[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 195 (Tuesday, October 9, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50689-50691]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-21765]
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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
Request for Information
AGENCY: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of
Management and Budget.
ACTION: Request for Information (RFI).
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SUMMARY: The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA),
within the Office of Management and Budget, is seeking public input on
how the Federal Government, under the auspices of the United States-
Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council, may reduce or eliminate
unnecessary regulatory differences between the United States and
Canada. This request for information (RFI) may inform agencies'
development of regulatory reform proposals to modify or repeal existing
agency requirements to increase efficiency related to economic activity
with Canada, reduce or eliminate unnecessary or unjustified regulatory
burdens, or simplify regulatory compliance, while continuing to meet
agency missions and statutory requirements. OIRA also seeks public
comment to identify ongoing or emerging areas for which cooperation
could reduce the risk of divergence between U.S. and Canadian
regulations. OIRA plans to make all submissions publicly available on
www.regulations.gov.
DATES: Written comments and information are requested on or before
November 8, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are encouraged to submit comments,
identified by ``US-Canada RCC RFI,'' by any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments. Email: International-
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[email protected]. Include ``US-Canada RCC RFI'' in the subject line of
the message.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Vlad Dorjets, Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503.
Telephone: 202-395-7315.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Request for Information
To help promote U.S. regulatory cooperation activities with Canada,
OIRA seeks public comment on how to reduce burdens through the
reduction of differences between U.S. and Canadian regulatory
requirements, conformity assessment procedures, sub-regulatory
guidance, and other related policies and procedures. In addition, OIRA
invites comment on specific issues and sectors in which future
cooperation would prove fruitful, including proposals to align
regulatory systems, streamline bilateral cooperation, and improve
stakeholder engagement. Although some agencies that participate in the
U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) or are otherwise
engaged in regulatory cooperation with Canada have previously sought
regulatory reform ideas from the public, this RFI seeks broader input
on regulations with respect to which international regulatory
cooperation might be beneficial across all agencies, even those not
presently engaged in such endeavors.
OIRA intends to communicate regulatory reform suggestions received
in response to this RFI for consideration by the appropriate U.S.
Federal agencies. OIRA may also communicate suggestions to the Treasury
Board of Canada Secretariat (TBC) to get a broader perspective on these
policy areas, including the potential cost reductions that could result
from cooperation. Suggestions from the public may also inform
discussion of these issues at public meetings sponsored by the RCC or
participating agencies.
OIRA has identified some key topics on which stakeholder insights
would be most helpful, though input on opportunities for international
regulatory cooperation beyond these topics is also welcome:
(1) Particular sectors or issues for which the RCC should consider
future regulatory cooperation or further regulatory alignment to reduce
burden or other cost, including for emerging technologies that are not
yet regulated.
(2) Particular forms, surveys, or other information collections
that exist in both the United States and Canada where consolidation
could reduce burden or increase practical utility.
(3) The appropriate role for stakeholders in furthering
international regulatory cooperation and how stakeholders can best
engage with Canadian and U.S. regulators on regulatory cooperation
opportunities.
(4) Cooperative mechanisms or arrangements such as co-development,
co-funding, or co-piloting which can be used to promote future
international regulatory alignment.
(5) Potential alternatives to direct regulation or innovative and
flexible approaches to regulation, including for emerging technologies.
(6) Whether the RCC should continue the existing set of work plans
and/or whether activities in the work plans should be revised better to
reflect developments in the relevant sectors.
When providing comments, OIRA requests that commenters identify the
relevant regulatory agency or agencies and also specify the regulation,
guidance document, form, or reporting requirement at issue, providing
legal citation or form number and OMB Control Number where available.
Please identify, where applicable, the relevant statutory or regulatory
provisions for each jurisdiction (or an indication that such provisions
do not exist in one or both jurisdictions). OIRA also requests that
commenters provide as much detail as possible in describing the issue
or unnecessary difference, as well as an explanation of how and why
agencies could align, modify, streamline, or repeal the regulatory
requirements, while still achieving their regulatory and/or statutory
objectives. OIRA also requests that commenters include, wherever
possible, supporting data or other quantitative information such as
information about the burdens or cost resulting from the regulatory
divergence and the possible burden or cost reduction from alignment,
details on measurable benefits for industry, government, or consumers,
and an assessment of the net benefits of enhanced regulatory alignment.
Please specify the time period over which impacts have or are projected
to accrue.
II. Background
A. The Regulatory Cooperation Council
The United States and Canada share many regulatory objectives,
including reducing unnecessary or duplicative regulatory costs that
discourage economic activity. The two countries, however, often select
different approaches for achieving their policy objectives. These
divergent approaches can lead to different regulatory requirements in
the two countries, hindering national and cross-border economic
activity, and imposing unnecessary costs on citizens, businesses, and
economies. Even when the two countries opt to address a policy
objective in the same way, implementation may result in duplicative
paperwork requirements or procedures on both sides of the border. In
many cases, these differences are unavoidable due to different
statutory or legal requirements or additional policy considerations. In
other cases, however, these differences may be avoidable and thus
impose unnecessary burdens.
To identify, and reduce or eliminate, these unnecessary regulatory
differences and duplicative procedures, as well as to increase
regulatory transparency, the United States and Canada created the RCC
in 2011. Several months after its creation, the two countries released
Terms of Reference (2011 TOR) setting out the RCC's mandate,
organization, and guiding principles.\1\ The RCC is chaired by OIRA and
TBC. As the regulatory oversight bodies of the United States and
Canada, OIRA and TBC provide strategic direction to their respective
regulatory agencies on regulatory cooperation initiatives.
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\1\ Available at www.trade.gov/rcc/us-canada_rcc_terms_of_reference.pdf.
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The 2011 TOR acknowledged that each country would maintain its
sovereign power to regulate and that regulatory outcomes for consumer
protection, health, safety, security, and the environment would not be
compromised. At its founding, the RCC understood that unnecessary
regulatory differences ``do not increase regulatory benefits, and
instead impose needless additional burdens and costs for both
businesses and consumers.''
1. Following successful implementation of the 2011 Joint Action
Plan--which set out 29 initiatives covering a wide range of regulatory
work, from transportation and agriculture to nanomaterials \2\--the RCC
issued a Joint Forward Plan (JFP) in 2014, which summarized lessons
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learned from the preceding three years and laid out a plan for the
following years.\3\ Specifically, it called for regulatory agencies on
both sides of the border to develop Regulatory Partnership Statements
(RPSs). These statements are public documents that outline the
framework for how partner agencies manage cooperation activities. The
JFP also called for the partner agencies to issue public ``work plans''
which set out commitments to cooperate in specific areas of regulatory
activity. The most recent set of 23 work plans was released in 2016 and
cover a variety of topics relating to public health (e.g.,
pharmaceutical and biological products, over-the-counter products,
pesticides, workplace chemicals), plant and animal health (e.g., meat
inspections, food safety), automobiles (e.g., connected vehicles, motor
vehicle standards), aviation (e.g., unmanned aerial vehicles), chemical
management, medical devices, locomotives (e.g., rail safety, locomotive
emissions), pipeline safety, and marine safety. The full set of work
plans is available for review (together with related Regulatory
Partnership Statements) at www.trade.gov/rcc/.
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\2\ Available at https://www.trade.gov/rcc/2011-Joint-Action-Plan.pdf.
\3\ Available at https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/oira/irc/us-canada-rcc-joint-forward-plan.pdf.
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In February 2017, the Joint Statement of President Trump and Prime
Minister Trudeau committed the two governments to ``continue our
dialogue on regulatory issues and pursue shared regulatory outcomes
that are business-friendly, reduce costs, and increase economic
efficiency without compromising health, safety, and environmental
standards.'' To that end, on June 4, 2018, OIRA and TBC signed a new
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on regulatory cooperation.\4\ The MOU
reaffirms the principles and commitments of the RCC and of regulatory
cooperation in general. It also included, as an Annex, a new RCC Terms
of Reference (2018 TOR) which lays out an updated understanding on
principles, mandate, and stakeholder engagement. The 2018 TOR also
identified characteristics of sectors in which regulatory cooperation
may prove most fruitful:
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\4\ Available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/US-CanadaMOU.pdf.
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1. Sectors that are characterized by high levels of integration and
a history of cooperative regulatory approaches and supporting
activities;
2. Sectors that have well-developed pre-existing regulatory
frameworks that are designed to achieve similar outcomes but that are
currently a barrier to increased integration and activity;
3. Sectors that offer significant, emerging growth potential and
that are characterized by rapidly evolving technologies where
regulatory approaches are anticipated or are currently in early stages
of development; and
4. Sectors where regulatory cooperation is intended to support
export growth in North America.
B. Executive Order 13771
On January 30, 2017, the President issued Executive Order 13771,
``Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs.'' \5\ That
Order states that ``the policy of the Executive branch is to be prudent
and financially responsible in the expenditure of funds, from both
public and private sources.'' The Order states, ``[I]t is essential to
manage the costs associated with the governmental imposition of private
expenditures required to comply with Federal regulations.'' The Order
also requires that, for each fiscal year, agencies must identify in
their Regulatory Plans \6\ offsetting regulations for each regulation
that increases incremental cost and ``provide the agency's best
approximation of the total costs or savings associated with each new
regulation or repealed regulation.''
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\5\ Available at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-02-03/pdf/2017-02451.pdf.
\6\ See Exec. Order No. 12,866, 58 FR 51735 (Sept. 30, 1993).
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In issuing guidance to agencies on the implementation of E.O.
13771, on April 5, 2017, the Office of Management and Budget recognized
that international regulatory cooperation may serve deregulatory
functions and help agencies achieve the objectives of Executive Order
13771.\7\
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\7\ Available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/memoranda/2017/M-17-21-OMB.pdf.
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C. Executive Order 13609
Executive Order 13609, ``Promoting International Regulatory
Cooperation,'' signed on May 4, 2012, acknowledges the importance of
international regulatory cooperation and recognizes that ``differences
between the regulatory approaches of U.S. agencies and those of their
foreign counterparts might not be necessary and might impair the
ability of American businesses to export and compete internationally.''
This RFI advances the Executive Order's objective by identifying
unnecessary differences between U.S. and Canadian regulatory
approaches.
Neomi Rao,
Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2018-21765 Filed 10-5-18; 8:45 am]
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