operations of LSC 
funding recipients.
    The comment also stated that the ``[t]he decision [whether to 
repeal] should be based on what affect[s] the United States 
taxpayers.'' LSC agrees. LSC does not think it would be a good use of 
LSC resources, which include taxpayer money, to rejuvenate the state 
advisory councils when their functions are being performed well by a 
variety of other mechanisms, as highlighted in the Justification Memo 
and the NPRM.

IV. Discussion of the Final Rule

    LSC is removing part 1603. In a final rule published elsewhere in 
this issue of the Federal Register, LSC is adding to part 1603 a 
regulation governing requests for testimony and subpoenas for documents 
in cases to which LSC is not a party.
    Materials regarding this rulemaking are available in the open 
rulemaking section of LSC's website at http://www.lsc.gov/about-lsc/laws-regulations-guidance/rulemaking. After the effective date of the 
rule, those materials will appear in the closed rulemaking section at 
http://www.lsc.gov/about-lsc/laws-regulations-guidance/rulemaking/closed-rulemaking.

List of Subjects in 45 CFR Part 1603

    Advisory committees; Legal services.

PART 1603--[REMOVED]

0
For the reasons discussed in the preamble and under the authority of 42 
U.S.C. 2996g(e), LSC is removing 45 CFR part 1603.

    Dated: April 11, 2018.
Stefanie Davis,
Assistant General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2018-07963 Filed 4-16-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7050-01-P