[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 17 (Thursday, January 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4997-4998]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-01404]


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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET


Agency Information Collection Activities; Request for Comments; 
Information on Meetings With Outside Parties

AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the 
President.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is proposing to revise the 
information collection 0348-0065 that it uses for members of the public 
who request a meeting with OIRA on rules under review. The information 
collected would be subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and 
this notice announces and requests comment on OIRA's proposal for such 
a collection.

DATES: Provide comments within 30 days of January 25, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments by the following method:
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments to https://www.regulations.gov, 
will be posted to the docket unchanged. Please submit comments only and 
cite ``Information Collection 0348-0065'' in all correspondence related 
to this collection. To confirm receipt of your comment(s), please check 
regulations.gov, approximately two to three business days after 
submission to verify.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lisa Jones, 202-395-5897.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Information on Meetings with Outside Parties Pursuant to 
Executive Order 12866.
    Abstract: Executive Order 12866, ``Regulatory Planning and 
Review,'' issued by President Clinton on September 30, 1993, as 
amended, establishes and governs the process under which OIRA reviews 
agency draft proposed and final regulatory actions. The Executive Order 
also establishes a disclosure process regarding the OIRA 
Administrator's (or his/her designee's) meetings with outside parties 
during formal review of a regulatory action (E.O. 12866 meetings) if 
such meetings occur.
    Summary of Current Meeting Process. OIRA currently discloses the 
subject, date, and participants of the E.O. 12866 meeting on the 
Reginfo.gov website, as well as any materials provided to OIRA at such 
meetings.
    These meetings occur at the initiative and request of outside 
parties who request a meeting to present views on a regulatory action 
under OIRA review. OIRA invites representatives from the agency or 
agencies that would issue the regulatory action. If such meetings 
occur, OIRA does not take minutes during the meeting but would post on 
RegInfo.gov any written materials provided by outside parties during 
these meetings, including the initial meeting request.
    To help ensure transparency associated with meetings pursuant to 
Executive Order 12866, OIRA collects and discloses the following 
information from outside parties that request a meeting with OIRA to 
present their views on a regulatory action currently under review:
    1. The name of the regulatory action under review on which the 
party would like to present its views.
    2. Names of all attendees who will be present at the meeting from 
the outside party or parties, including each attendee's organization or 
affiliation.
    3. Electronic copies of all briefing materials provided by the 
requester that will be used during the presentation.
    4. An acknowledgment by the requesting party that all information 
submitted to OIRA pursuant to this collection and meeting request will 
be made publicly available at Reginfo.gov.
    Proposed Revisions. OMB is considering revisions to this 
information collection with the goal of collecting additional 
information from meeting requesters to facilitate further transparency, 
as well as improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the meeting 
request process. Such information includes:
    <bullet> Narrative descriptions accompanying meeting requests. An 
optional narrative description, provided by the requester, that states 
the purpose of the meeting and a brief, informal summary of the views 
they anticipate presenting. This information, which would be disclosed, 
would help OIRA

[[Page 4998]]

and action agencies invite the appropriate government officials, 
particularly when regulatory actions may address many subjects and have 
many separate provisions.
    <bullet> Meeting requesters and represented interests. Individual 
or organizational meeting requesters often request meetings on behalf 
of themselves. Sometimes, however, a meeting requester does so on 
behalf of another individual or organization with interests in the 
regulatory action. For example, a law firm or government affairs firm 
may request an E.O. 12866 meeting on behalf of a client who has a stake 
in the regulatory action. In other cases, a congressional office may 
facilitate a meeting request for an individual constituent concerned 
about a rulemaking. OIRA thus proposes to collect information in 
mandatory fields on the (1) name of the individual requesting the 
meeting; (2) the meeting requester's organization, if any; (3) the name 
of the individual or organization whose interests are being 
represented; and (4) if the previous field names an individual, the 
individual's organizational affiliation, if any.
    This information would facilitate transparency about who requests 
E.O. 12866 meetings, the interests represented, and the types of 
organizations involved. In addition, OIRA will also continue to take 
meeting attendance and, when feasible, update this information for the 
public record in cases where participant information is not initially 
provided.
    <bullet> Previous request or participation in an E.O. 12866 
meeting. OIRA proposes to require meeting requesters (the individual 
participants rather than their representatives) to note whether they 
have previously requested or participated in an E.O. 12866 meeting on 
any regulatory action within the last three years. This information, 
which would be disclosed, would allow OIRA to track participation of 
members of the public that have not historically requested meetings. In 
addition, OIRA proposes to ask and disclose whether a requester has 
previously requested or participated in an E.O. 12866 meeting 
associated with the specific regulatory action (at the same stage of 
the regulatory process).
    <bullet> Request for accommodations. OIRA also welcomes meeting 
requesters to specify whether any accommodations are requested.
    OIRA welcomes any and all public comments on the proposed revisions 
to the collection of information, such as the accuracy of OIRA's burden 
estimate, the practical utility of collecting this information, and 
whether there are additional pieces of information that could be 
collected from meeting requesters to further the disclosure provisions 
of Executive Order 12866.
    Current actions: Proposal for revising an existing information 
collection requirement.
    Type of review: Revision.
    Affected public: Individuals and Households, Businesses and 
Organizations, State, Local, Territorial, or Tribal Governments.
    Expected average annual number of respondents: 300.
    Average annual number of responses per respondent: 2.
    Total number of responses annually: 600.
    Burden per response: 15 minutes.
    Total average annual burden: 150 hours.
    Request for comments: OMB anticipates that comments submitted in 
response to this notice will be summarized or included in the request 
for OMB approval. Comments are invited on: (a) whether the collection 
of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions 
of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including 
through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs 
and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to 
provide information. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial 
resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, 
or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the 
time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install, and 
utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, 
validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining 
information, and disclosing and providing information; to respond to a 
collection of information, search data sources, and complete and review 
the collection of information; to transmit or otherwise disclose the 
information; and to train personnel to be able to carry out the 
foregoing tasks.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number.
    Privacy Act Statement: Response to this request for comment is 
voluntary. The information will be used to inform sound decision-making 
regarding OIRA's information collection. Please note that all 
submissions received in response to this notice may be posted on 
https://www.regulations.gov/ or otherwise released in their entirety, 
including any personal and business confidential information provided. 
Do not include in your submissions any information of a confidential 
nature, such as personal or proprietary information; or any information 
you would not like to be made publicly available. The OMB System of 
Records Notice, OMB Public Input System of Records, OMB/INPUT/01, 88 FR 
20913 (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/07/2023-07452/privacy-act-of-1974-system-of-records), includes a list of routine uses 
associated with the collection of this information.

Richard L. Revesz,
Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2024-01404 Filed 1-24-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110-01-P