Regulatory Review: Delay of Effective Dates of Final Rules
Subject to Administration's January 20, 2001, Memorandum
(15-FEB-02, GAO-02-370R).
Citing the desire to "ensure that the President's appointees have
the opportunity to review any new or pending regulations,"
Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card, Jr.
sent a memorandum to the heads of all executive agencies on
January 20, 2001, directing them to (1) not send proposed or
final regulations to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR),
(2) withdraw regulations that had been sent to the Office but not
yet published in the Federal Register, and (3) postpone for 60
days the effective date of regulations that had been published in
the Federal Register but had not yet taken effect. GAO's found
that federal agencies delayed the effective dates for 90 of the
371 final rules that were subject to the Card memorandum. The
effective dates for the remaining 281 rules were either not
delayed or GAO could find no indication in the Federal Register
of a delay.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-02-370R
ACCNO: A02774
TITLE: Regulatory Review: Delay of Effective Dates of Final
Rules Subject to Administration's January 20, 2001, Memorandum
DATE: 02/15/2002
SUBJECT: Federal regulations
Presidential transition
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GAO-02-370R
United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548
February 15, 2002
The Honorable Henry A. Waxman
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Government Reform
House of Representatives
The Honorable Joseph I. Lieberman
Chairman
Committee on Governmental Affairs
United States Senate
Subject: Regulatory Review: Delay of Effective Dates of Final Rules
At the start of the Bush administration, as in other recent new
administrations, there
1
were hundreds of federal regulations at various stages of the rulemaking
process. Some were about to be sent to the Office of the Federal Register
(OFR) for publication in the Federal Register, some had been sent to OFR but
had not been published, and others had been published in the Federal
Register but had not taken effect. Citing the desire to "ensure that the
President's appointees have the opportunity to review any new or pending
regulations," on January 20, 2001, Assistant to the President and Chief of
Staff Andrew H. Card, Jr. sent a memorandum (Card memorandum) to the heads
and acting heads of all executive departments and agencies generally
directing them to (1) not send proposed or final regulations to OFR, (2)
withdraw from OFR regulations that had been sent to the Office but not yet
published in the Federal Register, and (3) postpone for 60 days the
effective date of regulations that had been published in the Federal
Register but had not yet taken effect. The Card memorandum instructed the
officials to exclude any regulations that were promulgated pursuant to
statutory or judicial deadlines, and to identify any such exclusions to the
Director of the Office of Management Budget (OMB). It also said that
agencies should notify the OMB Director of any regulations that should be
excluded because they "impact critical health and safety functions of the
agency," and that the Director would determine whether the exception was
appropriate. Although the Card memorandum did not expressly cover
independent regulatory
1See Jay Cochran, III, The Cinderella Constraint: Why Regulations Increase
Significantly During Post -Election Quarters, Mercatus Center (Oct. 5,
2000).
GAO-02-370R Delay of Rule Effective Dates
agencies, it said that those agencies were "encouraged to participate
voluntarily in this review."2
You asked that we examine the implementation of the part of the Card
memorandum that directed agencies to delay the effective dates of published
regulations. Our specific objectives were to (1) identify and characterize
the rules subject to the memorandum whose effective dates were delayed, and
(2) determine what had happened to each of those delayed rules as of the
1-year anniversary of the Card memorandum and identify any anticipated
future actions regarding these rules. You also asked us to identify which
rules the agencies indicated should not be delayed because they "impact
critical health and safety functions of the agency," and which of those
rules OMB considered appropriate to exclude from the Card memorandum's
requirements. However, officials in OMB's Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) told us that the agencies' requests for exemptions
were made informally, and OMB's responses to those requests were also
informal. Because of this lack of documentation, and because of the amount
of time required to interview officials in each of the agencies that
published regulations during this period, this objective was agreed with
your offices to be beyond the scope of our review.
We primarily used a database that GAO developed pursuant to the
Congressional Review Act portion of the Small Business Regulatory
Enforcement Fairness Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) to identify the rules that
were subject to the memorandum's requirements.3 We reviewed the Federal
Register and other publications to identify the covered rules that were
delayed and what eventually happened to each of those rules. However, we
cannot be sure that we identified all subsequent rulemaking activity for all
of the rules because agencies sometimes use different identifiers for
related rules in their Federal Register documents. We sent a draft of this
report to the Director of OMB for review and comment. OMB officials said
they had no comment on the report. We did our work from December 2001
through January 2002 in accordance with generally accepted government
auditing standards.
Results in Brief
Our review of readily available documentation indicated that federal
agencies delayed the effective dates for 90 of the 371 final rules that were
subject to the Card memorandum. The effective dates for the remaining 281
rules were either not delayed or we could find no indication in the Federal
Register of a delay. The Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS),
Transportation (DOT), and Agriculture (USDA), and the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) delayed more than half of the 90 rules. The agencies
considered 65 of the 90 delayed rules to be substantive in nature, and
considered 12 to be "major" rules (e.g., rules with at least a $100 million
impact on the economy).
2Independent regulatory agencies include among others, the Federal
Communications Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the
Securities and Exchange Commission. 3The Congressional Review Act provides
that before a rule becomes effective, the agency promulgating the rule must
submit to each House of Congress and the Comptroller General a report
containing (1) a copy of the rule, (2) a concise general statement relating
to the rule, and (3) the proposed effective date of the rule.
Page 2 GAO-02-370R Delay of Rule Effective Dates
As of the 1-year anniversary of the Card memorandum, 67 of the 90 delayed
rules were postponed for one 60-day period and then appeared to have taken
effect. Eight other rules were delayed for more than 60 days but appeared to
have taken effect. The 15 remaining delayed rules had not taken effect by
January 20, 2002.
Although most of the delayed rules had not been changed by the 1-year
anniversary of the Card memorandum, one had been withdrawn, three had been
withdrawn and replaced by new rules, and nine others had been altered in
some way (e.g., changing the implementation date or modifying a reporting
requirement). The agencies indicated that other rules might be changed in
the future, and OIRA has placed five of the delayed rules on a list for
"high priority" review. The agencies generally did not provide the public
with a prior opportunity to comment on the delays in effective dates or rule
changes, frequently indicating that notice and comment procedures were
either not applicable, impracticable, or were contrary to the public
interest.
Background
The basic process by which federal agencies develop and issue regulations is
delineated in the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. 553. The APA
generally requires agencies to (1) publish a notice of proposed rulemaking
in the Federal Register; (2) allow interested parties an opportunity to
participate in the rulemaking process by providing "written data, views, or
arguments;" and (3) publish a final rule 30 days before it becomes
effective. However, the APA allows agencies to issue rules without a
proposed rule in certain cases, such as when the agency is issuing a rule of
agency organization, procedure, or practice, or when the agency determines
for "good cause" that notice and comment procedures are "impracticable,
unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest."4 The effective date of a
final rule is a substantive provision of a rule and any change or suspension
of the effective date may only be accomplished through additional
rulemaking; this action can follow either the three-step notice and comment
process or, if appropriate, the more abbreviated process without a proposed
rule.
Ninety of the 371 Rules Subject to the Card Memorandum Were Delayed
The Card memorandum was issued on the afternoon of Saturday, January 20,
2001, and instructed agencies to delay the effective dates for rules "that
have been published" but had not taken effect. According to an OFR official,
the rules published in the Federal Register on Monday, January 22, 2001,
were printed on the evening of Friday, January 19, 2001, and the morning of
January 20, 2001. Therefore, she said, rules published on January 22, 2001,
should be counted as "published" by the time the Card memorandum was issued.
As a result, for purposes of the coverage of this portion of the Card
memorandum, we include any final rule that was published on or before
January 22, 2001, and that was scheduled to take effect after January 20,
2001.
According to the GAO rules database, 371 final rules met those criteria and
were potentially subject to the Card memorandum. (This total includes rules
published by
4For a discussion of this issue, see U.S. General Accounting Office, Federal
Rulemaking: Agencies Often Published Final Actions Without Proposed Rules,
GAO/GGD-98-126 (Washington, D.C.: 1998).
Page 3 GAO-02-370R Delay of Rule Effective Dates
independent regulatory agencies that were invited, but not required, to
postpone the effective dates of their rules.) As table 1 shows, DOT
published the largest number of these rules (132 rules), followed by EPA (60
rules) and HHS (29 rules).
Table 1: About Three-Quarters of Final Rules Subject to the Card Memorandum
Were Not Delayed
Source:
GAO
rules
database
and
GAO
analysis
of
Federal
Register
publications.
Note:
The
"not
delayed"
column
includes
final
rules
for
which
there
was
no
evidence
of
their
effective
dates
having
been
delayed.
The
"other"
agencies that published rules that were delayed were the
Office of Personnel Management (two rules), the Small Business
Administration (one rule), the Social
Security Administration (one rule), and the Corporation for National and
Community Service (one
rule). Four delayed rules were jointly issued (e.g., the Department of
Defense and EPA).
As table 1 also shows, federal agencies did not delay the effective dates
for 281 (about 75 percent) of the 371 rules. The agencies published
documents in the Federal Register that explained why some of the rules'
effective dates were not being changed. For example, DOT published a notice
in the Federal Register explaining that four of its rules had effective
dates far enough in advance (one not until May 2003) that the intent of the
Card memorandum could be met without extending those
Page 4 GAO-02-370R Delay of Rule Effective Dates
5
dates. Also, 30 of the 281 rules that were not delayed were issued by
independent regulatory agencies (the Federal Communications Commission, the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission)
that were not required to extend the effective dates of their rules.
OIRA officials told us that they, the agencies, and the White House agreed
shortly after the Card memorandum was issued that certain types of numerous
and noncontroversial rules (e.g., air worthiness directives issued by the
Federal Aviation Administration and bridge opening schedules published by
the Coast Guard) should be allowed to take effect as scheduled. Therefore,
for the bulk of the rules that were not delayed, there were no subsequent
Federal Register publications or other apparent explanations of why the
rules were unaffected by the Card memorandum. In addition, OMB's 2001 report
on the costs and benefits of regulations provides several examples of
specific rules subject to the Card memorandum that appointees of the Bush
administration reviewed and that were not delayed.6 Those rules included the
following:
* EPA's January 18, 2001, final rule on diesel fuel sulfur control, which
went into effect on its originally scheduled effective date of March 19,
2001.7
* The Department of Labor's January 18, 2001, final rule on the Service
Contract Act, which went into effect on its originally scheduled effective
date of March 19, 2001.8
* HHS's January 19, 2001, final rule on registration and listing of human
cellular and tissue-based products, which went into effect as scheduled on
April 4, 2001.9
OIRA officials said that because appointees from the Bush administration
were consulted with regard to both these specific rules and the previously
mentioned categories of rules, the intent of the Card memorandum was
satisfied.
Characteristics of Delayed Rules
HHS, DOT, USDA, and EPA published more than half of the 90 rules covered by
the Card memorandum that were delayed. (See app. I for details on each of
these 90 rules.) The agencies identified 65 of the 90 delayed rules as
"significant or substantive" in nature (i.e., more than just routine or
administrative actions), and
10
they considered 12 of those rules "major" under the Congressional Review
Act.
The issuing agencies specifically cited the Card memorandum as the reason
for the delays in most of the 90 rules. In the remaining rules, the agencies
cited other reasons for delaying the effective dates, as the following
examples illustrate.
5See 66 Fed. Reg. 9673 (Feb. 9, 2001).
6Making Sense of Regulation: 2001 Report to Congress on the Costs and
Benefits of Regulations and
Unfunded Mandates on State, Local, and Tribal Entities (Dec. 21, 2001).
7See 66 Fed. Reg. 5001.
8See 66 Fed. Reg. 5327.
9See 66 Fed. Reg. 5447.
10The Congressional Review Act defines a "major" rule as, among other
things, having at least a $100
million impact on the economy.
Page 5 GAO-02-370R Delay of Rule Effective Dates
* The agencies issuing two of these rules indicated that they were being
delayed because of requirements in the Congressional Review Act.11 The
agencies did not submit the rules to Congress until weeks after they were
published in the Federal Register, thereby necessitating a 60-day delay from
when the rules were finally submitted.
* The Agricultural Marketing Service within USDA said that its rule on
"livestock mandatory reporting" was delayed because the agency needed
additional time to test an electronic system used to collect required
reports and to ensure that all
12
program requirements and objectives would be met.
* The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) within the
Department of Labor said that its rule on "safety standards for steel
erection" was delayed because employers had questions about the standard and
their ability to comply with it by the original effective date.13
* The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) within DOT said
that a delay of its rule on "school bus body joint strength" was necessary
because the agency was in the process of completing the review of petitions
for reconsideration of the rule.14
All of the initial delays in which the agencies cited the Card memorandum as
the reason for the delay were for the prescribed 60-day period. However, the
initial delays that were unrelated to the Card memorandum were sometimes for
much longer periods. For example, NHTSA initially delayed the effective date
for its rule on school bus body joint strength for 1 year. The Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) within HHS initially delayed its rule on "aluminum in
large and small volume parenterals" for 2 years.15 The effective dates for
four other rules were initially delayed for between 6 and 8 months.16
The agencies did not provide the public with a prior opportunity to comment
on any of these initial delays. The agencies generally cited two statutory
exceptions for why notice and comment procedures were not followed: (1) the
actions constituted a rule of procedure under the APA (and were therefore
exempt from the APA's requirements) and; (2) there was "good cause" to avoid
notice and comment requirements because seeking public comments on the
60-day delays was impractical, unnecessary, and/or contrary to the public
interest.
11These rules were the USDA "national organic program" rule (delayed at 66
Fed. Reg. 15619, Mar. 20,
2001) and the HHS rule on "standards for privacy of individually
identifiable health information"
(delayed at 66 Fed. Reg. 12434, Feb. 26, 2001). Under the Congressional
Review Act, a major rule
cannot become effective until 60 days after it is submitted to Congress or
published in the Federal
Register, whichever is later.
12See 66 Fed. Reg. 8151 (Jan. 30, 2001).
13See 66 Fed. Reg. 37137 (July 17, 2001).
14The NHTSA rule was delayed at 66 Fed. Reg. 20199 (Apr. 20, 2001).
15The FDA rule was delayed at 66 Fed. Reg. 7864 (Jan. 26, 2001).
16These rules were the OSHA rule on safety standards for steel erection;
DOT's Federal Aviation
Administration rules on "special flight rules" for the Grand Canyon National
Park (delayed at 66 Fed.
Reg. 16582, Mar. 26, 2001) and "service difficulty reports" (delayed at 66
Fed. Reg. 21625, Apr. 30,
2001); and a rule issued jointly by the Department of the Treasury, Federal
Reserve System, and the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on "consumer protections for
depository institution sales of
insurance" (delayed at 66 Fed. Reg. 15345, Mar. 19, 2001).
Page 6 GAO-02-370R Delay of Rule Effective Dates
Most Delayed Rules Became Effective Within 60 Days, But Some Were Modified
or Withdrawn
As table 2 shows, of the 90 rules subject to the Card memorandum whose
effective dates were delayed, 75 appeared to have gone into effect by
January 20, 2002.17 Of these, 67 rules were delayed for a single 60-day
period or less while 8 were delayed more than 60 days (3 were delayed once
and 5 were delayed more than once).
Table 2: Most Delayed Rules Appeared to Have Taken Effect by January 20,
2002
Source:
GAO
analysis
of
Federal
Register
publications.
Table
2
also
shows
that
15
of
the
rules subject to the Card memorandum whose effective dates were delayed had
not taken effect by January 20, 2002, as explained in the following
examples.
* Pursuant to the Card memorandum, EPA initially delayed the effective date
of the agency's January 22, 2001, rule on arsenic in drinking water from
March 23, 2001, until May 22, 2001. On April 23, 2001, EPA proposed
extending the effective date until February 22, 2002, "to reassess the
scientific and cost issues associated with this rule and to seek further
public input on each of these issues." On May 22, 2001, EPA published a
final rule that confirmed the delay in the effective date.18
* On May 10, 2001, (2 days before the end of its Card-related delay) the
Idaho District Court granted a preliminary injunction enjoining the Forest
Service from implementing all aspects of the agency's January 12, 2001,
"roadless area
17In a few cases the agencies published documents in the Federal Register
indicating that the delayed
rules were taking effect either on the amended effective date or earlier.
However, we could find no
subsequent rulemaking in the Federal Register for most of these 75 rules.
Because further delays or
amendments to the rule would have required subsequent rulemaking, we believe
that they became
effective on or before their amended effective dates.
18See 66 Fed. Reg. 28341.
Page 7 GAO-02-370R Delay of Rule Effective Dates
19
conservation" rule. Since then, the agency has taken several related
administrative actions but has otherwise not implemented the rule. * On
April 20, 2001, the Department of Energy (DOE) delayed the effective date of
its January 22, 2001, rule on energy conservation standards for consumer
central air conditioners and heat pumps indefinitely pending a court
decision regarding a petition for judicial review.20 On July 25, 2001, DOE
published a supplemental proposed rule and a proposed withdrawal of the
original rule. The department said it was reopening the rulemaking record
because litigation seemed inevitable. On September 27, 2001, DOE published a
proposed rule that extended the comment period to October 19, 2001.
* On July 5, 2001, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)
announced that one part of its rule on "diesel particulate matter exposure
for metal and nonmetal miners" would not take effect until disposition of
litigation challenging the rule.21 On the same day, MSHA published a
proposed rule that gave notice of the agency's intent to revise two
provisions in the rule and requested comments from the mining industry.
* On November 23, 2001, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) within DOT
delayed the effective date of its "service difficulty reports" rule until
January 16, 2003.22 FAA said the action was "prompted by concerns the
aviation industry raised about the reporting requirements in the final rule
and the FAA's decision to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to
address these concerns."
* On December 5, 2001, FAA extended the effective date for portions of its
rule on the Grand Canyon National Park "special flight rules area" until
February 20, 2003.23 FAA said it did so because it was working on proposed
changes to the rule.
Table 2 also shows that 16 of the rules were delayed more than once-5 that
had gone into effect as of January 20, 2002, and 11 that had not gone into
effect. For all but two of these rules, the agencies announced the
additional delays without providing the public with a prior opportunity to
comment, again generally citing the APA's rule of procedure and/or good
cause exceptions.
Delayed Rules That Were Modified or Withdrawn
As of January 20, 2002, most of the 90 delayed rules had not been changed
since their publication as a final rule. However, one of the rules had been
withdrawn by the issuing agency and had not been replaced. On November 9,
2001, the Bureau of Indian Affairs within the Department of the Interior
published a "withdrawal of final rule" action in the Federal Register that
withdrew the agency's January 16, 2001, rule on "procedures used by Indian
tribes and individuals to acquire title to land in trust."24 The agency said
it withdrew the rule to address "specific areas of concern in a new rule,"
and said the withdrawal was effective immediately.
19Kootenai Tribe of Idaho v. Veneman, 142 F.Supp. 2d 1231 (D. Idaho 2001).
20See 66 Fed. Reg. 2091.
21See 66 Fed. Reg. 35518.
22See 66 Fed. Reg. 58912.
23See 66 Fed. Reg. 63294.
24See 66 Fed. Reg. 56608.
Page 8 GAO-02-370R Delay of Rule Effective Dates
Three other delayed rules were withdrawn by the agency but were replaced
with new rules. A description of those rules and the post-Card memorandum
actions withdrawing and replacing them follows.
* On July 6, 2001, HHS published a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking
comments on three changes to its January 17, 2001, rule on "protection of
human research subjects." On November 13, 2001, HHS published a final rule
that withdrew and replaced the original rule."25 The Department said the new
rule, among other things, clarified provisions for paternal consent when
research is conducted involving fetuses and clarifies language that applies
to research on newborns of uncertain viability. The new rule took effect on
December 13, 2001.
* On July 5, 2001, CMS proposed an amendment to its January 18, 2001, rule
on "anesthesia services," allowing states to opt out of the physician
supervision requirement. On November 13, 2001, CMS withdrew the original
rule and made the proposed amendment final, effective on that date.26 The
agency said the change in the rule would give states the flexibility to
improve access and address safety issues.
* On April 23, 2001, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published a
proposed withdrawal of its January 22, 2001, rule on the "new markets
venture capital program" and proposed new regulations to implement the
program. On May 23, 2001, SBA published a final rule that withdrew and made
the new regulations final.27 The agency said it was implementing the new
regulations instead of the original rule because there were substantive
changes made to the program based on the administration's review.
In all four of the actions withdrawing the rules, the agencies first
published a proposed rule and invited the public to comment on the
withdrawal before taking final action. The four rules in existence at the
time of the Card memorandum did not go into effect, but all three of the
replacement rules had become effective by January 20, 2002.
Nine other delayed rules had been changed in some way but not withdrawn by
January 20, 2002, as the following examples illustrate.
* On May 22, 2001, CMS published an interim final rule that clarified what
facilities were subject to the requirements in the agency's rule on the use
of restraint and seclusion in residential treatment facilities providing
inpatient psychiatric services to individuals under the age of 21.28 The
action also modified the rule's reporting requirements and amended staffing
requirements.
* On May 31, 2001, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) within DOT
published a final rule that delayed the compliance date for one of the
requirements in its January 17, 2001, "end of train devices" rule until "a
future date to be specified."29 FRA said it did so in response to a petition
from the Association of American Railroads. Later, on August 1, 2001, FRA
published a final rule that
25See 66 Fed. Reg. 56775. 26See 66 Fed. Reg. 56762. 27See 66 Fed. Reg.
28602. 28See 66 Fed. Reg. 28110. 29See 66 Fed. Reg. 29501.
Page 9 GAO-02-370R Delay of Rule Effective Dates
clarified and amended the maintenance and testing requirements in the
rule.30 FRA said it did so in response to another petition for
reconsideration, and that it would respond to other petitions in the near
future.
* On October 18, 2001, the Food and Nutrition Service within the Department
of Agriculture published a final rule delaying the implementation date of
its December 29, 2000, "supplemental nutrition program for women, infants
and children" from February 27, 2002, until October 1, 2002.31 In an earlier
rule proposing this delay, the agency said the action was "necessary to
provide State agencies additional time to implement the rule, to promote
more effective and efficient implementation of the new requirements, and
because the new implementation date corresponds with the beginning of the
Federal fiscal year."
* On December 3, 2001, NHTSA published a final rule that made clarifying
amendments regarding the application of its rule on electrolyte spillage and
electrical shock protection.32 NHTSA said it did so in response to petitions
for reconsideration of the rule.
* On December 13, 2001, NHTSA published a final rule that made various
changes and clarifications to the agency's November 5, 1998, rule on school
bus body joint
33
strength. NHTSA said that it did so in response to petitions for
reconsideration of the rule.
All but one of the modified rules had gone into effect by January 20, 2002.
Most of the nine rules were changed without giving the public a prior
opportunity for comment.
Delayed Rules That May Be Changed or Withdrawn
Other delayed rules had not been withdrawn or changed by the 1-year
anniversary of the Card memorandum, but the agencies indicated they might be
changed or withdrawn in the future, as the following examples illustrate.
* On June 29, 2001, the National Park Service within DOI settled a lawsuit
in relation to its January 22, 2001, rule that placed restrictions on
snowmobiles and other winter activities in Yellowstone and Grand Teton
National Parks. As a result of the agreement, the National Park Service will
develop a new environmental impact statement by March 15, 2002, and issue a
new final rule by November 15, 2002. A spokesperson for the National Park
Service was quoted in the press as saying that the settlement of the lawsuit
could result in a removal of restrictions on snowmobiles in the parks.
* As noted previously, on July 25, 2001, DOE proposed the withdrawal of its
January 22, 2001, rule on central air conditioner and heat pump energy
34
conservation standards. DOE said it had made several errors during the
promulgation of the rule and concluded that since litigation appeared
inevitable, "the better course is to reopen the rulemaking record on issues
regarding economic justification with the objective of publishing, after
considering public comments, a final rule as soon as possible."
30See 66 Fed. Reg. 39683. 31See 66 Fed. Reg. 52849. 32See 66 Fed. Reg.
60157. 33See 66 Fed. Reg. 64358. 34See 66 Fed. Reg. 38822.
Page 10 GAO-02-370R Delay of Rule Effective Dates
* On August 17, 2001, CMS delayed the effective date of its rule on
"Medicaid managed care" until August 16, 2002. Three days later, CMS
published a proposed rule "to address some of the concerns that were
expressed to the Department during our review."35 As of January 20, 2002,
the proposed rule had not been made final.
* A BLM rule on "onshore oil and gas operations" took effect on November 6,
2001, but on November 9, 2001, the agency said that it "may give further
consideration to alternative approaches...either separately or in connection
with broader revisions of its oil and gas regulations."36
* As noted previously,
* MSHA has proposed revising two provisions of its rule on diesel
particulate matter exposure for metal and nonmetal miners.
* FAA indicated that it intends to issue a proposed rule addressing concerns
raised by the aviation industry about its service difficulty reports rule.
* FAA also indicated that it was working on changes to its rule on the Grand
Canyon National Park special flight rules area.
OIRA's recent report on the costs and benefits of federal regulations also
suggested that some of the delayed rules might be in flux. In a May 2001
draft of the report, OIRA asked for suggestions from the public on specific
regulations that could be rescinded or changed. OIRA received 71 suggestions
from the public and, in its December 2001 final report, the agency placed
those suggestions into one of three categories: (1) "high priority"(those
with which OIRA said it was "inclined to agree and look into the
suggestion"), (2) "medium priority" (those on which OIRA said it needed more
information), and (3) "low priority" (those on which OIRA said it was not
convinced of the merits of the suggestion). OIRA put 23 of the 71
suggestions in the "high priority" category. Five of these 23 high priority
suggestions involved rules that had been subject to the Card memorandum and
had been delayed. Those rules were
* The Forest Service rule on roadless area conservation,
* The DOE rule on air conditioner and heat pump energy conservation
standards,
* The HHS rule on standards for privacy of individually identifiable health
information,
* The National Park Service's rule on snowmobiles, and
* EPA's January 22, 2001, rule on arsenic in drinking water.
OIRA's report said that it might send a "prompt" letter to the responsible
agency in relation to each of the 23 high-priority suggestions for its
"deliberation and response."37
35See 66 Fed. Reg. 43614.
36See 66 Fed. Reg. 56616.
37According to OMB, a prompt letter is sent on OMB's initiative, suggests an
issue that OMB believes is
worthy of agency priority, and contains a suggestion for how the agency can
improve its regulations.
Page 11 GAO-02-370R Delay of Rule Effective Dates
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
On February 6, 2002, we provided a draft of this report to the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget for his review and comment. OIRA
officials told us that they had no comments on the report.
-----
As we agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the contents of
this report earlier, we plan no further distribution of it until 30 days
from the date of this letter. At that time, we will send copies of this
letter to the Director of OMB, and the Chairman of the House Committee on
Government Reform, the Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Committee on
Governmental Affairs. The letter will also be available on GAO's home page
at www.gao.gov.
If you have any questions, you may contact Curtis Copeland or me at (202)
512-6806. Key contributors to this assignment include Joseph Santiago and
Elizabeth Powell.
Victor S. Rezendes Managing Director Strategic Issues
Page 12 GAO-02-370R Delay of Rule Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of On January
effective action 30, 2001, the
date as of extending Agricultural
Card Memo effective Marketing
date Service (AMS)
published a
final rule
that
postponed the
effective
date of the
regulation
from January
30, 2001,
until April
2, 2001, but
AMS did not
mention the
Card memo.
AMS
determined
that
additional
time was
required to
adequately
test the
electronic
system used
to collect
the required
livestock
reports and
ensure that
all program
requirements
and
objectives
would be met.
Livestock and In its
Grain Market December 2001
News Branch: report on the
Livestock costs and
Mandatory benefits of Specifically
Reporting federal Approved
(Establishes regulations, States
a mandatory the Office of Authorized
program of Information to Receive
reporting and Mares and
information Regulatory Stallions
Date regarding the Affairs Imported
final marketing of (OIRA) said from Regions
rule cattle, that this Where
appeared Significant Summary of Department swine, lambs, rule went [Contagious
in the or Extended rulemaking of and products into effect Equine
Federal Major substantive effective and other Agriculture of such on April 2, Metritis]
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 (10) 12/01/00livestock.) X 01/30/0104/02/01 01/30/012001. 2 12/18/00CEM Exists
1The Federal Register indicated that some of the rules' effective dates had
been delayed, but no subsequent rulemaking action was indicated. Because
further delays in the effective dates would have required new rulemaking, we
concluded that the rules appeared to have taken effect.
2 Making Sense of Regulation: 2001 Report to Congress on the Costs and
Benefits of Regulations and Unfunded Mandates on State, Local, and Tribal
Entities (Dec. 21, 2001)
3 In this appendix, the phrase "pursuant to the Card memo" indicates that
the agency specifically cited the Card memorandum as the reason for the
delay in
the effective date.
Page 13 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of On March 20,
effective action 2001, AMS
date as of extending published a
Card Memo effective final rule
date that delayed
the effective
date of this
rule for 60
days from
February 20,
2001, until
April 21,
2001, but AMS
did not
mention the
Card memo.
According to
the agency,
the rule's
effective date
was delayed to
meet the
requirements
of the
Congressional
Review Act
portion of the
Small Business
Regulatory
Enforcement
Fairness Act
(5 U.S.C. 801
et seq.),
which does not
permit a major
National rule to take
Organic effect until
Program (The 60 days after bruary Nutrition he Food and Nutrition Service
National it has been 2001. TProgram for effect on that date. On Augueffective date
Organic submitted to egulatiWomen, Infants y 27, 2002, until October of the
Program Congress and
establishes the
national Comptroller
standards General. AMS
for the did not submit
production the rule to
and handling Congress and
of the
organically Comptroller
produced General until
products, February 20,
including a 2001. In its
list of December 2001
those report on the
substances costs and
approved benefits of
Date APHIS for, or federal
final reestablished prohibited regulations,
rule and confirmed from, use in OIRA said that
appeared Significant Summary of the original organic this rule went
in the or Extended rulemaking effective date production into effect on
Federal Major substantive effective and other of February and April 21,
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 16, 2001. 12/21/00 handling.) X X02/20/01 04/21/0103/20/01 2001. 12/29/00 including
Page 14 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of
effective action
date as of extending
Card Memo effective
date
the
implementation
date was
"necessary to
provide State
agencies
additional time
to implement
the rule, to
promote more
effective and
efficient
implementation
of the new
requirements,
and because the
new
implementation
date
corresponds
with the
beginning of
the Federal
fiscal year."
On October 18,
2001, FNS
Date published a
final final rule
rule delaying the
appeared Significant Summary of implementation Animal
in the or Extended rulemaking date until Welfare;
Federal Major substantive effective and other compliance October 1, Confiscation
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 investigations.) 2002. 01/03/01 of Animals 02/02/01 04/03/0102/02/01
Page 15 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of May 12, 2001,
effective action and that
date as of extending amendments
Card Memo effective would be
date proposed in
June. On May
10, 2001, the
Idaho District
Court granted a
preliminary
injunction (see
Kootenai Tribe
of Idaho v.
Veneman, 142
F.Supp. 2d 1231
(D. Idaho
2001))
enjoining FS
from
implementing
"all aspects of
the Roadless
Area
Conservation
Rule." The
Court concluded
that the
comment period
was "grossly
inadequate and
thus deprived
the public of
any meaningful
dialogue or
input in to the
process." The
injunction has
been appealed
and, as of
January 20,
2002, was
pending before
the Ninth
Circuit Court
of Appeals. On
June 7, 2001,
the Chief of
the Forest
Service issued
a letter that
(1) reserved to
himself the
decision
authority for
timber harvest
and road
construction in
inventoried
roadless areas,
(2) instructed
agency
officials and
staff to
complete the
identification
and mapping of
existing
classified
roads, (3)
instructed
agency
officials and
staff to ensure
that forest
plan amendments
and revisions
consider the
long-term
protection and
management of
unroaded
portions of
inventoried
roadless areas.
On July 10,
2001, FS
published an
advanced notice
of proposed
rulemaking to
Date give the public
final an opportunity
rule to comment on a
appeared Significant Summary of number of key
in the or Extended rulemaking issues that
Federal Major substantive effective and other have been
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 raised
Page 16 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of Pursuant to
effective action the Card memo,
date as of extending on February 5,
Card Memo effective 2001, FNS
date published a
final rule
delaying the
effective date
of the
regulation
from February
12, 2001, to
April 13,
2001.
Subsequently,
on April 12,
regarding the 2001, FNS NS published a final rule that extended the
protection of published a the Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Service an
roadless final rule
areas. In that further
January 2002, delayed the
an FS rule by 120
official was days to August
quoted in the 13, 2001. FNS
press as said it did so
saying that to give
the agency Department
may officials the
participate opportunity
in a dialogue for further
with other review of the
interested rule and for
parties in consideration
early 2002, of new
and may regulations.
propose new The rule took
roadless area effect on
regulations August 13,
later in the 2001.
year. In its
December 2001
report on the
cost and
benefits of Food Stamp
federal Program:
Date regulations, Revisions to
final OIRA the Retail
rule identified Food Store
appeared Significant Summary of this rule for Definition
in the or Extended rulemaking "high and Program
Federal Major substantive effective and other priority" Authorization 04/13/01 02/05/01
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 review. 01/12/01 Guidance 02/12/01 08/13/01 04/12/01 01/17/01 Act of 1996
Page 17 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Rule's Date of Pursuant to the
effective action Card memo, on
date as of extending February 27,
Card Memo effective 2001, the
date National
Oceanic and
Atmospheric
Administration
(NOAA)
published a
final rule
delaying the
effective date
of certain
portions of
this regulation
from March 12,
2001, to May
11, 2001. The
rule took
effect on that
date.
Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery
Conservation and
Management Act
Provisions;
Fisheries of the
Date Northeastern
final rule United States;
rule took Atlantic Herring
appeared Significant Summary of effect Department Fishery;
in the or Extended rulemaking on July of Atlantic Herring
Federal Major substantive effective and other 31, Commerce Fishery
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 2001. (2) 12/11/00Management Plan X 03/12/0105/11/01 02/27/01
Page 18 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of Pursuant to
effective action the Card memo,
date as of extending on February 2,
Card Memo effective 2001, DOE
date published a
final rule
delaying the
effective date
of the
regulation
from February 001.
12, 2001, to
April 13,
2001.
Subsequently,
on May 2,
2001, DOE
published a
final rule
stating that L
the Department
had completed
its review and
that it was
not modifying
the rule. DOE
also confirmed
the April 13,
2001,
effective
date.
April 10,
2001.
Subsequently,
on April 17,
2001, DOE
published a
final rule
stating that
the Department 01.
had completed
its review and
that it was
Date not modifying
final the rule. DOE
rule also confirmed Alternate Fuel y 9, 2001Heating, Air
appeared Significant Summary of the April 10, Transportation
in the or Extended rulemaking 2001, Program;
Federal Major substantive effective and other effective Biodiesel Fuel
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 date. 01/11/01 Use Credit X02/12/01 04/13/0102/02/01 01/12/01 Equipment
Page 19 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of Pursuant to
effective action the Card memo,
date as of extending on February 2,
Card Memo effective 2001, DOE
date published a
final rule
delaying the
effective date
of the
regulation
from February
20, 2001, to , 2001Heating, Air
April 23,
2001.
Subsequently,
on April 11, 12/01 Equipment
2001, DOE
published a
final rule
stating that
it had
completed its
review and
that it was
not modifying
the rule. DOE
also confirmed
this rule's
April 23,
2001,
effective
date.
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
final rule Nondiscrimination
Date denying a on the Basis of
final petition for Sex in Education
rule reconsideration Programs or
appeared Significant Summary of of the rule, and Activities
in the or Extended rulemaking confirming its Receiving Federal
Federal Major substantive effective and other April 13, 2001, Financial
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 effective date. 01/18/01 Assistance X02/20/01 04/23/0102/02/01
Page 20 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of final rule,
effective action effective 01Card memo, on
date as of extending November 29,
Card Memo effective 2001,
date amending one
section of
the rule to a effective date of
address the
scope of the atfrom February 21,
whistle
blower it23, 2001.
protection
program. The s not change the
change was indate when the
made pursuant DOrule would be
to a comment rmenforceable
from the s against
Special
Counsel of
the U.S.
Office of the
Special
Counsel 01petition from the
clarifying
that
disclosure of
information
is also
protected
under the
Whistleblower
Protection
Act of 1989.
Energy
Conservation
Program for
Consumer
Date Products;
final Central Air
rule Conditioners
appeared Significant Summary of and Heat Pump
in the or Extended rulemaking other Energy
Federal Major substantive effective and other controlled Conservation 04/23/01 02/02/01 rulemaking that
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 information.) 01/22/01 Standards X X02/21/01 indefinite 04/20/01 would
Page 21 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of be forthcoming.
effective action On July 25, 2001,
date as of extending DOE published a
Card Memo effective supplemental
date proposed rule and
a proposed
withdrawal of the
final rule. In
its proposed
withdrawal of the
final rule, the
agency stated
that it had
concluded that
the January 22,
2001, rule should
be reconsidered
and therefore
granted ARI's
petition. DOE
said that it
granted the
petition because
"(1) [it] should
have invited the
Department of
Justice to submit
a supplemental
determination on
the potential
anti-competitive
impact, (2) the
statement of
basis for the
final rule did
not sufficiently
explain DOE's
consideration of
cumulative burden
attributable to
other Federal
agencies' and
State regulatory
actions, which
was necessary to
DOE's conclusion
regarding the
potential impact
of the final rule
on manufacturers,
and (3) [it] gave
inadequate weight
to the potential
impact of higher
installation and
equipment costs
on some types of
consumers and to
potential burdens
on
manufacturers."
DOE also
concluded that
since litigation
appeared
inevitable, "the
better course is
to reopen the
rulemaking record
on issues
regarding
economic
justification
with the
objective of
publishing, after
considering
public comments,
a final rule, as
soon as possible
Date in 2001." On
final September 27,
rule 2001, DOE
appeared Significant Summary of published a
in the or Extended rulemaking proposed rule
Federal Major substantive effective and other that extended the
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 comment period to
Page 22 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of Prior to the
effective action publication of
date as of extending the Card memo,
Card Memo effective on May 3,
date 2000, the Food
and Drug
Administration
(FDA) delayed
the effective
date of
certain
requirements
in the rule to
October 1,
2001. The
delayed
requirements
relate to
wholesale
distribution
of
prescription
drugs by
distributors
of record and
distribution
of blood
derivatives by
entities that
meet the
definition of
a "health care
entity." On
March 1, 2001,
FDA published
a final rule
that further
delayed the
effective date
of the pending
provisions to
April 1, 2002,
and said that
the delay was
needed in
order to
October 19, address
2001. In its concerns
December raised by
2001 report Prescription affected
on the cost Drug Marketing parties about
and benefits Act of 1987: the
of federal Prescription requirements.
Date regulations, Drug Amendments However, FDA
final OIRA of 1992; noted that the
rule identified Department Policies, extension
appeared Significant Summary of this rule of Health Requirements satisfied the
in the or Extended rulemaking for "high and Human and 60 days
Federal Major substantive effective and other priority" Services Administrative required by
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 review. (16) 12/03/99Procedures X 10/01/0104/01/02 03/01/01the Card memo. 01/26/00products.)
Page 23 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of Pursuant to
effective action the Card
date as of extending memo, on
Card Memo effective February
date 20, 2001,
FDA
published a
final rule
delaying
the
effective
date of the
regulation
from
February
27, 2001,
to April
30, 2001.
The rule
took effect
on that
date.
Postmarketing
Studies for
Date Approved
final Human Drug
rule and Licensed
appeared Significant Summary of Biological National
in the or Extended rulemaking Products; Medical
Federal Major substantive effective and other Status Support
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 10/30/00 Reports X02/27/01 04/30/0102/20/01 12/27/00 Notice X01/26/01 03/27/0101/26/01
Page 24 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of Section
effective action 424.22(d) of
date as of extending the rule was
Card Memo effective originally
date scheduled to
take effect on
February 5,
2001. The
remainder of
the rule was
originally
scheduled to
take effect on
January 4,
2002. Pursuant
to the Card
memo, on
February 2,
2001, the
Centers for
Medicare and
Medicaid
Service (CMS)4
published a
final rule
delaying the
effective date
of section
424.22(d)
until April 6,
2001. That
portion of the
rule took
effect on that
date. On
December 3,
2001, CMS
published a
final rule
that delayed
the effective
date of the
last sentence
of section
In its 411.354(d)(1)
December 2001 of the rule
report on the until January
cost and Medicare and 6, 2003. CMS
benefits of Medicaid said this
federal Programs; extension
Date regulations, Physicians' would give
final OIRA Referrals to officials the
rule identified Health Care opportunity to
appeared Significant Summary of this rule for Entities With reconsider a
in the or Extended rulemaking "high Which They key definition
Federal Major substantive effective and other priority" Have Financial 02/05/01 04/06/01 02/02/01 of the
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 review. 01/04/01 Relationships 01/04/02 01/06/03 12/03/01 regulation. 01/11/01 Program
4 Prior to July 1, 2001, CMS was known as the Health Care Financing
Administration. Page 25 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Rule's Date of required to Pursuant to
effective action properly the Card
date as of extending consider and memo, on
Card Memo effective promulgate March 12,
date necessary 2001, CMS
revisions." published a
On June 25, final rule
2001, CMS delaying
published an the
interim final effective
rule that date of the
revised regulation
certain from March
provisions 12, 2001,
and solicited to May 11,
public 2001. The
comment, made rule took
technical effect on
corrections, that date.
and delayed
the effective
date until
August 24,
2001. The
amended rule
took effect
on that date.
Date
final
rule Medicaid:
appeared Significant Summary of Federal
in the or Extended rulemaking Financial
Federal Major substantive effective and other Participation
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 01/11/01 Limits X X03/12/01 05/11/0103/12/01 04/07/00 of Abuse Testing
Page 26 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of of the
effective action regulation
date as of extending from March
Card Memo effective 19, 2001, to
date May 18, 2001.
On May 18,
2001, HHS
published a
final rule
delaying the
effective
date until
November 14,
2001. The
Department
said it was
doing so
"pending the
Department's
action on
forthcoming
(sic) notice
of proposed
rulemaking."
On July 6,
2001, HHS
published a
notice of
proposed
rulemaking
seeking
comments on
three
proposed
changes in
the original
rule. On
November 13,
2001, HHS
published a
final rule
that withdrew
and replaced
the January
17, 2001,
rule. The
Department
said the new
rule, among
other things,
clarified
provisions
for paternal
consent when
research is
conducted
involving
fetuses and
clarifies
language that
applies to
research on Medicare and
Date women and human newborns of Medicaid
final fetuses uncertain Programs:
rule involved in viability. Hospital oto amend the
appeared Significant Summary of research and The rule took Conditions of
in the or Extended rulemaking pertains to effect on Participation:
Federal Major substantive effective and other human in vitro December 13, Anesthesia 05/18/01 03/19/01 requirement,
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 fertilization.) 2001. 01/18/01 Services 03/19/01 11/14/01 05/18/01 permitting
Page 27 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of states to Pursuant to the
effective action exempt Card memo, on
date as of extending themselves February 26,
Card Memo effective from the 2001, CMS
date requirement. published a final
CMS said that rule delaying the
the change effective and
would give implementation
states the dates of the
flexibility regulation from
to improve April 19, 2001,
access and to June 18, 2001.
address Subsequently, on
safety June 18, 2001,
issues. CMS published a
Comments on final rule that
the proposed again extended
rule were due the effective and
by September implementation
4, 2001. On dates until
November 13, August 17, 2001.
2001, CMS The agency
published a stated, "a short
final rule additional period
making final is required [to
the proposed properly address
changes and concerns raised
withdrawing Medicaid by key
the original Program: stakeholders.]."
rule. The Medicaid On August 17,
amendments Managed Care 2001, CMS
took effect (Among other published a final
on that date. things, rule that further
allows states extended the
greater effective and
flexibility implementation
to amend dates until
their state August 16, 2002.
plans to According to CMS,
require the previous
certain delays were
categories of necessary to give
Medicaid newly appointed
beneficiaries department
to enroll in officials the
managed care opportunity to
without review and
obtaining consider the new
waivers; regulations. CMS
establishes said that during
new the previous
beneficiary review periods,
protections key stakeholders
Date and expressed "strong
final eliminates (sometimes
rule impediments opposing) views
appeared Significant Summary of to the growth about the
in the or Extended rulemaking of managed 06/18/01 02/26/01 regulation."
Federal Major substantive effective and other care 08/17/01 06/18/01 Therefore, the
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 01/19/01 programs.) X X04/19/01 08/16/02 08/17/01 agency
Page 28 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of said that this
effective action further delay
date as of extending was necessary
Card Memo effective to give the
date public an
opportunity to
comment on the
length of the
delay of the
effective
date. On
August 20,
2001, CMS
published a
proposed rule
that would
address some
of the
concerns that
"were
expressed to
the Department
during our
review." CMS
proposed to
amend the rule
by providing
states with
greater
flexibilities
in Pursuant to
administering the Card memo,
the Medicaid on March 21,
program. The 2001, CMS
agency also published an
proposed to interim final
expand on Medicare rule delaying
"existing Program; Use the effective
regulatory of Restraint date of the
beneficiary and Seclusion regulation
protection in from March 23,
provided to Residential 2001, to May
enrollees of Treatment 22, 2001. The
prepaid health Facilities rule took
plans" by Providing effect on that
requiring Inpatient date. On May
these plans to Psychiatric 22, 2001, CMS
provide Services to published an
services on an Individuals interim final
inpatient Under Age 21 rule
basis to meet (Establishes clarifying
requirements a definition what
under the of a facilities
Balanced "psychiatric were subject
Budget Act of residential to the
1997 that treatment requirements,
would not facility" modifying
otherwise that is not a reporting
apply to these hospital and requirements,
entities. In that may and amending
addition, CMS furnish staffing
said that this covered requirements.
Date proposed would Medicaid CMS said it
final allow the inpatient did so because
rule public psychiatric of concerns
appeared Significant Summary of additional services for raised in
in the or Extended rulemaking opportunity to individuals comments on
Federal Major substantive effective and other comment on the under age 21; the January
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 rule. 01/22/01 establishes 03/23/01 05/22/0103/21/01 22, 2001,
Page 29 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
ually Identifiable Health Information
Rule's Date of interim Pursuant to
effective action final the Card
date as of extending rule. CMS memo, on
Card Memo effective also March 1,
date extended 2001, FDA
the published a
comment final rule
period on delaying
this rule the
to July effective
23, 2001. date of the
However, regulation
it did not from
extend the January 22,
rule's 2001, to
effective April 23,
date. 2001. The
rule took
effect on
that date.
Date Revision of ually Identifiable Health Development
final standards Administrative
rule for the use Practices and
appeared Significant Summary of of Procedures;
in the or Extended rulemaking restraints Meetings and
Federal Major substantive effective and other or Correspondence;
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 seclusion.) 01/22/01 Public Calendars 01/22/01 04/23/0103/01/01
Page 30 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of rule delaying the
effective action effective date of
date as of extending the regulation from
Card Memo effective February 9, 2001,
date until April 10,
2001. Subsequently,
on April 10, 2001,
BLM published a
final rule that
delayed certain
parts of the rule
for 120 additional
days until August 8,
2001, "in order to
seek further public
comments." On May
11, 2001, BLM
published a
correcting amendment
to the rule removing
in one paragraph the
phrase "the
operating rights
owner" and adding
the phrase "the
lessee(s) and
operating rights
owner(s)." BLM said
this change was
effective on April
10, 2001. On August
7, 2001, BLM
published a final
rule that further
extended the
effective date of
the previously
delayed provisions
until November 6,
2001. The agency
said that it had
received several
highly technical
comments and could
not complete its
review before August
8, 2001. Therefore,
it was necessary to
extend the effective
date by 90 days. On
November 9, 2001,
BLM published a
final rule
confirming the
effective date as
November 6, 2001.
However, BLM said
that it "may give
further
consideration to Acquisition
Date alternative of Title to f the
final approaches...either Land in tion
rule separately or in Trust
appeared Significant Summary of connection with (procedures y 22,
in the or Extended rulemaking broader revisions of used by to
Federal Major substantive effective and other its oil and gas Indian 04/16/01 02/05/01 a final
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 11/06/0108/07/01 regulations." 01/16/01 tribes and X02/15/01 08/13/01 04/16/01 rule
Page 31 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of delaying the
effective action effective date
date as of extending of the
Card Memo effective regulation
date from February
15, 2001,
until April
16, 2001.
Subsequently,
on April 16,
2001, BIA
published a
proposed rule
that extended
the effective
date for an
additional 120
days to August
13, 2001. BIA
said it was
doing so "in
order to seek
comments on
whether the
final rule
should be
amended in
whole or in
part or
withdrawn in
whole or in
part."
Comments on
the extension
were due by
June 15, 2001.
On August 13,
2001, BIA
published a
final rule
extending the
effective date
to November
10, 2001, "in
order to
continue to
review
comments that
were received
from the prior
extension." On
the same day,
BIA published
a notice
seeking public
comment on
whether the
original rule
should be
withdrawn and
a "further
rule proposed
to better
address the
public's
continued
concerns." On
November 9,
2001, BIA
published a
"withdrawal of
final rule"
action in the
Federal
Register. The
agency said it
was
withdrawing
the rule to Policy on
address Maintaining
"specific the Biological
Date areas of Integrity,
final concern in a Diversity, and
rule new rule." The Environmental
appeared Significant Summary of individuals agency said Health of the
in the or Extended rulemaking to acquire the withdrawal National
Federal Major substantive effective and other title land was effective Wildlife
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 in trust.) 11/10/0108/13/01 immediately. 01/16/01 Refuge System 02/15/01 04/16/0102/08/01
Page 32 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of Pursuant to
effective action the Card
date as of extending memo, on
Card Memo effective February 5,
date 2001, BIA
published a
final rule
delaying
the
effective
date of the
regulation
from
February
16, 2001,
to April
17, 2001.
The rule
took effect
on that
date.
Date
final Loan
rule Guaranty,
appeared Significant Summary of Insurance,
in the or Extended rulemaking and Boating
Federal Major substantive effective and other Interest Infrastructure
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 01/17/01 Subsidy X02/16/01 04/17/0102/05/01 01/18/01 Grant Program X02/20/01 04/21/0102/08/01
Page 33 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of
effective action
date as of extending
Card Memo effective
date
quoted in the
press saying
that the
settlement of
the lawsuit
could result
in the
lifting of Pursuant to the
the Card memo, on
snowmobile January 26,
ban. In its 2001, the
December 2001 Immigration and
report on the Naturalization
cost and Service (INS)
benefits of published a
federal final rule
Date regulations, delaying the
final OIRA effective date
rule identified of the
appeared Significant Summary of this rule for regulation from
in the or Extended rulemaking "high Department Clarification January 29,
Federal Major substantive effective and other priority" of Justice of Parole 2001, to March
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 review. (4) 12/28/00 Authority X 01/29/0103/30/01 01/26/0130, 2001.
Page 34 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of
effective action
date as of extending
Card Memo effective
date
ion from
29,
o March
1.
ization
(INS)
ed a
ule
Pursuant to
the Card memo, and
on January 26,
2001, the
Pension and
Welfare
Benefits
Administration
published a
final rule he
delaying the ate
Date interests, and effective date , 2001. On February 28, 2001, OCR published a
final other of the arch 30, 2001. According to OCR, this action did
rule considerations regulation
appeared Significant Summary of identified National from January
in the or Extended rulemaking during the Department Medical 26, 2001, to
Federal Major substantive effective and other recent 60-day of Labor Support March 27,
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 review period." (5) 12/27/00 Notice X 01/26/0103/27/01 01/26/01 2001.
Page 35 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of effective
effective action date.
date as of extending According to
Card Memo effective press
date accounts, on
August 27,
2001, the e
Associated s
General tion
Contractors of d a
America sent a le he
letter to the the ate
Administrator on
of OSHA ary
objecting to to
parts of the 7,
rule and
asking the to
agency to Pursuant to emo, and
delay its the Card memo,
January 18, on March 15,
2002, 2001, the Mine
effective Safety and
date. On Health
November 21, Administration
2001, OSHA (MSHA)
posted a draft published a
compliance final rule
directive for that delayed
the steel the effective
erection date of part
standard on of this
its website. regulation
from March 20,
2001, to May
21, 2001. The
other parts of
the rule had
effective
dates in 2002,
2003, and
2005, and,
were not
delayed. On
May 21, 2001,
Date MSHA published
final a final rule m
rule Diesel containing
appeared Significant Summary of Particulate corrections
in the or Extended rulemaking Matter that were
Federal Major substantive effective and other Exposure-Coal effective on
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 01/19/01 Miners X03/20/01 05/21/0103/15/01 May 21, 2001. 01/19/01 engines.)
Page 36 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of the rule in the
effective action District of
date as of extending Columbia
Card Memo effective Circuit. The
date three petitions
were
consolidated in
the District of
Columbia
Circuit.
Pursuant to the
Card memo, on
March 15, 2001,
MSHA published
a final rule
delaying the
effective date
of the
regulation from
March 20, 2001,
until May 21,
2001. On May
21, 2001, MSHA
published a
final rule that
further
extended the
effective date
to July 5,
2001. MSHA said
this delay
"will allow the
Department an
opportunity to
engage in
further
negotiations to
settle the
legal
challenges to
this rule." On
July 5, 2001,
MSHA published
another final
rule stating
that, with the
exception of
sect.57.5066 (b),
the rule would
become
effective July
5, 2001. MSHA
said that
section 57.5066
(b) was delayed
"pending
disposition of
litigation
challenging the
rule." Also on
July 5, 2001,
MSHA published
a proposed rule
addressing two
provisions in
sections
57.5066(b) and
57.5067(b)(3).
It also
announced a
public hearing
to be held on
August 16,
2001. On August
28, 2001, MSHA
issued a
program
information
bulletin
informing the
mining
community of
its plan for
enforcing the
diesel
particulate
Date standard. The
final bulletin stated
rule that some
appeared Significant Summary of provisions of
in the or Extended rulemaking the rule became
Federal Major substantive effective and other effective July
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 5, 2001, but
Page 37 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of other The National
effective action provisions Highway Traffic
date as of extending do not go Safety
Card Memo effective into effect Administration
date until after (NHTSA) received
July 19, petitions for
2002, or reconsideration
January 19, of the final rule
2006. from AmTran
Corporation, Blue
Bird Body
Company, and
Thomas Built
Buses. On March
6, 2000, NHTSA
delayed the
effective date
until May 5,
2001. On April
20, 2001, NHTSA
published a final
rule that further
extended the
effective date
until June 1,
2002, but the
agency did not
mention the Card
memo. NHTSA said
the delay in the
effective date
was necessary
because the
agency was in the
process of
completing the
Federal review of the
Motor petitions for
Vehicle reconsideration.
Safety On December 13,
Standards; 2001, NHTSA
School Bus published a final
Body Joint rule that
Strength clarified that
(Extends the applicability of
application the standard and
of standard made various
on school other changes.
bus body The agency said
joint that it did so in
strength to response to
lighter petitions for
Date school buses reconsideration
final and narrows of the rule.
rule exclusions NHTSA said the
appeared Significant Summary of for amended rule
in the or Extended rulemaking Department of maintenance would take effect
Federal Major substantive effective and other Transportation access 06/01/02 04/20/01 on January 1,
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 (15) 11/05/98panels.) X 05/05/0101/01/03 12/13/01 2003.
Page 38 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of number of On
effective action safety December
date as of extending concerns. On 22, 2000,
Card Memo effective November 20, FAA
date 2000, FAA delayed
published a the
final rule effective
that delayed date of
the effective this rule
date of this from
regulation
from December
1, 2000, to
December 28,
2000. FAA said
it did so to
"adequately
evaluate new
safety issues
raised by the
air tour
operators."
FAA said that
it further
extended the
effective date
for the rule
to April 1,
2001, on
December 28,
2000.
(However, we
could find no
related
Federal
Register
actions were
recorded on
that date.) On
March 26,
2001, the
agency
published a
final rule
that further
extended the
effective date
of certain
parts of the
rule to
December 1,
2001. FAA said
the delay was
necessary
"pending
resolution of
the safety
issues." On
December 5,
2001, FAA
published
another final
rule that
extended the
effective date
for portions
of the rule to
February 20,
2003. The
agency stated
that the delay
was necessary
because it was
working on the
regarding proposed
aircraft changes to the
flight route
operations structure and
over the airspace
Grand modification.
Canyon The process
National includes an
Park environmental
(GCNP). The assessment of
first rule, the proposed
which went route and
into effect publishing a
on May 4, proposal and
2000, notice of
limits the availability
number of of the new map
commercial in the Federal
air tour Register.
operations Since the
in the process had
GCNP. This not been
final rule completed, it
modifies was necessary
Date the to extend the
final airspace in effective
rule the GCNP date. None of Service
appeared Significant Summary of special these delaying Difficulty
in the or Extended rulemaking flight actions Reports
Federal Major substantive effective and other rules mentioned the (Amends
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 area.) Card memo. 09/15/00 reporting X07/16/01 01/16/0204/30/01
Page 39 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of January 16,
effective action 2001, until
date as of extending July 16, 2001,
Card Memo effective because of
date questions
raised by the
aviation
industry on the
implementation
of the new
requirements.
On April 30,
2001, FAA said
it needed more
time to
evaluate the
comments and
published a
final rule that
further
extended the
effective date
to January 16,
2002. On
November 23,
2001, FAA
published a
final rule that
delayed the
effective date
until January
16, 2003.
According to
FAA, this
action was
"prompted by
concerns the
aviation
industry raised
about reporting
requirements."
The agency also
said that it
expected to
issue a notice
of proposed
rulemaking to
address the
issues raised
by
commentators,
and to give
both the
requirements aviation
for air industry and
carriers and the general
repair public the
station opportunity to
operators comment on the Federal Motor
concerning agency's Vehicle Safety
Date failures, proposed Standards;
final malfunctions, revisions. None Electric-Powered
rule and defects of these Vehicles;
appeared Significant Summary of of aircraft delaying Electrolyte
in the or Extended rulemaking engines, actions Spillage and
Federal Major substantive effective and other systems, and mentioned the Electrical Shock
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 components.) 01/16/0311/23/01 Card memo. 09/27/00 Protection X10/01/01 12/01/0102/08/01 Corporations.
Page 40 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of Pursuant to
effective action the Card memo,
date as of extending on February 8,
Card Memo effective 2001, the
date Research and
Special
Programs
Administration
(RSPA)
published a
final rule
delaying the
effective date
from March 31,
2001, until
May 29, 2001.
The rule took
effect on that
date.
Pipeline
Safety:
Pipeline
Integrity
Management
in High
Consequence
Areas
Date (Hazardous
final Liquid
rule Operators
appeared Significant Summary of With 500 or Major
in the or Extended rulemaking More Miles Capital
Federal Major substantive effective and other of Investment
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 12/01/00 Pipelines) X03/31/01 05/29/0102/08/01 12/07/00 Projects X02/05/01 04/06/0102/09/01 changed.
Page 41 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of final rule Pursuant to
effective action delaying the the Card
date as of extending effective date memo, on
Card Memo effective of the February 9,
date regulation 2001, the
from February Coast Guard
7, 2001, until (CG)
April 8, 2001. published a
The rule took final rule
effect on that delaying
date. the
Subsequently, effective
on April 18, date of the
2001, FHWA regulation
published a from March
final rule 12, 2001,
making to May 11,
technical 2001. The
corrections to rule took
the effect on
regulation. that date.
FHWA said
these
corrections
were needed
because the
effective date
had been
extended
without any
changes to two
dates cited in
the regulation
that were
intended to be
based on the
effective
date.
Date
final
rule
appeared Significant Summary of Regattas
in the or Extended rulemaking and
Federal Major substantive effective and other Marine
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 Standards 01/09/01 Parades X03/12/01 05/11/0102/09/01 01/10/01
Page 42 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of February 9,
effective action 2001, the
date as of extending Federal Motor
Card Memo effective Carrier Safety
date Administration
published a
final rule
delaying the
effective date 1/10/2001, until May
of the
regulation from
February 12,
2001, to April
13, 2001. The
rule took
effect on that
date.
bruaramend or clarify vironmental Protection
9, 20the rule. On May effect on that date.
1. Thdelayed the
001. rule's
rom Ain response to a
er" vpetition from the
Brake System
Safety
Safety Regulations; Standards for
Date Definition of Freight and
final Commercial Motor Other
rule Vehicles (CMV); Non-Passenger
appeared Significant Summary of Requirements for Trains and
in the or Extended rulemaking Operators of Small Equipment: End
Federal Major substantive effective and other Passenger-Carrying of Train er"
"in the near
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 CMVs 01/17/01 Devices X04/01/01 05/31/0102/12/01 future."
Page 43 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
bruary 15, 2001, toAppendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of Pursuant to
effective action the Card
date as of extending memo, on
Card Memo effective January 29,
date 2001, EPA
published a
final rule
delaying
the
effective
date of the
regulation
from
January 29,
2001, to
March 30,
2001. The
rule took
effect on
that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
Petition by
American
Georgia: Final Samoa for
Date Authorization Exemption bruary 15, 2001, to April 16, 2001. The rule took effect on that date.
final of State From
rule Hazardous Anti-Dumping
appeared Significant Summary of Waste Requirements
in the or Extended rulemaking Management for
Federal Major substantive effective and other Program Conventional
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 11/28/00 Revision 01/29/01 03/30/0101/29/01 11/29/00 Gasoline 01/29/01 03/30/0101/29/01
Page 44 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of 2001, rule,
effective action and did not
date as of extending properly
Card Memo effective certify the
date rule under
the
Regulatory
Flexibility
Act. On
April 10,
2001, a
coalition of
metal
industry
groups filed
a lawsuit
seeking
withdrawal
of the rule.
(Ad Hoc
Metals
Coalition v. Pursuant to
EPA, D.D.C., the Card memo,
No. on March 23,
01CV00766) 2001, EPA
Another published a
lawsuit was final rule
filed by the delaying the
National effective date
Federation from March 23,
of 2001, until
Independent May 22, 2001.
Businesses Subsequently,
(NFIB) on on April 23,
April 26, 2001, EPA
2001 (NFIB published a
vs. EPA, notice of
D.D.C., No. proposed
01CV900) On rulemaking to
April 17, extend the
2001, EPA effective date
announced for 9 months
that it to February
would not 22, 2002. EPA
change the said it took
final rule, this action to
and the rule "reassess the
became National scientific and
effective on Primary cost issues
that date. Drinking Water associated
On September Regulations; with this rule
10, 2001, Arsenic and and seek
EPA posted Clarifications further public
on its web to Compliance input on each
site draft and New Source of these
guidance on Contaminants issues." EPA
how to Monitoring also said that
report (Sets goals and it would
releases maximum request the
under the contaminant National
Date new rule. levels for Academy of
final Reporting arsenic in Sciences to
rule for 2001 community water convene a
appeared Significant Summary of must be systems and panel of
in the or Extended rulemaking submitted to nontransient scientific
Federal Major substantive effective and other EPA by July noncommunity 05/22/01 03/23/01 experts to (1)
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 2002. 01/22/01 water systems.)X X03/23/01 02/22/02 04/23/01 review EPA's
Page 45 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of interpretation
effective action and application
date as of extending of arsenic
Card Memo effective research and (2)
date review and
evaluate any new
arsenic
research. At the
same time, EPA
said that it
would work with
the National
Drinking Water
Advisory Council
to review the
assumptions and
methodologies
underlying the
estimate of
arsenic
compliance
costs. On May
22, 2001, EPA
published a
final rule that
confirmed the
9-month delay in
effective date
proposed by the
agency on April
23, 2001. On
June 15, 2001,
EPA published a
notice
announcing three
meetings of the
Arsenic Cost
Working Group of
the National
Drinking Water
Advisory
Council. On July
19, 2001, the
agency published
a proposed rule
that requested
comments on a
range of maximum
contaminant
level (MCL)
options for the
arsenic in
drinking water
rule. Comments
were due by
October 31,
2001. On October
5, 2001, EPA
published a
notice
announcing the
availability of
three reports
and
recommendations
on the science,
cost of
compliance, and
benefits
analyses in
support of its
rule on arsenic
in drinking
water. These
reports were
made available
to allow
Date commenters to
final consider this
rule information in
appeared Significant Summary of preparing their
in the or Extended rulemaking comments on the
Federal Major substantive effective and other July 19, 2001,
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 proposal.
Page 46 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of On November 26, Pursuant to
effective action 2001, Congress the Card
date as of extending enacted the memo, on
Card Memo effective Departments of February
date Veterans 15, 2001,
Affairs and the
Housing and Department
Urban of Defense
Development, (DOD) and
and Independent EPA
Agencies published a
Appropriations final rule
Act, 2002, that delaying
included the
language that effective
prohibited EPA date of the
from using the regulation
funds to delay from
the January 22, February
2001, rule. 16, 2001,
According to to April
the December 17, 2001.
2001 OIRA The rule
report on the took effect
costs and on that
benefits of date.
federal
regulations,
EPA has
concluded all
expert reviews
and is in the
process of
completing a
final arsenic
in drinking
water rule to
be published by
February 22,
2002. EPA
Administrator
Whitman has
indicated that
the final rule
will
effectively
reinstate the
level of Further
protection Revisions
reflected in to the
the January 22, Clean Water
Date 2001, rule. Act
final Also in this Department of Regulatory
rule report, OIRA Defense and Definition
appeared Significant Summary of identified this the of
in the or Extended rulemaking rule for "high Environmental "Discharge
Federal Major substantive effective and other priority" Protection of Dredged
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 review. Agency (1) 01/17/01Material" 02/16/0104/17/01 02/15/01
Page 47 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of
effective action
date as of extending
Card Memo effective
date
On March 19,
2001, the
promulgating
agencies
published a
final rule
that delayed
the effective
date of this
rule until
October 1,
2001, but the
agencies did
not mention
the Card
memo. The
agencies said
that they
were delaying
the effective
date because
they had
received a
number of
comments
indicating
that many
depository
Acquisition institutions
Regulations rules Department would be
on clarification of the unable to
of definitions, Treasury, comply with
advance payment Federal the
Date for noncommercial Reserve Consumer regulations
final items, assignment System, and Protections by the
rule of claims, and the Federal for original
appeared Significant Summary of flowdown of Deposit Depository April 1,
in the or Extended rulemaking clauses from Insurance Institution 2001,
Federal Major substantive effective and other contractors to Corporation Sales of effective
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 subcontractors.) (1) 12/04/00 Insurance X 04/01/0110/01/01 03/19/01date.
Page 48 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of Pursuant to the
effective action Card memo, on
date as of extending February 20,
Card Memo effective 2001, the Small
date Business
Administration
(SBA) published
a final rule
delaying the
effective date
of the
regulation from
February 21,
2001, until
April 23, 2001.
Subsequently,
on April 23,
2001, SBA
published a
final rule that
further
extended the
effective date
to June 22,
2001, "in order
to give the
Administration
further
opportunities
to consider new
regulations and
to conduct a
rulemaking." On
the same day,
SBA proposed
withdrawal of
the January 22,
2001, rule, and
proposed new
regulations to
implement the
program. SBA
said it
intended to
implement the
proposed rule,
which reflects
technical
New Markets changes based
Venture on the agency's
Capital consideration
Program of specific
(Establishes comments on the
the original
requirements interim final
for newly rule. On May
formed venture 23, 2001, SBA
capital published a
companies to final rule
make withdrawing the
developmental original rule
investments in and making
smaller final the new
enterprises regulations.
located in SBA said it
low-income received no
geographic comments on the
areas, provide proposed
operational withdrawal of
assistance to the January 22,
enterprises 2001, rule. On
receiving such June 19, 2001,
investments, SBA published a
and allow final rule
Date existing making
final companies to technical
rule 2001, qualify for corrections to
appeared Significant Summary of to grants to the May 23,
in the or Extended rulemaking April Small Business provide 2001,
Federal Major substantive effective and other 12, Administration operational 04/23/01 02/20/01 withdrawal
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 2001. (1) 01/22/01assistance.) X 02/21/0106/22/01 04/23/01 action.
Page 49 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
Appendix I: Rules Subject to the January 20, 2001, Card Memorandum That Were Delayed
Rule's Date of
effective action
date as of extending
Card Memo effective
date
Pursuant to
the Card memo,
on February
12, 2001, the
Social
Security
Administration
published a
final rule
delaying the
effective date
from February
12, 2001,
until April
Testimony by 13, 2001.
Employees Subsequently,
Date and the on March 12,
final Production 2001, the Corporation
rule of Records agency for
appeared Significant Summary of and published a National
in the or Extended rulemaking Social Security Information correction to and
Federal Major substantive effective and other Administration in Legal the final Community
Register Titlerule rule date actions 1 (1) 01/12/01Proceedings 02/12/0104/13/01 02/12/01regulations. Service (1)12/13/00
Sources: GAO analysis of Federal Register publications.
(450091)EUR
Page 50 GAO-02-370R Delay of Regulatory Effective Dates
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