8330 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 26 / Wednesday, February 7, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

1U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Report and 

Recommendations Concerning Access to Counsel at 

the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Pretrial Facilities 

(July 20, 2023), available at https://www.justice.gov/ 

d9/2023-07/2023.07.20_atj_bop_access_to_counsel_

report.pdf. 

2 Id., at i. 

3 Id. at 26. 

4 44 FR 38254, 38263–64, available at https://

www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1979-06-29/pdf/ 

FR-1979-06-29.pdf (p. 349 of the .pdf). 

intend to use the guidance to affect the 

issue finality of an approval under 10 

CFR part 52, ‘‘Licenses, Certifications, 

and Approvals for Nuclear Power 

Plants.’’ The staff also does not intend 

to use the guidance to support NRC staff 

actions in a manner that constitutes 

forward fitting as that term is defined 

and described in MD 8.4. If a licensee 

believes that the NRC is using this RG 

in a manner inconsistent with the 

discussion in the Implementation 

section of the RG, then the licensee may 

file a backfitting or forward fitting 

appeal with the NRC in accordance with 

the process in MD 8.4. 

V. Submitting Suggestions for 

Improvement of Regulatory Guides 

A member of the public may, at any 

time, submit suggestions to the NRC for 

improvement of existing RGs or for the 

development of new RGs. Suggestions 

can be submitted on the NRC’s public 

website at https://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/doc-collections/reg-guides/ 

contactus.html. Suggestions will be 

considered in future updates and 

enhancements to the ‘‘Regulatory 

Guide’’ series. 

Dated: February 1, 2024. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Meraj Rahimi, 

Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs 

Management Branch, Division of Engineering, 

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. 

[FR Doc. 2024–02407 Filed 2–6–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

Bureau of Prisons 

28 CFR Part 543 

[BOP–1175–I] 

RIN 1120–AB75 

Inmate Legal Activities: Visits by 

Attorneys 

AGENCY: Bureau of Prisons, Justice. 

ACTION: Interim final rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Prisons 

(Bureau) amends regulations in 28 CFR 

part 543, subpart B—Inmate Legal 

Activities to revise procedures 

governing attorney visits. 

DATES: 

Effective date: This rule is effective 

February 7, 2024. 

Comments: Written comments must 

be postmarked and electronic comments 

must be submitted on or before April 8, 

2024. Commenters should be aware that 

the electronic Federal Docket 

Management System will not accept 

comments after Midnight Eastern Time 

on the last day of the comment period. 

ADDRESSES: If you wish to provide 

comment regarding this rulemaking, you 

must submit comments, identified by 

the agency name and reference Docket 

No. BOP 1175 or RIN 1120–AB75, by 

one of the two methods below. 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

website instructions for submitting 

comments. The electronic Federal 

Docket Management System at 

www.regulations.gov will accept 

electronic comments until 11:59 p.m. 

Eastern Time on the comment due date. 

Mail: Paper comments that duplicate 

an electronic submission are 

unnecessary. If you wish to submit a 

paper comment in lieu of electronic 

submission, please direct the mail/ 

shipment to: Rules Administrator, 

Legislative and Correctional Issues 

Branch, Office of General Counsel, 

Bureau of Prisons, 320 First Street NW, 

Washington, DC 20534. To ensure 

proper handling, please reference the 

agency name and Docket No. BOP 1175 

or RIN 1120–AB75 on your 

correspondence. Mailed items must be 

postmarked or otherwise indicate a 

shipping date on or before the 

submission deadline. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Daniel J. Crooks III, Assistant General 

Counsel/Rules Administrator, Federal 

Bureau of Prisons, at the address above 

or at (202) 353–4885. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Please 

note that all comments received are 

considered part of the public record and 

made available for public inspection 

online at www.regulations.gov. If you 

want to submit personal identifying 

information (such as your name, 

address, etc.) as part of your comment, 

but do not want it to be posted online, 

you must include the phrase 

‘‘PERSONAL IDENTIFYING 

INFORMATION’’ in the first paragraph 

of your comment. You must also locate 

all the personal identifying information 

you do not want posted online in the 

first paragraph of your comment and 

identify what information you want 

redacted. 

If you want to submit confidential 

business information as part of your 

comment but do not want it to be posted 

online, you must include the phrase 

‘‘CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS 

INFORMATION’’ in the first paragraph 

of your comment. You must also 

prominently identify confidential 

business information to be redacted 

within the comment. If a comment 

contains so much confidential business 

information that it cannot be effectively 

redacted, all or part of that comment 

may not be posted www.regulations.gov. 

Personal identifying information 

identified and located as set forth above 

will be placed in the agency’s public 

docket file, but not posted online. 

Confidential business information 

identified and located as set forth above 

will not be placed in the public docket 

file. If you wish to inspect the agency’s 

public docket file in person by 

appointment, please see the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

paragraph. 

II. Background 

On July 20, 2023, the Deputy Attorney 

General issued a memorandum 

instructing the Bureau to implement the 

Report and Recommendations (Report) 

of the Advisory Group on Access to 

Counsel, which focused on access to 

counsel at Bureau pretrial facilities.1

The Report provides an overview of the 

Department of Justice’s (Department) 

approach to ensuring access to counsel 

in Bureau pretrial facilities and 

recommends specific measures to 

promote such access.2 Among the 30 

recommendations included is 

recommendation 2.1., which provides: 

Update BOP’s regulations related to 

scheduling legal visits to conform with 

current practice. BOP’s current regulations 

(28 CFR 543.13) state that all legal visits must 

be scheduled in advance. Although that 

provision may be reasonable for BOP 

facilities that do not have a pretrial mission, 

it is inconsistent with visitation policies and 

practices at 9 of BOP’s 10 pretrial facilities 

and with attorney preferences. BOP, in 

consultation with ATJ, should revise this 

regulation to allow for walk-in visits at all 

pretrial facilities.3

The current regulations governing 

attorney visits were promulgated on 

June 27, 1979,4 and have not been 

updated in 44 years. In the portion of 

the preamble addressing the addition of 

§ 543.13 those many years ago, the 

Bureau responded to some commenters 

and noted: 

Some objections were raised to the 

requirement in proposed § 540.46 that 

attorneys make advance appointments prior 

to visiting an inmate client, on the basis that 

attorneys, at least during regular visiting 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 26 / Wednesday, February 7, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 8331 

5 Id. at 38264. 

6 28 CFR 543.13(c). 

hours, should not be subject to any more 

stringent regulations than other visitors. The 

provision for attorney visits, however, is 

necessary given the arrangements which 

often must be made to provide added privacy 

for attorney client consultation. This by no 

means prohibits attorneys from making 

regular visits without prior appointments 

under the same conditions as other visitors.5

The Bureau welcomes this 

opportunity to further clarify 

procedures governing how attorneys can 

arrange to visit their clients. 

III. Discussion 

The Bureau agrees that an update to 

its attorney-visit regulations is needed 

to clarify current practices and the 

unique role of Bureau institutions with 

pretrial missions. Recognizing that the 

right to counsel safeguarded by the 

Sixth Amendment is critical for 

protecting fairness and accuracy in the 

criminal justice system, the Bureau 

embraces revisions to its attorney-visit 

regulations in order to expand access to 

this fundamental right. This interim 

final rule will encourage meaningful 

access to the right to counsel by 

amending the procedures whereby 

attorneys can request to visit their 

clients in pretrial detention within a 

Bureau institution. Accordingly, to give 

full effect to the Report’s 

recommendation 2.1, the Bureau revises 

two paragraphs within § 543.13. 

§ 543.13(c) 

The current version of § 543.13(c) 

provides that, to schedule any legal visit 

at any Bureau institution, an attorney 

must make an advance appointment for 

a visit through the warden, who in turn 

must make ‘‘every effort’’ to arrange for 

that visit when prior notification is not 

practical.6 Nothing in this paragraph 

distinguishes between Bureau 

institutions housing pretrial detainees 

and unsentenced individuals from 

Bureau institutions that house 

individuals who have been convicted. 

Therefore, the Bureau revises this 

paragraph to address pretrial detainees’ 

and unsentenced individuals’ right of 

access to counsel. 

There are two substantive changes to 

this paragraph. First, we added 

introductory language to distinguish 

Bureau institutions that house convicted 

individuals from those that house 

pretrial detainees and unsentenced 

individuals. With this qualifying 

language, we affirm the current 

attorney-visit procedures used by 

Bureau institutions that house only 

convicted individuals. Attorneys 

seeking to visit clients at one of these 

Bureau institutions are still required to 

make an advance appointment to visit 

their client, and the warden of the 

institution is still required to make 

every effort to accommodate a lastminute visit when advance notice is not 

practicable (i.e., not possible). Second, 

we revised the last sentence to refer 

specifically to Bureau institutions that 

house pretrial detainees and 

unsentenced individuals, emphasizing 

that those institutions must allow both 

scheduled and unscheduled attorney 

visits during designated attorney 

visitation hours. Both changes 

effectively revise the regulation to allow 

for walk-in attorney visits at all Bureau 

institutions that house pretrial detainees 

and unsentenced individuals. 

§ 543.13(e) 

In keeping with the theme and 

purpose of the Report, we have also 

decided to underscore the importance of 

attorney-client confidentiality during 

attorney visits by emphasizing that 

Bureau employees are prohibited from 

subjecting those visits to auditory 

supervision. To accomplish this, we 

deleted the permissive ‘‘may’’ and 

replaced it with the mandatory ‘‘shall’’ 

in the first sentence of the paragraph. 

IV. Regulatory Certifications 

Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 

14094 (Regulatory Review) 

The Department has determined that 

this rulemaking is not a ‘‘significant 

regulatory action’’ under section 3(f) of 

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory 

Planning and Review. Accordingly, this 

interim final rule has not been 

submitted to the Office of Management 

and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for review. This 

interim final rule has been drafted and 

reviewed in accordance with Executive 

Order 12866, ‘‘Regulatory Planning and 

Review,’’ section 1(b), Principles of 

Regulation; in accordance with 

Executive Order 13563, ‘‘Improving 

Regulation and Regulatory Review,’’ 

section 1(b), General Principles of 

Regulation, and in accordance with 

Executive Order 14094, ‘‘Modernizing 

Regulatory Review’’. 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

direct agencies to assess all costs and 

benefits of available regulatory 

alternatives and, if regulation is 

necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health, and safety 

effects, distributive impacts, and 

equity). Executive Order 13563 

emphasizes the importance of using the 

best available methods to quantify costs 

and benefits, reducing costs, 

harmonizing rules, and promoting 

flexibility. 

Executive Order 13132—Federalism 

This interim final rule will not have 

substantial direct effects on the States, 

on the relationship between the national 

government and the States, or on 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. Therefore, in 

accordance with Executive Order 13132, 

it is determined that this interim final 

rule does not have sufficient federalism 

implications to warrant the preparation 

of a Federalism Assessment. 

Executive Order 12988—Civil Justice 

Reform (Plain Language) 

This interim final rule meets the 

applicable standards set forth in 

sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of Executive 

Order 12988 to specify provisions in 

clear language. Pursuant to section 

3(b)(1)(I) of the Executive Order, 

nothing in this interim final rule or any 

previous rule (or in any administrative 

policy, directive, ruling, notice, 

guideline, guidance, or writing) directly 

relating to the Program that is the 

subject of this interim final rule is 

intended to create any legal or 

procedural rights enforceable against the 

United States. 

Executive Order 13175—Consultation 

and Coordination With Indian Tribal 

Governments 

As set forth more fully above in the 

Supplementary Information portion, 

this interim final rule will not result in 

substantial direct increased costs to 

Indian Tribal governments. 

Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 

553 

This interim final rule is a rule of 

agency organization, procedure, and 

practice and is, therefore, exempt from 

the notice requirement of 5 U.S.C. 

553(b), and is made immediately 

effective upon issuance. Further, to the 

extent this interim final rule affects 

entities other than the agency, the 

changes being made are merely 

technical in nature and impose no new 

restrictions. Accordingly, the Bureau of 

Prisons also finds good cause for 

exempting this interim final rule from 

the provision of the Administrative 

Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) requiring 

prior notice of proposed rulemaking, 

and delay in effective date. 

Nevertheless, the Bureau of Prisons is 

accepting post-promulgation public 

comments. 

‘‘Unless a statutory exception applies, 

the APA requires agencies to publish a 

notice of proposed rulemaking in the 


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8332 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 26 / Wednesday, February 7, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

Federal Register before promulgating a 

rule that has legal force.’’ Little Sisters 

of the Poor Sts. Peter & Paul Home v. 

Pennsylvania, 591 U.S. ---, 140 S. Ct. 

2367, 2384 (2020). The Administrative 

Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B)) 

allows exceptions to notice-andcomment rulemaking ‘‘when the agency 

for good cause finds . . . that notice and 

public procedure thereon are 

impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary 

to the public interest.’’ Further, 5 U.S.C. 

553(d) provides an exception to the 

usual requirement of a delayed effective 

date for a substantive rule that relieves 

a restriction, or when the agency finds 

‘‘good cause’’ that the rule be made 

immediately effective. 

An agency may find that notice and 

comment is ‘‘unnecessary’’ where the 

administrative rule is a routine 

determination, insignificant in nature 

and impact, and inconsequential to the 

industry and public. Mack Trucks, Inc. 

v. EPA, 682 F.3d 87, 94 (D.C. Cir. 2012); 

Util. Solid Waste Activities Grp. v. EPA, 

236 F.3d 749, 754–55 (D.C. Cir. 2001). 

Unlike previous Bureau interim final 

rules courts have addressed, this interim 

final rule is by its nature nonsubstantive, functioning only as 

updated guidance on attorney visits to 

Bureau institutions by specifically 

expanding access to counsel for pre-trial 

detainees in Bureau custody. Cf. 

Paulsen v. Daniels, 413 F.3d 999 (9th 

Cir. 2005) (holding the Bureau violated 

the APA by issuing an interim final rule 

that had ‘‘the effect . . . [of] deny[ing] 

program eligibility to certain categories 

of inmates . . .). 

This rulemaking is exempt from 

normal notice-and-comment procedures 

because advance notice in this instance 

is unnecessary. The change to this 

regulation is non-substantive, minor, 

routine, insignificant, and made only to 

clarify procedures for attorney visits at 

Bureau institutions and to further 

promote inmates’ right of access to 

counsel. This interim final rule makes 

no change to any rights or 

responsibilities of the agency or any 

regulated entities and, instead, seeks to 

promptly clarify procedures primarily 

for the benefit of current inmates and 

their attorneys who require access to 

them while they are housed at Bureau 

facilities designated for pretrial and 

presentenced detainees. For the same 

reasons, the Bureau finds that ‘‘good 

cause’’ exists to make this interim final 

rule immediately effective upon 

publication. Nevertheless, the Bureau of 

Prisons is accepting post-promulgation 

public comments. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

This interim final rule will not 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 one year (adjusted for 

inflation), and it will not significantly or 

uniquely affect small governments. 

Therefore, no actions were deemed 

necessary under the provisions of the 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 

1995. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Director has reviewed this 

regulation in accordance with the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 

605(b)) and has determined that this 

interim final rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

Further, a regulatory flexibility analysis 

is not required when the agency is not 

required to publish a general notice of 

proposed rulemaking, as is the case 

here. 5 U.S.C. 601(2), 604(a). 

Congressional Review Act 

This regulation is not a major rule as 

defined by the Congressional Review 

Act, 5 U.S.C. 804. 

List of Subjects in 28 CFR Part 543 

Prisoners, Legal activities. 

Accordingly, under rulemaking 

authority vested in the Attorney General 

in 5 U.S.C 301; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510 and 

delegated to the Director of the Bureau 

of Prisons in 28 CFR 0.96, the Bureau 

amends 28 CFR part 543 as follows. 

SUBCHAPTER C—INSTITUTIONAL 

MANAGEMENT 

PART 543—LEGAL MATTERS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 543 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 18 U.S.C. 3621, 

3622, 3624, 4001, 4042, 4081 (Repealed in 

part as to offenses committed on or after 

November 1, 1987), 5006–5024 (Repealed 

October 12, 1984 as to offenses committed 

after that date), 5039; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510 

1346(b), 2671–80; 28 CFR 0.95–0.99, 0.172, 

14.1–11. 

Subpart B—Inmate Legal Activities 

■ 2. In § 543.13, revise paragraph (c) and 

the first sentence of paragraph (e) to 

read as follows: 

§ 543.13 Visits by attorneys. 

* * * * * 

(c) For Bureau institutions that do not 

house pretrial detainees and 

unsentenced individuals, the attorney 

shall make an advance appointment for 

the visit through the Warden prior to 

each visit. However, the Warden shall 

make every effort to arrange for a visit 

when prior notification is not 

practicable. Bureau institutions that 

house pretrial detainees and 

unsentenced individuals will allow 

scheduled and unscheduled attorney 

visits during designated attorney 

visitation hours. 

* * * * * 

(e) Staff shall not subject visits 

between an attorney and an inmate to 

auditory supervision. * * * 

* * * * * 

Colette S. Peters, 

Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons. 

[FR Doc. 2024–02470 Filed 2–6–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4410–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

33 CFR Part 165 

[Docket No. USCG–2024–0105] 

Safety Zones in Reentry Sites; 

Jacksonville, Florida 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notification of enforcement of 

regulation. 

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is activating 

three safety zones for the AXIOM–3 

Commercial Crew mission reentry, 

vehicle splashdown, and recovery 

operations. These operations will occur 

in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone 

(EEZ). Our regulation for safety zones in 

reentry sites within the Seventh Coast 

Guard District identifies the regulated 

areas for this event. No U.S.-flagged 

vessel may enter the safety zones unless 

authorized by the Captain of the Port 

Savannah or a designated 

representative. Foreign-flagged vessels 

are encouraged to remain outside the 

safety zones. 

DATES: The regulations in 33 CFR 

165.T07–0806 will be enforced for the 

safety zones identified in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 

below for the dates and times specified. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you have questions about this 

notification of enforcement, call or 

email Lieutenant Junior Grade Anthony 

Harris, Marine Safety Unit Savannah, 

Waterways Division, U.S. Coast Guard; 

telephone 912–210–8714, email: 

Anthony.E.Harris@uscg.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: With this 

document, the Coast Guard Captain of 

the Port (COTP) Savannah is activating 


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