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[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 16, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 8940-8942]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-3492]

[[Page 8940]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

14 CFR Chapters I, II, III

23 CFR Chapters I, II, III

46 CFR Chapter II

48 CFR Chapter 12

49 CFR Chapters I, II, III and V, VI, VII, VIII, X, XI

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2011-0025]

Regulatory Review of Existing DOT Regulations

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Executive Order 13563, ``Improving 
Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' the Department of Transportation 
(Department or DOT) is conducting a review of its existing regulations 
to evaluate their continued validity and determine whether they are 
crafted effectively to solve current problems. As part of this review, 
the Department invites the public to participate in a comment process 
designed to help the Department ensure that it has a plan for 
periodically analyzing existing significant rules to determine whether 
they should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed and 
identify specific rules that may be outmoded, ineffective, 
insufficient, or excessively burdensome. The Department also will hold 
a public meeting to discuss and consider comments from members of the 
public.

DATES: Comments should be received on or before April 1, 2011. Late-
filed comments will be considered to the extent practicable. In 
addition, the Department will hold a public meeting beginning at 9:30 
a.m. ET on March 14, 2011, at the DOT headquarters, to discuss the 
regulatory review and take public comments. Commenters wishing to have 
time allocated to them at the public meeting should submit initial 
comments by March 3, 2011, and clearly indicate their desire to have 
time allocated at the public meeting.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments to Docket DOT-OST-2011-0025 by any 
of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the instructions for sending your 
comments electronically.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. 
If you submit comments by mail and would like to know that they reached 
the facility, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope or 
postcard.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m. ET., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
    To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods. 
All comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any personal information you 
provide.
    Docket: To read background documents or comments received, go to 
http://www.regulations.gov and click on the ``read comments'' box in 
the upper right hand side of the screen. Then, in the ``Keyword'' box 
insert ``OST-2011-0025'' and click ``Search.'' Next, click the ``Open 
Docket Folder'' in the ``Actions'' column. Finally, in the ``Title'' 
column, click on the document you would like to review. If you do not 
have access to the Internet, you may view the docket online by visiting 
the Docket Management Facility in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of 
the Department of Transportation West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, 
SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Neil R. Eisner, Assistant General 
Counsel for Regulation and Enforcement, Department of Transportation, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590; (202) 366-4723. E-
mail: neil.eisner@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Executive Order 13563

    On January 18, 2011, President Obama issued Executive Order 13563, 
which outlined a plan to improve regulation and regulatory review (76 
FR 3821, 1/21/11). Executive Order 13563 reaffirms and builds upon 
governing principles of contemporary regulatory review, including 
Executive Order 12866, ``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' (58 FR 
51735, 10/4/1993), by requiring Federal agencies to design cost-
effective, evidence-based regulations that are compatible with economic 
growth, job creation, and competitiveness. The President's plan 
recognizes that these principles should not only guide the Federal 
government's approach to new regulation, but to existing ones as well. 
To that end, Executive Order 13563 requires agencies to review existing 
significant rules to determine if they are outmoded, ineffective, 
insufficient, or excessively burdensome.
    To facilitate this review, Executive Order 13563 requires each 
agency to develop and submit to the Office of Management and Budget's 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs a preliminary plan for 
retrospectively analyzing existing rules. Specifically, the Department 
must provide a plan for periodically reviewing existing significant 
regulations to determine whether any such regulations should be 
modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed so as to make the 
Department's regulatory program more effective or less burdensome in 
achieving the Department's regulatory objectives.
    As Executive Order 13563 reaffirms, the regulatory process must be 
transparent and provide opportunities for public participation. The 
Department particularly believes, given its broad regulatory 
responsibility, this participation should extend to the Department's 
obligations under the Executive Order to conduct a retrospective review 
of existing regulations. This review will be more meaningful if it 
involves input from those affected by the Department's regulations.

DOT's Regulatory Responsibility

    The mission of the Department is to serve the United States by 
ensuring a safe, fast, efficient, accessible, and convenient 
transportation system that meets our vital national interests and 
enhances the quality of life of the American people, today and into the 
future. The Department carries out its mission through the Office of 
the Secretary (OST) and the following operating administrations (OAs): 
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); Federal Highway Administration 
(FHWA); Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA); Federal 
Railroad Administration (FRA); Federal Transit Administration (FTA); 
Maritime Administration (MARAD); National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration (NHTSA); Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety 
Administration

[[Page 8941]]

(PHMSA); Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA); and 
St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC). Although the 
Surface Transportation Board (STB) is a component of DOT, it is 
organizationally independent and, as a result, the Department does not 
have responsibility for the STB's regulatory agenda.
    DOT has statutory responsibility for a wide range of regulations. 
For example, DOT regulates safety in the aviation, motor carrier, 
railroad, motor vehicle, commercial space, and pipeline transportation 
areas. DOT regulates aviation consumer and economic issues, and 
provides financial assistance and writes the necessary implementing 
rules for programs involving highways, airports, mass transit, the 
maritime industry, railroads, and motor transportation and vehicle 
safety. It writes regulations carrying out such disparate statutes as 
the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Uniform Time Act. Finally, 
DOT has responsibility for developing policies that implement a wide 
range of regulations that govern programs such as acquisition and 
grants management, access for people with disabilities, environmental 
protection, energy conservation, information technology, occupational 
safety and health, property asset management, seismic safety, security, 
and the use of aircraft and vehicles.

DOT's Existing Process for Reviewing Rules

    The Department has long recognized that there should be no more 
regulations than necessary and those that are issued should be simple, 
comprehensible, and impose as little burden as necessary. Likewise, the 
Department understands that review and revision of existing regulations 
is essential to ensure that they continue to meet the needs for which 
they originally were designed and remain cost-effective and cost-
justified. The Department regularly makes a conscientious effort to 
review its rules in accordance with the Department's 1979 Regulatory 
Policies and Procedures (44 FR 11034, 2/26/1979), Executive Order 
12866, and section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
    The Department follows a repeating 10-year plan for the review of 
our existing regulations, which is set forth in our semi-annual 
Regulatory Agenda published in the Federal Register (see Appendix D to 
``Department Regulatory Agenda; Semiannual Summary'' published on 
December 20, 2010 (75 FR 79812)). The reviews conducted under this plan 
comply with section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. OST and most 
OAs have also elected to use this repeating 10-year plan to comply with 
the review requirements of the Department's Regulatory Policies and 
Procedures and Executive Order 12866. Generally, the agencies have 
divided their rules into 10 different groups and analyze one group each 
year, then start over again. We regularly invite public participation 
in those reviews and seek general suggestions on rules that should be 
revised or revoked. In the fall Regulatory Agenda, we publish 
information on the results of the examinations completed during the 
previous year. We are now engaged in our second 10-year review.
    The FAA, in addition to following a 10-year review plan in 
accordance with section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, has 
established a triennial process to comply with other review 
requirements. The FAA's latest notice was published November 15, 2007 
(72 FR 64170). NHTSA conducts an evaluation of both the costs and 
benefits of each of its significant rules approximately 4 years after 
the effective date on which 100 percent of the annual production of all 
types of vehicles subject to the rule must comply with the rule. This 
interval is necessary to ensure that sufficient crash data are 
available for the agency to determine whether a statistically 
significant reduction in crashes, injuries, and fatalities has 
occurred. Other OAs also conduct periodic public reviews to focus on 
specific issues or to obtain comments on rulemaking priorities. 
Moreover, under 49 CFR part 5, anyone may petition the Department for 
rulemaking or for an amendment or exemption to a rule.
    As part of implementing Executive Order 13563, we will assess our 
current processes for reviewing rules and examine whether our approach 
should be modified going forward. While the Department may use these 
existing processes as significant inputs into its preliminary plan, the 
Department strongly encourages all parties affected by DOT regulations 
to comment on opportunities to improve our current review processes in 
a manner that best addresses the principles outlined in Executive Order 
13563.

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    DOT is an active regulatory agency with broad regulatory 
responsibilities. A robust regulatory program being essential to our 
mission, it is all the more important that we maintain a consistent 
culture of retrospective review and analysis. Thus, to implement 
Executive Order 13563, the Department solicits the views of the public 
on the following matters.
    The public is first asked to comment on how the Department should 
devise a preliminary plan, with a defined method and schedule, for 
identifying certain significant rules that may be obsolete, 
unnecessary, unjustified, excessively burdensome, or counterproductive. 
Comments might address how best to evaluate and analyze regulations in 
order to expand on those that work and to modify, improve, or rescind 
those that do not. Comments might usefully address how the Department 
can best obtain and consider accurate, objective information and data 
about the costs, burdens, and benefits of existing regulations and 
whether there are existing sources of data that the Department can use 
to evaluate the post-promulgation effects of regulations over time. The 
Department is particularly interested in the public's views about how 
well its current processes for reviewing regulations function and how 
those processes might be expanded or otherwise adapted to meet the 
objectives of Executive Order 13563. The Department is further 
interested in comments about factors that the Department should 
consider in setting priorities and selecting rules for review. Our 
initial selection criteria for these rules are currently based on the 
factors listed below, on which we seek public comment.
    The Department intends for its preliminary plan to include an 
initial list of candidate rules for review. The Department solicits 
suggestions for specific rules that should be on that list. In 
nominating candidate rules for this list, commenters might usefully 
address, among other things, opportunities to use the Department's 
review process to achieve the following objectives: (1) Promote 
economic growth, innovation, competitiveness, and job creation; (2) 
eliminate outdated regulations; (3) lessen the burdens imposed on those 
directly or indirectly affected by our regulations, increase the 
benefits provided to the public by our regulations, and improve the 
cost-benefit balance of our regulations; (4) lessen burdens imposed on 
small entities; (5) eliminate duplicative or overlapping regulations; 
(6) reduce paperwork by eliminating duplication, lessening frequency, 
allowing electronic submission, standardizing forms, exempting small 
entities, or other means; (7) eliminate conflicts and inconsistencies 
in the Department's regulations and those of its own agencies or other 
Federal agencies or state, local, or tribal governmental

[[Page 8942]]

bodies; (8) simplify or clarify language in regulations; (9) revise 
regulations to address changes in technology, economic conditions, or 
other factors; (10) determine if matters in an existing regulation 
could be better handled fully by the states without Federal 
regulations; (11) reduce burdens by incorporating international or 
industry consensus standards into regulations; (12) reconsider 
regulations that were based on scientific or other information that has 
been discredited or superseded; and (13) expand regulations that are 
insufficient to address their intended objectives or to obtain 
additional benefits.
    Comments should focus on regulations that have demonstrated 
deficiencies. Comments that rehash debates over recently issued rules 
will be less useful. Particularly where comments relate to a rule's 
costs or benefits, comments will be most useful if there are data and 
experience under the rule available to ascertain the rule's actual 
impact. For that reason, we encourage the public to emphasize those 
rules that have been in effect for a sufficient amount of time to 
warrant a fair evaluation. Furthermore, the public should focus on rule 
changes that will achieve a broad public impact, rather than an 
individual personal or corporate benefit. Where feasible, comments 
should reference a specific regulation, by Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR) cite, and provide the Department information on what needs fixing 
and why. Comments do not necessarily need to address how to fix the 
perceived problem, though such comments are welcome. Lastly, we also 
want to stress that this review is for existing rules; the public 
should not use this process to submit comments on proposed rules.
    The public meeting will begin with a discussion of and taking 
comments on the Department's preliminary plan for regulatory review 
required by Executive Order 13563. After that, we plan to allow for 
comments on candidate rules for review. The Department's General 
Counsel will preside over the meeting. Other senior officials from the 
Department and its OAs will also attend. It is our intent that the 
public meeting will provide an opportunity for these officials to 
interact with individuals or stakeholder representatives. To enable 
them to effectively participate in the public meeting, they will need 
some information in advance. As a result, we are establishing the 
following process.
    1. Suggestions for Discussion at Public Meeting:
    a. By March 3, 2011, the Department requests that commenters submit 
their suggestions for discussion at the public meeting and indicate 
whether they want time allocated to them at the public meeting. 
Commenters are welcome to indicate how much time they would like to be 
allocated, but the Department reserves the right to allocate time as 
necessary to ensure that as many commenters as possible may participate 
in the public meeting in a meaningful manner.
    b. The initial comments from those intending to participate in the 
public meeting should contain enough details to permit DOT officials to 
sufficiently prepare and ask questions.
    c. The initial comments may be augmented anytime before the end of 
the full comment period.
    d. Anyone who needs auxiliary aids and services, such as sign 
language interpreters, to effectively participate in the meeting should 
contact the Department via the ``FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT'' 
information provided above.
    2. Public Meeting:
    a. After receiving this initial round of public comment, the 
Department will organize those suggestions by topic and OA for 
discussion during the public meeting.
    b. By having the public meeting after receiving initial public 
comment and by organizing the discussion around topics and OAs, the 
Department will be better positioned to discuss issues regarding a 
particular rule, broad category of rules, or affected group or 
industry, rather than merely recording public comment for later review.
    c. The Department will hold its public meeting beginning at 9:30 
a.m. ET on March 14, 2011 at the Department of Transportation, West 
Building, Ground Floor, DOT Conference Center, Oklahoma Room, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC. We will make a meeting outline 
available on http://regs.dot.gov in advance of the meeting. 
Furthermore, we are exploring the use of technology to enable remote 
participation in the meeting. We will update http://regs.dot.gov with 
information about opportunities for the public to participate remotely.
    3. Other Written Comments:
    The Department will continue to accept written comments through 
April 1, 2011. Those who do not wish to attend the public meeting may, 
of course, submit comments at any time during the comment period.
    4. Follow-up Action by DOT:
    a. We will place a transcript or summary of the public meeting in 
our public docket (http://www.regulations.gov) as soon as possible 
after the end of the meeting. We note that because the docket is 
Internet accessible, it should allow those with Internet access to 
review those proceedings as well as other comments. We hope this will 
further improve the interchange of ideas.
    b. This review will provide meaningful and significant input to the 
Secretary, the General Counsel, OA Administrators, and other DOT senior 
officials. As soon as possible, depending on the number of comments we 
receive and the issues raised, the Department will publish a report 
providing at least a brief response to the comments we have received, 
including a description of any further action we intend to take.

Regulatory Notices

    Privacy Act: Anyone may search the electronic form of comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.) You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/browse.html and browse under 2000 for April 11, 
looking under Department of Transportation.

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 610; E.O. 13563, 76 FR 3821, Jan. 21 2011; 
E.O. 12866, 58 FR 51735, Oct. 4, 1993.

    Issued on February 10, 2011, in Washington, DC.
Robert S. Rivkin,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2011-3492 Filed 2-11-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P
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