[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 7, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 38669-38670]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-16843]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

22 CFR Chapter I

48 CFR Chapter 6

[Public Notice: 10489]


Reducing Regulation and Public Burden, and Controlling Cost

AGENCY: Department of State.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing implementation of Executive Order 
13771, ``Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs,'' issued 
by the President on January 30, 2017, the Department of State (the 
Department) is seeking comments and information from interested parties 
to assist the Department in identifying existing regulations, paperwork 
requirements and other regulatory obligations that can be modified or 
repealed, consistent with law, to achieve meaningful burden reduction 
while continuing to achieve the Department's statutory obligations.

DATES: Written comments and related material must be received on or 
before September 6, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by email to the following address: 
state.gov">RegsReform@state.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alice Kottmyer, Attorney-Adviser, 202-
647-2318; or Janet Freer, Director of the Office of Directives 
Management. Both can be reached at state.gov">RegsReform@state.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 30, 2017, President Trump issued 
Executive Order 13771, Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory 
Costs. Under that Executive Order, for every one new regulation issued, 
at least two prior regulations must be identified for elimination, and 
the cost of planned regulations must be prudently managed and 
controlled through a budgeting process. On February 24, 2017, the 
President issued Executive Order 13777, Enforcing the Regulatory Reform 
Agenda. That Executive Order directs agencies to take specific steps to 
identify and alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens placed on the 
American people. We are seeking comments on Department regulations, 
guidance documents, and collections of information that you believe 
should be removed or modified to alleviate unnecessary burdens. The 
Department is also requesting economic data to support any proposed 
changes.

The Regulatory Reform Task Force

    Executive Order 13777 directs agencies to designate a Regulatory 
Reform Officer (RRO) and to establish a Regulatory Reform Task Force 
(RRTF). The Deputy Secretary of State is the RRO. Other RRTF members 
include senior officials in the Department's primary regulatory bureaus 
(Bureaus of Consular Affairs, Educational and Cultural Affairs, 
Political-Military Affairs, and Administration), as well as other 
Department officials with expertise in legal requirements, planning and 
budget.
    One of the duties of the RRTF is to evaluate existing regulations 
and make recommendations to the Secretary regarding their repeal, 
replacement, or modification. Executive Order 13777 further directs 
that the RRTF attempt to identify 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;
     Are inconsistent with the requirements of section 515 of 
the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 (44 U.S.C. 
3516 note), or the guidance issued pursuant to that provision, in 
particular those regulations that rely in whole or in part on data, 
information, or methods that are not publicly available or that are 
insufficiently transparent to meet the standard of reproducibility; or
     Derive from or implement Executive Orders or other 
Presidential directives that have been subsequently rescinded or 
substantially modified.
    Section 3(e) of the Executive Order calls on the RRTF 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, nongovernmental 
organizations, and trade associations'' on regulations that meet some 
or all of the criteria above. The Department sought input in 2017 (see 
82 FR 32493), and again solicits your comments.

Location of Department Regulations

    Existing Department of State regulations can be found in the Code 
of Federal Regulations (CFR) in two places:
     22 CFR Chapter I (parts 1 through 199), which contains 
rules governing Department operations); and
     48 CFR Chapters VI (part 600), which contains the 
Department's Acquisition Rules.
    In addition, guidance regarding Department grants can be found at 2 
CFR chapter VI.
    You may view the most up-to-date versions of these authorities in 
the electronic CFR, located at www.ecfr.gov.

Location of Department Guidance

    Department guidance that relates to the missions of the rulemaking 
bureaus (identified above) can be found in a number of locations on the 
state.gov public website. The Department is interested in comments 
regarding any of the guidance located on its public site. For your 
convenience, the following sites cover specific missions:
     For Consular Affairs, including passports and visas, 
please visit https://travel.state.gov.
     For Educational and Cultural Affairs, including the 
Exchange Visitor Program, please visit https://exchanges.state.gov/.
     For Defense Trade issues, please visit: https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/.
    You are invited to provide comment on any guidance published by the 
Department that you feel should be considered for modification or 
elimination, in accordance with E.O. 13777.

Location of the Department's Unified Agenda Submission

    The Department's most current submission to the Unified Agenda of 
Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions is located at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaMain. Select ``Department of State'' 
from the dropdown menu. The Agenda consists of regulatory and de-
regulatory actions either in progress or contemplated by the 
Department. The rules are identified

[[Page 38670]]

by Regulatory Information Numbers (RINs), which for the Department all 
begin with ``1400-''. When commenting on a rule in the Agenda, please 
identify it by its RIN.

Location of Approved Collections of Information

    You can find the Department's approved collections of information 
at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Please choose ``Current 
Inventory'' and pick ``Department of State'' from the dropdown menu. 
All approved collections of information have a Control Number issued by 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Department Control Numbers 
all begin with ``1405-''. When commenting on an information collection, 
please identify it by the OMB Control Number.

Public Comments

    Please make your comments as specific as possible, and include any 
supporting data or other information, such as cost information, that 
you may have. Please note that all comments are publically available, 
so do not include any information in your comments that you would not 
want released to the public. We accept anonymous comments. The 
Department will not edit your comments to remove personal information; 
however, in our discretion, we might not post on regulations.gov any 
comments that contain personal information. If your submission cannot 
be made using www.regulations.gov, please submit using the email 
address listed in the ADDRESSES section, or contact the person in the 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for alternate 
instructions.
    The Executive Orders are at the following sites:

 Executive Order 13771 is located at: http://bit.ly/2kx0TlY
 Executive Order 13777 is located at: http://bit.ly/2lTZPIQ
    Although the Department will not respond to individual comments, we 
value your comments and will give careful consideration to them.

Janet M. Freer,
Director, Office of Directive Management, Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2018-16843 Filed 8-6-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4710-05-P