[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 67 (Friday, April 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20916-20917]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07360]


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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET


Request for Comments on Guidance Implementing Section 2(e) of the 
Executive Order of April 6, 2023 (Modernizing Regulatory Review)

AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Executive Order of April 6, 2023 (Modernizing Regulatory 
Review) (hereinafter, Modernizing E.O.) calls for a number of reforms 
to the process through which the public requests meeting with the 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on regulatory 
actions under review pursuant to Executive Order 12866 (E.O. 12866 
meetings). These reforms are intended to facilitate the initiation of 
meeting requests from potential participants who have not historically 
requested such meetings, as well as to improve the efficiency and 
effectiveness of E.O. 12866 meetings. This notice announces and 
requests comment on guidance regarding these reforms.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by June 6, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: The draft guidance is available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ModernizingEOSection2eDraftGuidance.pdf. Submit comments by the 
following method:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments at the docket OMB-2022-
0011. Comments submitted electronically, including attachments to 
https://www.regulations.gov, will be posted to the docket.
    Please submit comments only and cite 12866 Meetings Guidance in all 
correspondence. To confirm receipt of your comment(s), please check 
regulations.gov, approximately two to three business days after your 
submission.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Office of Management and Budget, 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    Executive Order 12866 of September 30, 1993, ``Regulatory Planning 
and Review,'' as amended, establishes and governs the process under 
which OIRA reviews agencies' significant regulatory actions. E.O. 12866 
meetings occur at the initiative of outside parties who request a 
meeting with OIRA about a regulatory action that is under OIRA review 
to present their views. OIRA invites to these meetings representatives 
from the agency or agencies that would issue the regulatory action, 
though participation may be limited by scheduling or other 
considerations.
    E.O. 12866 meetings serve as listening sessions for OIRA officials. 
Members of the public can share their views with OIRA on a regulatory 
action under review, as well as any scientific, technical, social, or 
economic information, or information drawn from individual experience 
that may be helpful to OIRA officials while reviewing a regulatory 
action. During such meetings, OIRA officials may ask clarifying 
questions but will not share deliberative or pre-decisional information 
about the regulatory action under review.
    E.O. 12866 meetings with OIRA are not a substitute for submitting 
comments to the action agencies under their applicable regulatory 
procedures.\1\ OIRA typically reviews regulatory actions, such as 
rules, undertaken by other agencies. Accordingly, OIRA is not the 
action agency and views shared only through the E.O. 12866 review 
process would not be considered properly submitted during the notice 
and comment period.
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    \1\ See Executive Order 12866 section 10, 58 FR 51735, 51744 
(Oct. 4, 1993) (``This Executive order is intended only to improve 
the internal management of the Federal Government and does not 
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable 
at law or equity by a party against the United States, its agencies 
or instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other 
person.''). The E.O. 12866 process also does not supersede the 
requirement to do Tribal consultation where it is required pursuant 
to E.O. 13175. See Executive Order 13175, 65 FR 67249 (Nov. 9, 
2000).
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II. Overview of Reforms

    The Modernizing E.O. directs the OIRA Administrator to implement 
reforms designed to reduce the risk or the appearance of disparate and 
undue influence on regulatory development. The reforms outlined here 
serve to facilitate meeting requests from individuals and groups that 
have not historically requested such meetings, including those from 
underserved communities, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of 
the regulatory review process, and increase transparency around the 
E.O. 12866 meetings process, while treating all members of the public--
no matter their resources or viewpoints--consistently and fairly. These 
reforms also help to implement President Biden's Presidential 
Memorandum of January 20, 2021, ``Modernizing Regulatory Review.'' That 
Memorandum called for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to 
``identify reforms that will promote the efficiency, transparency, and 
inclusiveness of the interagency review process,'' \2\ which includes 
E.O. 12866 meetings. Reforms under consideration include:
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    \2\ Modernizing Regulatory Review section 2(b)(iv), 86 FR 7223, 
7224 (Jan. 26, 2021).
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     a variety of strategies to provide information to 
facilitate the initiation of meeting requests from potential

[[Page 20917]]

participants that have not historically requested meetings;
     efforts to ensure access for meeting requestors that have 
not historically requested such meetings;
     discouraging meeting requests that are duplicative of 
earlier meetings with OIRA regarding the same regulatory action (at the 
same stage of the regulatory process) by the same meeting requestors;
     encouraging groups that would like to present similar 
views on a regulatory action to submit joint meeting requests wherever 
possible; and the
     disclosure of additional information about E.O. 12866 
meetings that may be helpful to OIRA, to agencies, and to the general 
public, such as providing information about E.O. 12866 meeting requests 
in an open, machine-readable and accessible format.
    OMB is seeking comments on its proposed 12866 Meetings Guidance 
regarding reforms under consideration by June 6, 2023. The draft is 
available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ModernizingEOSection2eDraftGuidance.pdf.

Richard L. Revesz,
Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2023-07360 Filed 4-6-23; 4:15 pm]
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