[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ADDRESSES: The draft guidance is available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ModernizingEOSection2eDraftGuidance.pdf.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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