Proposed Rule2021-13495
Plan for Periodic Review of Regulations
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 29, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires that NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) periodically review existing regulations that have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, such as small businesses, small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions. This plan describes how ONMS will perform this review and describes the regulations proposed for review in fiscal year 2022.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 122 (Tuesday, June 29, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 122 (Tuesday, June 29, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 34169-34171]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-13495]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
15 CFR Part 922
Plan for Periodic Review of Regulations
AGENCY: Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS), National Ocean
Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Department of Commerce (DOC).
[[Page 34170]]
ACTION: Notice of plan for periodic review of regulations; request for
comments.
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SUMMARY: The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires that NOAA's
Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) periodically review
existing regulations that have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities, such as small businesses, small
organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions. This plan
describes how ONMS will perform this review and describes the
regulations proposed for review in fiscal year 2022.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 29, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by:
<bullet> Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>, and search for docket NOAA-NOS-2021-0047, click
the ``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or
attach your comments.
Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period,
may not be considered by NOAA. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> without change. All personally identifiable
information (for example, name, address, etc.), confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily
submitted by the commenter will be publicly accessible. NOAA will
accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you
wish to remain anonymous).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Meredith Walz, NOAA Office of National
Marine Sanctuaries, 1305 East West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e8858d9a8d8c819c80c69f898492a886878989c68f879e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a0cdc5d2c5c4c9d4c88ed7c1ccdae0cecfc1c18ec7cfd6">[email protected]</span></a>, or 240-533-0686.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.,
requires that Federal agencies take into account how their regulations
affect ``small entities,'' which the RFA defines to include small
businesses, small governmental jurisdictions and small organizations. 5
U.S.C. 601. For regulations proposed after January 1, 1981, the agency
must either prepare a Regulatory Flexibility Analysis or certify that
the regulation, if promulgated, will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Section 610 of the RFA, 5 U.S.C. 610, requires Federal agencies to
review existing regulations which have or will have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. It requires
that ONMS publish a plan in the Federal Register explaining how it will
review existing regulations that have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities. Regulations that have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities
that became effective after January 1, 1981, must be reviewed within 10
years of the publication date of the final rule. Section 610(c)
requires that ONMS publish in the Federal Register a list of rules it
will review during the succeeding 12 months. The list must describe,
explain the need for, and provide the legal basis for the rules, as
well as invite public comment on the rules.
In addition, section 605 of the RFA, 5 U.S.C. 605, provides that
if, when a rule is proposed or finalized, the head of an agency
certifies to the Small Business Administration's Chief Counsel for
Advocacy that the rule would not have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities, then initial and final
regulatory flexibility analyses do not need to be prepared for the
rule. The Small Business Administration's guidance on implementing the
requirements of RFA section 610 indicates that agencies may exercise
their discretion to determine if previously changed conditions may mean
that a certified rule now does have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities and, therefore, should be subject
to a full section 610 review. If there is evidence that a previously
certified rule is now having a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities, then the Small Business
Administration recommends that the agency should conduct a section 610
review of the rule.
Criteria for Review of Existing Regulations
The purpose of a section 610 review is to determine whether
existing rules should be left unchanged, or whether they should be
revised or rescinded in order to minimize significant economic impacts
on a substantial number of small entities, consistent with the
objectives of other applicable statutes. RFA section 610(b) requires
agencies to consider five factors when conducting this review:
(1) Whether the rule is still needed;
(2) What type of public complaints or comments were received
concerning the rule;
(3) How complex is the rule;
(4) How much the rule overlaps, duplicates or conflicts with other
Federal rules, and, to the extent feasible, with state and local
governmental rules; and
(5) How long it has been since the rule has been evaluated or how
much the technology, economic conditions, or other factors have changed
in the area affected by the rule.
For rules that were certified under RFA section 605, ONMS is not
required to conduct a review under RFA section 610. However, ONMS may
exercise its discretion to prepare an assessment to determine whether
changed conditions may mean that the existing rules now do have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities
and should therefore be reviewed under RFA section 610.
Plan for Periodic Review of Rules
ONMS will conduct reviews in such a way as to ensure that all rules
for which a final regulatory flexibility analysis was prepared are
reviewed within 10 years of the year in which they were originally
issued. During this same period, ONMS may exercise its discretion to
also review rules certified under RFA section 605 as not having
significant impacts. ONMS may evaluate whether changed conditions may
mean that the existing rules now do have a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities and therefore should be
reviewed under RFA section 610. ONMS intends that it will conduct
section 610 reviews on applicable regulations on an annual basis. ONMS
will make RFA Section 610 review reports available at the following
website: <a href="http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/library/alldocs.html">http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/library/alldocs.html</a>.
ONMS Regulation Requiring Review for Fiscal Year 2022
ONMS has determined that one rulemaking finalized in fiscal year
2012 requires review under RFA section 610:
``Research Area Within Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary''. RIN
0648-AV88 (76 FR 63824; October 14, 2011). This final rule created an
8.27 square-mile research area within the southern portion of Gray's
Reef National Marine Sanctuary. NOAA created the research area pursuant
to its authority under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, 16 U.S.C.
1431 et seq., in order to provide a zone specifically designed for
conducting controlled scientific studies in the absence of certain
human
[[Page 34171]]
activities that could affect the results. NOAA prohibited fishing,
diving, and stopping a vessel in the research area. NOAA prepared a
final regulatory flexibility analysis for this rule when it was
finalized.
ONMS invites comments on this rule, and will evaluate comments that
would assist ONMS in conducting its RFA section 610 review. Unless we
publish a document stating otherwise, ONMS will make the final report
available at <a href="http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/library/alldocs.html">http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/library/alldocs.html</a>.
John Armor,
Director, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-13495 Filed 6-28-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-NK-P
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