[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 63 (Thursday, April 3, 2025)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14593-14595]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05557]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
14 CFR Chapters I Through III
23 CFR Chapters I Through III
33 CFR Chapter IV
46 CFR Chapter II
48 CFR Chapter 12
49 CFR Subtitle A and Subtitle B, Chapters I Through III and V and
VI
[Docket No. DOT-OST-2025-0026]
Ensuring Lawful Regulation; Reducing Regulation and Controlling
Regulatory Costs
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Request for information (RFI).
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SUMMARY: As part of its implementation of Executive orders issued by
the President, including Executive Order 14219, ``Ensuring Lawful
Governance and Implementation of the President's `Department of
Government Efficiency' Deregulatory Agenda,'' issued on February 19,
2025, and Executive Order 14192, ``Unleashing Prosperity through
Deregulation,'' issued on January 31, 2025, the Department of
Transportation (DOT) seeks comments and information to assist DOT in
identifying existing regulations, guidance, paperwork requirements, and
other regulatory obligations that can be modified or repealed,
consistent with law, to ensure that DOT administrative actions do not
undermine the national interest and that DOT achieves meaningful burden
reduction while continuing to meet statutory obligations and ensure the
safety of the U.S. transportation system.
DATES: Written comments and information are requested on or before May
5, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are encouraged to submit comments,
identified by ``Regulatory Reform RFI,'' by any of the following
methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
Email: [email protected]. Include ``Regulatory
Reform RFI'' in the subject line of the message.
Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of the General
Counsel, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20590.
All comments received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
Electronic Access and Filing
This document and all comments received may be viewed online
through the Federal eRulemaking portal at https://www.regulations.gov
using the docket number listed above. Electronic retrieval help and
guidelines are also available at https://www.regulations.gov. An
electronic copy of this document may also be downloaded from the Office
of the Federal Register's website at www.FederalRegister.gov and the
U.S. Government Publishing Office's website at www.GovInfo.gov. All
comments received before the close of business on the comment closing
date indicated above will be considered and will be available for
examination in the docket at the above address. Comments received after
the comment closing date will be filed in the docket and will be
considered to the extent practicable.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Cohen, U.S. Department of
Transportation, Office of the General Counsel, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE,
Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-4702. Email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 19, 2025, the President issued
Executive Order 14219, ``Ensuring Lawful Regulation and Implementing
the President's `Department of Government Efficiency' Deregulatory
Agenda'' (90 FR 10583; February 25, 2025). That order stated the policy
of the Administration is to focus the executive branch's limited
enforcement resources on regulations squarely authorized by
constitutional Federal statutes and commence the deconstruction of the
overbearing and burdensome administrative state. Pursuant to the order,
agencies are required to identify and report to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of
Management and Budget on regulations in one or more of the following
categories:
(i) Unconstitutional regulations and regulations that raise serious
constitutional difficulties, such as exceeding the scope of the power
vested in the Federal Government by the Constitution;
(ii) Regulations that are based on unlawful delegations of
legislative power;
(iii) Regulations that are based on anything other than the best
reading of the underlying statutory authority or prohibition;
(iv) Regulations that implicate matters of social, political, or
economic significance that are not authorized by clear statutory
authority;
(v) Regulations that impose significant costs upon private parties
that are not outweighed by public benefits;
(vi) Regulations that harm the national interest by significantly
and unjustifiably impeding technological innovation, infrastructure
development, disaster response, inflation reduction, research and
development, economic development, energy production, land use, and
foreign policy objectives; and (vii) regulations that impose undue
burdens on small business and impede private enterprise and
entrepreneurship.
After receiving this report, OIRA is instructed to consult with
agency heads to develop a Unified Regulatory Agenda to rescind or
modify identified regulations as appropriate and consider these factors
when evaluating potential
[[Page 14594]]
new regulations. On January 31, 2025, the President issued Executive
Order 14192, ``Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation'' (90 FR
9065; Feb. 6, 2025). The order states the policy of the executive
branch is to be prudent and financially responsible in the expenditure
of funds, from both public and private sources, and to alleviate
unnecessary regulatory burdens placed on the American people. Toward
that end, E.O. 14192 requires that:
(a) Unless prohibited by law, whenever an agency proposes for
notice and comment or otherwise promulgates a new regulation, it shall
identify at least 10 existing regulations to be repealed.
(b) For fiscal year 2025, all agencies must ensure that the total
incremental cost of all new regulations, including repealed
regulations, being finalized is significantly less than zero, as
determined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB), unless otherwise required by law or instructions from OMB.
(c) Any new incremental costs associated with new regulations must,
to the extent permitted by law, be offset by the elimination of
existing costs associated with at least 10 prior regulations.
Further, Executive Order 14192 requires that for fiscal year 2026,
and each fiscal year thereafter, the head of each agency identify, on
an aggregated basis, for regulations that increase incremental cost,
offsetting regulations and provide the agency's best approximation of
the total costs or savings associated with each new regulation or
repealed regulation. During the Presidential budget process, the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget will identify for each
agency a total amount of incremental costs that will be allowed for
such agency in issuing new regulations and repealing regulations for
each fiscal year after fiscal year 2025. No regulations exceeding the
agency's total incremental cost allowance will be permitted in that
fiscal year, unless required by law or approved in writing by the
Director. The total incremental cost allowance may allow an increase or
require a reduction in total regulatory cost.
To implement these Executive orders, DOT is taking two immediate
steps. First, as described further below, DOT is issuing this RFI
seeking public comment on how best to ensure lawful regulation and to
achieve meaningful burden reduction while continuing to achieve DOT's
legal obligations, safety mission, and regulatory objectives. Second,
DOT has created an email in-box at
[email protected], which interested parties can use
to identify to DOT--on a continuing basis--existing regulations,
guidance, reporting requirements, and other regulatory obligations that
they believe can be modified or repealed, consistent with law. Any
comments received will be placed in the docket for this RFI on https://regulations.gov. Together, these steps will help DOT ensure it acts in
a lawful, prudent, and financially responsible manner in the
expenditure of funds, from both public and private sources, and manages
appropriately the costs associated with private expenditures required
for compliance with DOT regulations.
Request for Information
Pursuant to the Executive orders described herein, DOT is, through
this RFI, seeking input, as permitted by law, from the public,
particularly entities significantly affected by administrative actions
of DOT, including State, local, and tribal governments; small
businesses; consumers; non-governmental organizations; transportation
system operators and service providers; and manufacturers and their
trade associations. DOT's goal is to create a systematic method for
identifying those existing DOT regulations, guidance, or reporting
requirements that are inconsistent with law or Administration policy,
including regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements that are
obsolete, unnecessary, unjustified, or simply no longer make sense.
Consistent with DOT's commitment to public participation in the
rulemaking process, DOT is beginning this process by soliciting views
from the public on how best to conduct its analysis of existing DOT
regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements. It is also seeking
views from the public on specific regulations, guidance, or reporting
requirements or DOT-imposed obligations that should be altered or
eliminated. Because knowledge about the full effects of a regulation,
guidance, or reporting requirement is widely dispersed in society,
members of the public are likely to have useful information and
perspectives on the benefits and burdens of existing requirements and
how regulatory obligations may be updated, streamlined, revised, or
repealed to better achieve regulatory objectives, while minimizing
regulatory burdens, consistent with applicable law. Interested parties
may also be well-positioned to identify those regulations, guidance, or
reporting requirements that are most in need of reform, and, thus,
assist DOT in prioritizing and properly tailoring its review process.
In short, engaging the public in an open, transparent process is a
crucial first step in DOT's review of its existing regulations,
guidance, or reporting requirements.
DOT also seeks comments on DOT regulations, guidance, or reporting
requirements that may be inconsistent with Executive Order 14151,
``Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and
Preferencing'' (90 FR 8339; Jan. 29, 2025); Executive Order 14154,
``Unleashing American Energy'' (90 FR 8353; Jan. 29, 2025); Executive
Order 14168, ``Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and
Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government'' (90 FR 8615;
Jan. 30, 2025); Executive Order 14213, ``Establishing the National
Energy Dominance Council'' (90 FR 9945; Feb. 20, 2025); and other
Executive orders issued by the President.
List of Questions for Commenters
To allow DOT to evaluate suggestions more effectively, DOT is
requesting that commenter provide, to the extent possible:
Supporting data or other information such as cost
information; and
Specific suggestions regarding repeal, replacement, or
modification.
The following list of questions represents an initial step by DOT
to identify regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements on which
it should immediately focus.\1\ This non-exhaustive list is meant to
assist in the formulation of comments and is not intended to restrict
the issues that may be addressed. In addressing these questions or
others, DOT requests that commenters identify with specificity the
regulation, guidance, or reporting requirement at issue, providing
legal citations where available. DOT also requests that the submitter
provide, in as much detail as possible, an explanation of why a
regulation, guidance, or reporting requirement should be modified,
streamlined, or repealed, as well as specific suggestions of ways DOT
can do so while achieving its regulatory objectives. Submitters are
encouraged to provide economic data to demonstrate the cost of
complying with
[[Page 14595]]
existing regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements, as well as
the savings that a change to the rule, guidance, or reporting
requirement might provide.
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\1\ The Department recognizes that commenters may have already
submitted similar comments to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA) in Docket No. FMCSA-2024-0208 (regarding
FMCSA's comprehensive review of its guidance pursuant to section
5203 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act). To the
extent that there are comments on which FMCSA should immediately
focus, in light of the Executive orders addressed by this RFI,
please highlight those in your comments to this document.
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(1) Are there any regulations or guidance commenters can identify
that fall within the seven categories outlined in Executive Order
14219? If so, how does any particular regulation or guidance fall
within one or more of those categories? Would repeal or modification
(and if so, please describe what modification) advance the policies of
the order, consistent with law?
(2) How can DOT best promote meaningful regulatory cost reduction
while achieving its regulatory objectives, and how can it best identify
those regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements that might be
modified, streamlined, or repealed?
(3) How can DOT best obtain and consider accurate, objective
information and data about the costs, burdens, and benefits of existing
regulations, guidance, and reporting requirements? Are there existing
sources of data DOT can use to evaluate the post-promulgation effects
of regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements over time? DOT
invites interested parties to provide data that may be in their
possession that documents the costs, burdens, and benefits of existing
requirements.
(4) Are there regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements that
simply make no sense or have become unnecessary, ineffective, or ill-
advised? If so, please identify them. Are there regulations, guidance,
or reporting requirements that can be repealed without impairing DOT's
ability to comply with its statutory obligations? If so, please
identify them.
(5) Are there regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements that
have become outdated and, if so, how can they be modernized to better
accomplish their objectives?
(6) Are there regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements that
are still necessary, but have not operated as well as expected such
that a modified, or slightly different approach at lower cost is
justified?
(7) Are there regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements that
unnecessarily obstruct, delay, curtail, or otherwise impose significant
costs on the siting, permitting, or delivery of transportation
projects?
(8) Does DOT currently collect information that it does not need or
use effectively?
(9) Are there regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements, or
regulatory processes that are unnecessarily complicated or could be
streamlined to achieve statutory obligations in more efficient ways? If
so, what changes should be made?
(10) Are there regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements
that have been overtaken by technological developments? Can new
technologies be leveraged to modify, streamline, or rescind existing
regulations, guidance, or reporting requirements?
(11) Does the methodology and data used in analyses supporting
DOT's regulations meet the requirements of the Information Quality Act?
(12) Are there any DOT regulations, guidance, or reporting
requirements that are inconsistent with Executive Orders 14151, 14154,
14168, 14213, and other Executive orders issued by the President,
described earlier in this RFI? If so, what modifications would ensure
consistency with the orders and applicable law?
DOT notes that this RFI is issued solely for information and
program-planning purposes. While responses to this RFI do not bind DOT
to any further actions related to the response, all submissions will be
made publicly available on https://www.regulations.gov.
Issued in Washington, DC, on March 27, 2025.
Gregory D. Cote,
Acting General Counsel, United States Department of Transportation.
[FR Doc. 2025-05557 Filed 4-2-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P