16848 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 60 / Wednesday, March 31, 2021 / UA: Reg Flex Agenda 

REGULATORY INFORMATION 

SERVICE CENTER 

Introduction to the Unified Agenda of 

Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory 

Actions—Fall 2020 

AGENCY: Regulatory Information Service 

Center. 

ACTION: Introduction to the Regulatory 

Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal 

Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. 

SUMMARY: Publication of the Unified 

Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory 

Actions and the Regulatory Plan 

represent key components of the 

regulatory planning mechanism 

prescribed in Executive Order 12866, 

‘‘Regulatory Planning and Review,’’ 

Executive Order 13771, ‘‘Reducing 

Regulation and Controlling Regulatory 

Costs,’’ January 30, 2017, and Executive 

Order 13777, ‘‘Enforcing the Regulatory 

Reform Agenda,’’ February 24, 2017. 

The fall editions of the Unified Agenda 

include the agency regulatory plans 

required by E.O. 12866, which identify 

regulatory priorities and provide 

additional detail about the most 

important significant regulatory actions 

that agencies expect to take in the 

coming year. 

In addition, the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act requires that agencies publish 

semiannual ‘‘regulatory flexibility 

agendas’’ describing regulatory actions 

they are developing that will have 

significant effects on small businesses 

and other small entities (5 U.S.C. 602). 

The Unified Agenda of Regulatory 

and Deregulatory Actions (Unified 

Agenda), published in the fall and 

spring, helps agencies fulfill all of these 

requirements. All federal regulatory 

agencies have chosen to publish their 

regulatory agendas as part of this 

publication. The complete Unified 

Agenda and Regulatory Plan can be 

found online at http://www.reginfo.gov 

and a reduced print version can be 

found in the Federal Register. 

Information regarding obtaining printed 

copies can also be found on the 

Reginfo.gov website (or below, VI. How 

can users get copies of the Plan and the 

Agenda?). 

The fall 2020 Unified Agenda 

publication appearing in the Federal 

Register includes the Regulatory Plan 

and agency regulatory flexibility 

agendas, in accordance with the 

publication requirements of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act. Agency 

regulatory flexibility agendas contain 

only those Agenda entries for rules that 

are likely to have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities and entries that have been 

selected for periodic review under 

section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act. 

The complete fall 2020 Unified 

Agenda contains the Regulatory Plans of 

28 Federal agencies and 68 Federal 

agency regulatory agendas. 

ADDRESSES: Regulatory Information 

Service Center (MVE), General Services 

Administration, 1800 F Street NW, 

2219F, Washington, DC 20405. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information about specific 

regulatory actions, please refer to the 

agency contact listed for each entry. To 

provide comment on or to obtain further 

information about this publication, 

contact: Boris Arratia, Director, 

Regulatory Information Service Center 

(MR), General Services Administration, 

1800 F Street NW, Room 2221D, 

Washington, DC 20405, 703–795–0816. 

You may also send comments to us by 

email at: RISC@gsa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

Introduction to the Regulatory Plan and the 

Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and 

Deregulatory Actions 

I. What are the Regulatory Plan and the 

Unified Agenda? 

II. Why are the Regulatory Plan and the 

Unified Agenda published? 

III. How are the Regulatory Plan and the 

Unified Agenda organized? 

IV. What information appears for each entry? 

V. Abbreviations 

VI. How can users get copies of the Plan and 

the Agenda? 

Introduction to the Fall 2020 Regulatory Plan 

Agency Regulatory Plans 

Cabinet Departments 

Department of Agriculture 

Department of Commerce 

Department of Defense 

Department of Education 

Department of Energy 

Department of Health and Human Services 

Department of Homeland Security 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development 

Department of the Interior 

Department of Justice 

Department of Labor 

Department of State 

Department of Transportation 

Department of the Treasury 

Department of Veterans Affairs 

Other Executive Agencies 

Architectural and Transportation Barriers 

Compliance Board 

Environmental Protection Agency 

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 

General Services Administration 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration 

National Archives and Records 

Administration 

National Science Foundation 

Office of Management and Budget 

Office of National Drug Control Policy 

Office of Personnel Management 

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 

Small Business Administration 

Social Security Administration 

Independent Regulatory Agencies 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

Consumer Product Safety Commission 

Federal Trade Commission 

National Indian Gaming Commission 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

Federal Permitting Improvement Steering 

Council 

Agency Agendas 

Cabinet Departments 

Department of Agriculture 

Department of Commerce 

Department of Defense 

Department of Education 

Department of Energy 

Department of Health and Human Services 

Department of Homeland Security 

Department of the Interior 

Department of Labor 

Department of Transportation 

Department of the Treasury 

Other Executive Agencies 

Committee for Purchase From People Who 

Are Blind or Severely Disabled 

Environmental Protection Agency 

General Services Administration 

Office of Management and Budget 

Railroad Retirement Board 

Small Business Administration 

Joint Authority 

Department of Defense/General Services 

Administration/National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration (Federal Acquisition 

Regulation) 

Independent Regulatory Agencies 

Commodity Futures Trading Commission 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

Consumer Product Safety Commission 

Federal Communications Commission 

Federal Reserve System 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

Surface Transportation Board 

Federal Permitting Improvement Steering 

Council 

Introduction to the Regulatory Plan and 

the Unified Agenda of Federal 

Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions 

I. What are the Regulatory Plan and the 

Unified Agenda? 

The Regulatory Plan serves as a 

defining statement of the 

Administration’s regulatory and 

deregulatory policies and priorities. The 

Plan is part of the fall edition of the 

Unified Agenda. Each participating 

agency’s regulatory plan contains: (1) A 

narrative statement of the agency’s 

regulatory and deregulatory priorities, 

and, for the most part, (2) a description 

of the most important significant 

regulatory and deregulatory actions that 


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the agency reasonably expects to issue 

in proposed or final form during the 

upcoming fiscal year. This edition 

includes the regulatory plans of 30 

agencies. 

The Unified Agenda provides 

information about regulations that the 

Government is considering or 

reviewing. The Unified Agenda has 

appeared in the Federal Register twice 

each year since 1983 and has been 

available online since 1995. The 

complete Unified Agenda is available to 

the public at http://www.reginfo.gov. 

The online Unified Agenda offers 

flexible search tools and access to the 

historic Unified Agenda database to 

1995. The complete online edition of 

the Unified Agenda includes regulatory 

agendas from 65 Federal agencies. 

Agencies of the United States Congress 

are not included. 

The fall 2020 Unified Agenda 

publication appearing in the Federal 

Register consists of The Regulatory Plan 

and agency regulatory flexibility 

agendas, in accordance with the 

publication requirements of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act. Agency 

regulatory flexibility agendas contain 

only those Agenda entries for rules that 

are likely to have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities and entries that have been 

selected for periodic review under 

section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act. Printed entries display only the 

fields required by the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act. Complete agenda 

information for those entries appears, in 

a uniform format, in the online Unified 

Agenda at http://www.reginfo.gov. 

The following agencies have no 

entries for inclusion in the printed 

regulatory flexibility agenda. An asterisk 

(*) indicates agencies that appear in The 

Regulatory Plan. The regulatory agendas 

of these agencies are available to the 

public at http://reginfo.gov. 

Cabinet Departments 

Department of Justice * 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development * 

Department of State * 

Other Executive Agencies 

Agency for International Development 

American Battle Monuments 

Commission 

Architectural and Transportation 

Barriers Compliance Board * 

Commission on Civil Rights 

Corporation for National and 

Community Service 

Council on Environmental Quality 

Court Services and Offender 

Supervision Agency for the District of 

Columbia 

Equal Employment Opportunity 

Commission * 

Federal Mediation Conciliation Service 

Institute of Museum and Library 

Services 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration * 

National Archives and Records 

Administration * 

National Endowment for the Arts 

National Endowment for the Humanities 

National Mediation Board 

National Science Foundation* 

Office of Government Ethics 

Office of Personnel Management * 

Office of the United States Trade 

Representative 

Peace Corps 

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation * 

Presidio Trust 

Social Security Administration * 

U.S. Agency for Global Media 

Independent Agencies 

Council of the Inspectors General on 

Integrity and Efficiency 

Farm Credit Administration 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

Federal Housing Finance Agency 

Federal Maritime Commission 

Federal Mine Safety and Health Review 

Commission 

Federal Trade Commission * 

National Credit Union Administration 

National Indian Gaming Commission * 

National Labor Relations Board 

National Transportation Safety Board 

Postal Regulatory Commission 

The Regulatory Information Service 

Center compiles the Unified Agenda for 

the Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs (OIRA), part of the Office of 

Management and Budget. OIRA is 

responsible for overseeing the Federal 

Government’s regulatory, paperwork, 

and information resource management 

activities, including implementation of 

Executive Order 12866 (incorporated in 

Executive Order 13563). The Center also 

provides information about Federal 

regulatory activity to the President and 

his Executive Office, the Congress, 

agency officials, and the public. 

The activities included in the Agenda 

are, in general, those that will have a 

regulatory action within the next 12 

months. Agencies may choose to 

include activities that will have a longer 

timeframe than 12 months. Agency 

agendas also show actions or reviews 

completed or withdrawn since the last 

Unified Agenda. Executive Order 12866 

does not require agencies to include 

regulations concerning military or 

foreign affairs functions or regulations 

related to agency organization, 

management, or personnel matters. 

Agencies prepared entries for this 

publication to give the public notice of 

their plans to review, propose, and issue 

regulations. They have tried to predict 

their activities over the next 12 months 

as accurately as possible, but dates and 

schedules are subject to change. 

Agencies may withdraw some of the 

regulations now under development, 

and they may issue or propose other 

regulations not included in their 

agendas. Agency actions in the 

rulemaking process may occur before or 

after the dates they have listed. The 

Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda do 

not create a legal obligation on agencies 

to adhere to schedules in this 

publication or to confine their 

regulatory activities to those regulations 

that appear within it. 

II. Why are the Regulatory Plan and the 

Unified Agenda published? 

The Regulatory Plan and the Unified 

Agenda helps agencies comply with 

their obligations under the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act and various Executive 

orders and other statutes. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act 

requires agencies to identify those rules 

that may have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities (5 U.S.C. 602). Agencies meet 

that requirement by including the 

information in their submissions for the 

Unified Agenda. Agencies may also 

indicate those regulations that they are 

reviewing as part of their periodic 

review of existing rules under the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 

610). Executive Order 13272, ‘‘Proper 

Consideration of Small Entities in 

Agency Rulemaking,’’ signed August 13, 

2002 (67 FR 53461), provides additional 

guidance on compliance with the Act. 

Executive Order 12866 

Executive Order 12866, ‘‘Regulatory 

Planning and Review,’’ September 30, 

1993 (58 FR 51735), requires covered 

agencies to prepare an agenda of all 

regulations under development or 

review. The Order also requires that 

certain agencies prepare annually a 

regulatory plan of their ‘‘most important 

significant regulatory actions,’’ which 

appears as part of the fall Unified 

Agenda. Executive Order 13497, signed 

January 30, 2009 (74 FR 6113), revoked 

the amendments to Executive Order 

12866 that were contained in Executive 

Order 13258 and Executive Order 

13422. 

Executive Order 13771 

Executive Order 13771, ‘‘Reducing 

Regulation and Controlling Regulatory 

Costs,’’ January 30, 2017 (82 FR 9339) 

requires each agency to identify for 


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elimination two prior regulations for 

every one new regulation issued, and 

the cost of planned regulations be 

prudently managed and controlled 

through a budgeting process. 

Executive Order 13777 

Executive Order 13777, ‘‘Enforcing 

the Regulatory Reform Agenda,’’ 

February 24, 2017 (82 FR 12285) 

requires each agency to designate an 

agency official as its Regulatory Reform 

Officer (RRO). Each RRO shall oversee 

the implementation of regulatory reform 

initiatives and policies to ensure that 

agencies effectively carry out regulatory 

reforms, consistent with applicable law. 

The Executive Order also directs that 

each agency designate a regulatory 

Reform Task Force. 

Executive Order 13563 

Executive Order 13563, ‘‘Improving 

Regulation and Regulatory Review,’’ 

January 18, 2011 (76 FR 3821) 

supplements and reaffirms the 

principles, structures, and definitions 

governing contemporary regulatory 

review that were established in 

Executive Order 12866, which includes 

the general principles of regulation and 

public participation, and orders 

integration and innovation in 

coordination across agencies; flexible 

approaches where relevant, feasible, and 

consistent with regulatory approaches; 

scientific integrity in any scientific or 

technological information and processes 

used to support the agencies’ regulatory 

actions; and retrospective analysis of 

existing regulations. 

Executive Order 13132 

Executive Order 13132, ‘‘Federalism,’’ 

August 4, 1999 (64 FR 43255), directs 

agencies to have an accountable process 

to ensure meaningful and timely input 

by State and local officials in the 

development of regulatory policies that 

have ‘‘federalism implications’’ as 

defined in the Order. Under the Order, 

an agency that is proposing a regulation 

with federalism implications, which 

either preempt State law or impose nonstatutory unfunded substantial direct 

compliance costs on State and local 

governments, must consult with State 

and local officials early in the process 

of developing the regulation. In 

addition, the agency must provide to the 

Director of the Office of Management 

and Budget a federalism summary 

impact statement for such a regulation, 

which consists of a description of the 

extent of the agency’s prior consultation 

with State and local officials, a 

summary of their concerns and the 

agency’s position supporting the need to 

issue the regulation, and a statement of 

the extent to which those concerns have 

been met. As part of this effort, agencies 

include in their submissions for the 

Unified Agenda information on whether 

their regulatory actions may have an 

effect on the various levels of 

government and whether those actions 

have federalism implications. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–4, title II) requires 

agencies to prepare written assessments 

of the costs and benefits of significant 

regulatory actions ‘‘that may result in 

the expenditure by State, local, and 

tribal governments, in the aggregate, or 

by the private sector, of $100,000,000 or 

more in any 1 year.’’ The requirement 

does not apply to independent 

regulatory agencies, nor does it apply to 

certain subject areas excluded by 

section 4 of the Act. Affected agencies 

identify in the Unified Agenda those 

regulatory actions they believe are 

subject to title II of the Act. 

Executive Order 13211 

Executive Order 13211, ‘‘Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use,’’ May 18, 2001 (66 

FR 28355), directs agencies to provide, 

to the extent possible, information 

regarding the adverse effects that agency 

actions may have on the supply, 

distribution, and use of energy. Under 

the Order, the agency must prepare and 

submit a Statement of Energy Effects to 

the Administrator of the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget, for 

‘‘those matters identified as significant 

energy actions.’’ As part of this effort, 

agencies may optionally include in their 

submissions for the Unified Agenda 

information on whether they have 

prepared or plan to prepare a Statement 

of Energy Effects for their regulatory 

actions. 

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act 

The Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act (Pub. L. 104– 

121, title II) established a procedure for 

congressional review of rules (5 U.S.C. 

801 et seq.), which defers, unless 

exempted, the effective date of a 

‘‘major’’ rule for at least 60 days from 

the publication of the final rule in the 

Federal Register. The Act specifies that 

a rule is ‘‘major’’ if it has resulted, or is 

likely to result, in an annual effect on 

the economy of $100 million or more or 

meets other criteria specified in that 

Act. The Act provides that the 

Administrator of OIRA will make the 

final determination as to whether a rule 

is major. 

III. How are the Regulatory Plan and 

the Unified Agenda organized? 

The Regulatory Plan appears in part II 

in a daily edition of the Federal 

Register. The Plan is a single document 

beginning with an introduction, 

followed by a table of contents, followed 

by each agency’s section of the Plan. 

Following the Plan in the Federal 

Register, as separate parts, are the 

regulatory flexibility agendas for each 

agency whose agenda includes entries 

for rules which are likely to have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities or 

rules that have been selected for 

periodic review under section 610 of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act. Each printed 

agenda appears as a separate part. The 

sections of the Plan and the parts of the 

Unified Agenda are organized 

alphabetically in four groups: Cabinet 

departments; other executive agencies; 

the Federal Acquisition Regulation, a 

joint authority (Agenda only); and 

independent regulatory agencies. 

Agencies may in turn be divided into 

subagencies. Each printed agency 

agenda has a table of contents listing the 

agency’s printed entries that follow. 

Each agency’s part of the Agenda 

contains a preamble providing 

information specific to that agency. 

Each printed agency agenda has a table 

of contents listing the agency’s printed 

entries that follow. 

Each agency’s section of the Plan 

contains a narrative statement of 

regulatory priorities and, for most 

agencies, a description of the agency’s 

most important significant regulatory 

and deregulatory actions. Each agency’s 

part of the Agenda contains a preamble 

providing information specific to that 

agency plus descriptions of the agency’s 

regulatory and deregulatory actions. 

The online, complete Unified Agenda 

contains the preambles of all 

participating agencies. Unlike the 

printed edition, the online Agenda has 

no fixed ordering. In the online Agenda, 

users can select the particular agencies’ 

agendas they want to see. Users have 

broad flexibility to specify the 

characteristics of the entries of interest 

to them by choosing the desired 

responses to individual data fields. To 

see a listing of all of an agency’s entries, 

a user can select the agency without 

specifying any particular characteristics 

of entries. 

Each entry in the Agenda is associated 

with one of five rulemaking stages. The 

rulemaking stages are: 

1. Prerule Stage—actions agencies 

will undertake to determine whether or 


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how to initiate rulemaking. Such actions 

occur prior to a Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (NPRM) and may include 

Advance Notices of Proposed 

Rulemaking (ANPRMs) and reviews of 

existing regulations. 

2. Proposed Rule Stage—actions for 

which agencies plan to publish a Notice 

of Proposed Rulemaking as the next step 

in their rulemaking process or for which 

the closing date of the NPRM Comment 

Period is the next step. 

3. Final Rule Stage—actions for which 

agencies plan to publish a final rule or 

an interim final rule or to take other 

final action as the next step. 

4. Long-Term Actions—items under 

development but for which the agency 

does not expect to have a regulatory 

action within the 12 months after 

publication of this edition of the Unified 

Agenda. Some of the entries in this 

section may contain abbreviated 

information. 

5. Completed Actions—actions or 

reviews the agency has completed or 

withdrawn since publishing its last 

agenda. This section also includes items 

the agency began and completed 

between issues of the Agenda. 

Long-Term Actions are rulemakings 

reported during the publication cycle 

that are outside of the required 12- 

month reporting period for which the 

Agenda was intended. Completed 

Actions in the publication cycle are 

rulemakings that are ending their 

lifecycle either by Withdrawal or 

completion of the rulemaking process. 

Therefore, the Long-Term and 

Completed RINs do not represent the 

ongoing, forward-looking nature 

intended for reporting developing 

rulemakings in the Agenda pursuant to 

Executive Order 12866, section 4(b) and 

4(c). To further differentiate these two 

stages of rulemaking in the Unified 

Agenda from active rulemakings, LongTerm and Completed Actions are 

reported separately from active 

rulemakings, which can be any of the 

first three stages of rulemaking listed 

above. A separate search function is 

provided on http://reginfo.gov to search 

for Completed and Long-Term Actions 

apart from each other and active RINs. 

A bullet (•) preceding the title of an 

entry indicates that the entry is 

appearing in the Unified Agenda for the 

first time. 

In the printed edition, all entries are 

numbered sequentially from the 

beginning to the end of the publication. 

The sequence number preceding the 

title of each entry identifies the location 

of the entry in this edition. The 

sequence number is used as the 

reference in the printed table of 

contents. Sequence numbers are not 

used in the online Unified Agenda 

because the unique Regulation Identifier 

Number (RIN) is able to provide this 

cross-reference capability. 

Editions of the Unified Agenda prior 

to fall 2007 contained several indexes, 

which identified entries with various 

characteristics. These included 

regulatory actions for which agencies 

believe that the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act may require a Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis, actions selected for periodic 

review under section 610(c) of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, and actions 

that may have federalism implications 

as defined in Executive Order 13132 or 

other effects on levels of government. 

These indexes are no longer compiled, 

because users of the online Unified 

Agenda have the flexibility to search for 

entries with any combination of desired 

characteristics. The online edition 

retains the Unified Agenda’s subject 

index based on the Federal Register 

Thesaurus of Indexing Terms. In 

addition, online users have the option of 

searching Agenda text fields for words 

or phrases. 

IV. What information appears for each 

entry? 

All entries in the online Unified 

Agenda contain uniform data elements 

including, at a minimum, the following 

information: 

Title of the Regulation—a brief 

description of the subject of the 

regulation. In the printed edition, the 

notation ‘‘Section 610 Review’’ 

following the title indicates that the 

agency has selected the rule for its 

periodic review of existing rules under 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 

610(c)). Some agencies have indicated 

completions of section 610 reviews or 

rulemaking actions resulting from 

completed section 610 reviews. In the 

online edition, these notations appear in 

a separate field. 

Priority—an indication of the 

significance of the regulation. Agencies 

assign each entry to one of the following 

five categories of significance. 

(1) Economically Significant 

As defined in Executive Order 12866, 

a rulemaking action that will have an 

annual effect on the economy of $100 

million or more or will adversely affect 

in a material way the economy, a sector 

of the economy, productivity, 

competition, jobs, the environment, 

public health or safety, or State, local, 

or tribal governments or communities. 

The definition of an ‘‘economically 

significant’’ rule is similar but not 

identical to the definition of a ‘‘major’’ 

rule under 5 U.S.C. 801 (Pub. L. 104– 

121). (See below.) 

(2) Other Significant 

A rulemaking that is not 

Economically Significant but is 

considered Significant by the agency. 

This category includes rules that the 

agency anticipates will be reviewed 

under Executive Order 12866 or rules 

that are a priority of the agency head. 

These rules may or may not be included 

in the agency’s regulatory plan. 

(3) Substantive, Nonsignificant 

A rulemaking that has substantive 

impacts, but is neither Significant, nor 

Routine and Frequent, nor 

Informational/Administrative/Other. 

(4) Routine and Frequent 

A rulemaking that is a specific case of 

a multiple recurring application of a 

regulatory program in the Code of 

Federal Regulations and that does not 

alter the body of the regulation. 

(5) Informational/Administrative/Other 

A rulemaking that is primarily 

informational or pertains to agency 

matters not central to accomplishing the 

agency’s regulatory mandate but that the 

agency places in the Unified Agenda to 

inform the public of the activity. 

Major—whether the rule is ‘‘major’’ 

under 5 U.S.C. 801 (Pub. L. 104–121) 

because it has resulted or is likely to 

result in an annual effect on the 

economy of $100 million or more or 

meets other criteria specified in that 

Act. The Act provides that the 

Administrator of the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs will 

make the final determination as to 

whether a rule is major. 

Unfunded Mandates—whether the 

rule is covered by section 202 of the 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

(Pub. L. 104–4). The Act requires that, 

before issuing an NPRM likely to result 

in a mandate that may result in 

expenditures by State, local, and tribal 

governments, in the aggregate, or by the 

private sector of more than $100 million 

in 1 year, agencies, other than 

independent regulatory agencies, shall 

prepare a written statement containing 

an assessment of the anticipated costs 

and benefits of the Federal mandate. 

Legal Authority—the section(s) of the 

United States Code (U.S.C.) or Public 

Law (Pub. L.) or the Executive order 

(E.O.) that authorize(s) the regulatory 

action. Agencies may provide popular 

name references to laws in addition to 

these citations. 

CFR Citation—the section(s) of the 

Code of Federal Regulations that will be 

affected by the action. 

Legal Deadline—whether the action is 

subject to a statutory or judicial 

deadline, the date of that deadline, and 


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whether the deadline pertains to an 

NPRM, a Final Action, or some other 

action. 

Abstract—a brief description of the 

problem the regulation will address; the 

need for a Federal solution; to the extent 

available, alternatives that the agency is 

considering to address the problem; and 

potential costs and benefits of the 

action. 

Timetable—the dates and citations (if 

available) for all past steps and a 

projected date for at least the next step 

for the regulatory action. A date 

displayed in the form 12/00/19 means 

the agency is predicting the month and 

year the action will take place but not 

the day it will occur. In some instances, 

agencies may indicate what the next 

action will be, but the date of that action 

is ‘‘To Be Determined.’’ ‘‘Next Action 

Undetermined’’ indicates the agency 

does not know what action it will take 

next. 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required—whether an analysis is 

required by the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) because the 

rulemaking action is likely to have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities as 

defined by the Act. 

Small Entities Affected—the types of 

small entities (businesses, governmental 

jurisdictions, or organizations) on which 

the rulemaking action is likely to have 

an impact as defined by the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act. Some agencies have 

chosen to indicate likely effects on 

small entities even though they believe 

that a Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

will not be required. 

Government Levels Affected—whether 

the action is expected to affect levels of 

government and, if so, whether the 

governments are State, local, tribal, or 

Federal. 

International Impacts—whether the 

regulation is expected to have 

international trade and investment 

effects, or otherwise may be of interest 

to the Nation’s international trading 

partners. 

Federalism—whether the action has 

‘‘federalism implications’’ as defined in 

Executive Order 13132. This term refers 

to actions ‘‘that have substantial direct 

effects on the States, on the relationship 

between the national government and 

the States, or on the distribution of 

power and responsibilities among the 

various levels of government.’’ 

Independent regulatory agencies are not 

required to supply this information. 

Included in the Regulatory Plan— 

whether the rulemaking was included in 

the agency’s current regulatory plan 

published in fall 2017. 

Agency Contact—the name and phone 

number of at least one person in the 

agency who is knowledgeable about the 

rulemaking action. The agency may also 

provide the title, address, fax number, 

email address, and TDD for each agency 

contact. 

Some agencies have provided the 

following optional information: 

RIN Information URL—the internet 

address of a site that provides more 

information about the entry. 

Public Comment URL—the internet 

address of a site that will accept public 

comments on the entry. Alternatively, 

timely public comments may be 

submitted at the Governmentwide erulemaking site, http://

www.regulations.gov. 

Additional Information—any 

information an agency wishes to include 

that does not have a specific 

corresponding data element. 

Compliance Cost to the Public—the 

estimated gross compliance cost of the 

action. 

Affected Sectors—the industrial 

sectors that the action may most affect, 

either directly or indirectly. Affected 

sectors are identified by North 

American Industry Classification 

System (NAICS) codes. 

Energy Effects—an indication of 

whether the agency has prepared or 

plans to prepare a Statement of Energy 

Effects for the action, as required by 

Executive Order 13211 ‘‘Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use,’’ signed May 18, 

2001 (66 FR 28355). 

Related RINs—one or more past or 

current RIN(s) associated with activity 

related to this action, such as merged 

RINs, split RINs, new activity for 

previously completed RINs, or duplicate 

RINs. 

Statement of Need—a description of 

the need for the regulatory action. 

Summary of the Legal Basis—a 

description of the legal basis for the 

action, including whether any aspect of 

the action is required by statute or court 

order. 

Alternatives—a description of the 

alternatives the agency has considered 

or will consider as required by section 

4(c)(1)(B) of Executive Order 12866. 

Anticipated Costs and Benefits—a 

description of preliminary estimates of 

the anticipated costs and benefits of the 

action. 

Risks—a description of the magnitude 

of the risk the action addresses, the 

amount by which the agency expects the 

action to reduce this risk, and the 

relation of the risk and this risk 

reduction effort to other risks and risk 

reduction efforts within the agency’s 

jurisdiction. 

V. Abbreviations 

The following abbreviations appear 

throughout this publication: 

ANPRM—An Advance Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking is a preliminary 

notice, published in the Federal 

Register, announcing that an agency is 

considering a regulatory action. An 

agency may issue an ANPRM before it 

develops a detailed proposed rule. An 

ANPRM describes the general area that 

may be subject to regulation and usually 

asks for public comment on the issues 

and options being discussed. An 

ANPRM is issued only when an agency 

believes it needs to gather more 

information before proceeding to a 

notice of proposed rulemaking. 

CFR—The Code of Federal 

Regulations is an annual codification of 

the general and permanent regulations 

published in the Federal Register by the 

agencies of the Federal Government. 

The Code is divided into 50 titles, each 

title covering a broad area subject to 

Federal regulation. The CFR is keyed to 

and kept up to date by the daily issues 

of the Federal Register. 

E.O.—An Executive order is a 

directive from the President to 

Executive agencies, issued under 

constitutional or statutory authority. 

Executive orders are published in the 

Federal Register and in title 3 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations. 

FR—The Federal Register is a daily 

Federal Government publication that 

provides a uniform system for 

publishing Presidential documents, all 

proposed and final regulations, notices 

of meetings, and other official 

documents issued by Federal agencies. 

FY—The Federal fiscal year runs from 

October 1 to September 30. 

• NPRM—A Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking is the document an agency 

issues and publishes in the Federal 

Register that describes and solicits 

public comments on a proposed 

regulatory action. Under the 

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 

553), an NPRM must include, at a 

minimum: A statement of the time, 

place, and nature of the public 

rulemaking proceeding; 

• A reference to the legal authority 

under which the rule is proposed; and 

Either the terms or substance of the 

proposed rule or a description of the 

subjects and issues involved. 

PL (or Pub. L.)—A public law is a law 

passed by Congress and signed by the 

President or enacted over his veto. It has 

general applicability, unlike a private 

law that applies only to those persons 

or entities specifically designated. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 60 / Wednesday, March 31, 2021 / UA: Reg Flex Agenda 16853 

Public laws are numbered in sequence 

throughout the 2-year life of each 

Congress; for example, Public Law 112– 

4 is the fourth public law of the 112th 

Congress. 

RFA—A Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis is a description and analysis of 

the impact of a rule on small entities, 

including small businesses, small 

governmental jurisdictions, and certain 

small not-for-profit organizations. The 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 

et seq.) requires each agency to prepare 

an initial RFA for public comment when 

it is required to publish an NPRM and 

to make available a final RFA when the 

final rule is published, unless the 

agency head certifies that the rule 

would not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. 

RIN—The Regulation Identifier 

Number is assigned by the Regulatory 

Information Service Center to identify 

each regulatory action listed in the 

Regulatory Plan and the Unified 

Agenda, as directed by Executive Order 

12866 (section 4(b)). Additionally, OMB 

has asked agencies to include RINs in 

the headings of their Rule and Proposed 

Rule documents when publishing them 

in the Federal Register, to make it easier 

for the public and agency officials to 

track the publication history of 

regulatory actions throughout their 

development. 

Seq. No.—The sequence number 

identifies the location of an entry in the 

printed edition of the Regulatory Plan 

and the Unified Agenda. Note that a 

specific regulatory action will have the 

same RIN throughout its development 

but will generally have different 

sequence numbers if it appears in 

different printed editions of the Unified 

Agenda. Sequence numbers are not used 

in the online Unified Agenda. 

U.S.C.—The United States Code is a 

consolidation and codification of all 

general and permanent laws of the 

United States. The U.S.C. is divided into 

50 titles, each title covering a broad area 

of Federal law. 

VI. How can users get copies of the Plan 

and the Agenda? 

Copies of the Federal Register issue 

containing the printed edition of The 

Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda 

(agency regulatory flexibility agendas) 

are available from the Superintendent of 

Documents, U.S. Government 

Publishing Office, P.O. Box 371954, 

Pittsburgh, PA 15250–7954. Telephone: 

(202) 512–1800 or 1–866–512–1800 

(toll-free). 

Copies of individual agency materials 

may be available directly from the 

agency or may be found on the agency’s 

website. Please contact the particular 

agency for further information. 

All editions of The Regulatory Plan 

and the Unified Agenda of Federal 

Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions 

since fall 1995 are available in 

electronic form at http://reginfo.gov, 

along with flexible search tools. 

The Government Publishing Office’s 

GPO FDsys website contains copies of 

the Agendas and Regulatory Plans that 

have been printed in the Federal 

Register. These documents are available 

at http://www.fdsys.gov. 

Dated: December 3, 2020. 

Boris Arratia, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2021–04348 Filed 3–30–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–27–P 


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