Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 243 / Wednesday, December 18, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 102703 

higher-level review of any denial, offers 

adequate and meaningful review of 

denials. 

One comment, seeking to ensure 

greater transparency about the 

Department’s decision-making process, 

raised concerns with the use of nonpublic information maintained by the 

State Department in the Department’s 

consultation process with the State 

Department. Consultation with the State 

Department may assist the Department 

in determining, in part, a claimant’s 

eligibility for benefits under the 

HAVANA Act. In particular, because a 

qualifying injury to the brain must have 

occurred in connection with war, 

insurgency, hostile act, terrorist activity, 

or other incidents designated by the 

Secretary of State or the Secretary of 

Commerce, consultation with the State 

Department may assist in determining 

whether an injury is connected to an 

incident designated by the Secretary of 

State. However, the State Department, 

not the Department of Commerce, 

determines whether such information is 

administratively controlled or made 

publicly available. 

Regulatory Analysis 

Administrative Procedure Act 

Because this rule is a matter relating 

to agency management or personnel or 

to public property, loans, grants, 

benefits, or contracts, it is exempt from 

the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553. See 5 

U.S.C. 553(a)(2). Furthermore, because 

this final rule does not change the 

regulatory provisions previously 

implemented by the IFR, a delay in 

effective date is unnecessary and 

therefore the Department finds good 

cause for this rule to take effect 

immediately. Furthermore, because this 

final rule does not change the regulatory 

provisions previously implemented by 

the IFR, a delay in effective date is 

unnecessary and therefore the 

Department finds good cause for this 

rule to take effect immediately. See 5 

U.S.C. 553 (d)(3). 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Chief Counsel for Regulations for 

the Department certified that this 

rulemaking does not have a significant 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. This rule applies only to certain 

individuals who are current and former 

Department employees and family 

members who are eligible for payments 

as a result of certain injuries. The rule 

provides for payments to certain 

individuals and is not expected to 

impact any small entities. As a result, a 

regulatory flexibility analysis is not 

required under the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601, et seq.), 

and none has been prepared. 

Executive Order 12866 and Executive 

Order 13563 

This rule has been determined to be 

a significant regulatory action under 

Executive Order 12866, as amended by 

Executive Order 14094. 

The Department has reviewed the rule 

to ensure its consistency with the 

regulatory philosophy and principles set 

forth in Executive Order 12866 and 

finds that the benefits of the rule (in 

providing mechanisms for individuals 

to obtain compensation for certain 

injuries) outweigh any costs to the 

public. The Department has also 

considered this rulemaking in light of 

Executive Order 13563 and affirms that 

this proposed regulation is consistent 

with the guidance therein. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501, 

et seq.) (PRA), the information 

collection associated with this final rule 

was approved by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) under 

OMB Control Number 0690–0037. 

Notwithstanding any other provision of 

the law, no person is required to 

respond to, nor shall any person be 

subject to a penalty for failure to comply 

with, a collection of information subject 

to the requirements of the PRA, unless 

that collection of information displays a 

currently valid OMB Control Number. 

Accordingly, the Department of 

Commerce adopts the interim rule 

published April 19, 2023, at 88 FR 

24110, as final without change. 

Dated: December 13, 2024. 

Jeremy Pelter, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

Administration, performing the non-exclusive 

functions and duties of the Chief Financial 

Officer and Assistant Secretary of Commerce 

for Administration, U.S. Department of 

Commerce. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29993 Filed 12–17–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–17–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

15 CFR Part 29 

[Docket No. 241211–0323] 

RIN 0605–AA57 

Promoting the Rule of Law Through 

Improved Agency Guidance 

Documents Rescission 

AGENCY: Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This final rule rescinds the 

Department’s regulations on guidance 

document procedures in accordance 

with a 2021 Executive order to revoke 

previous Executive orders concerning 

Federal regulation. 

DATES: This final rule is effective 

December 18, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Xenia Kler, Office of the Assistant 

General Counsel for Legislation and 

Regulation, 202–482–5354, or via email 

xkler1@doc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Executive Order 13891, ‘‘Promoting 

the Rule of Law Through Improved 

Agency Guidance Documents,’’ sought 

to ensure that when Federal agencies 

issue guidance documents, the agencies: 

do not treat those guidance documents 

alone as imposing binding obligations 

both in law and in practice, except as 

incorporated into a contract; take public 

input into account in formulating 

significant guidance documents; and 

make guidance documents readily 

available to the public. (84 FR 55235, 

Oct. 15, 2019). On September 28, 2020, 

the Department issued an interim final 

rule, ‘‘Promoting the Rule of Law 

Through Improved Agency Guidance 

Documents’’ to implement E.O. 13891. 

(85 FR 60694). The interim final rule 

established 15 CFR part 29 for guidance 

document procedures, procedures for 

withdrawal or modification requests 

from the public, and procedures for 

significant guidance documents. 

On January 20, 2021, President Biden 

issued E.O. 13992, ‘‘Revocation of 

Certain Executive Orders Concerning 

Federal Regulation,’’ revoking a number 

of Executive orders including E.O. 

13891. (86 FR 7049, Jan. 25, 2021). E.O. 

13992 directs agencies ‘‘to rescind any 

orders, rules, regulations, guidelines, or 

policies, or portions thereof, 

implementing or enforcing the revoked 

Executive orders.’’ 

After review and consideration, the 

Department concluded that its rule on 

guidance documents deprives the 

Department of necessary flexibility in 

determining when and how best to issue 

guidance based on particular facts and 

circumstances consistent with the 

policy directive in E.O. 13992. 

Therefore, the Department is issuing 

this final rule to rescind its regulations 

at 15 CFR part 29. The Department will 

continue to pursue ways to make its 

guidance documents more accessible to 

the public. Additionally, in accordance 

with M–09–13, ‘‘Guidance for 

Regulatory Review,’’ the Office of 

Management and Budget will continue 


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102704 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 243 / Wednesday, December 18, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

1Public Law 110–175; https://www.congress.gov/ 

bill/110th-congress/senate-bill/2488/text. 

2Public Law 114–185; https://www.congress.gov/ 

bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/337/text. 

3 88 FR 36980. 

4The Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires Federal 

agencies to use clear communication that the public 

can understand and use. Federal agencies are 

required to follow plain language principles; 

https://centerforplainlanguage.org/learningtraining/five-steps-plain-language/. In fiscal year 

2021, the Center for Plain Language graded Federal 

agencies’ Coronavirus Update pages and main FOIA 

web pages. SSA received an overall grade of B+ and 

received positive reviews on our FOIA main web 

page. 

to review the Department’s actions and 

documents subject to the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs 

review under E.O. 12866. These reviews 

include policy and guidance documents 

that OMB determines are significant. 

Classification 

This final rule is a rule of agency 

organization, procedure, or practice, 

codifying in the CFR the Department’s 

existing procedures. Therefore, pursuant 

to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A), notice and 

public comment are not required. 

Because a notice and public comment 

are not required for this rule by 5 U.S.C. 

553, or by any other law, the analytical 

requirements of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq., are 

not applicable. Accordingly, no 

regulatory flexibility analysis is required 

and none has been prepared. 

This rule has been determined to be 

not significant for purposes of Executive 

Order 12866. 

This rule does not have any collection 

of information requirements under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act. 

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 29 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Guidance documents. 

PART 29—[REMOVED AND 

RESERVED] 

■ For the reasons stated in the preamble 

and under the authority of 15 U.S.C. 

1512, the Department of Commerce 

amends subtitle A in title 15 of the Code 

of Federal Regulations by removing and 

reserving part 29. 

Dated: December 12, 2024. 

Nell Abernathy, 

Director, Office of Policy and Strategic 

Planning, U.S. Department of Commerce. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29890 Filed 12–17–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 

20 CFR Part 402 

[Docket No. SSA–2021–0049] 

RIN 0960–AI07 

Availability of Information and Records 

to the Public 

AGENCY: Social Security Administration. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Social Security 

Administration (SSA) is finalizing 

revisions to our Freedom of Information 

Act (FOIA) regulations to conform with 

the requirements of the FOIA 

Improvement Act of 2016. The FOIA 

Improvement Act of 2016 requires 

Federal agencies to issue regulations on 

procedures for disclosure of records 

consistent with the amendments to the 

FOIA by such Act. We are also 

finalizing the reorganization of our 

FOIA regulation to make our FOIA 

procedures easier for the public to 

understand and use. 

DATES: This rule is effective January 17, 

2025. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah Reagan, Office of Privacy and 

Disclosure, Social Security 

Administration, WHR G401, 6401 

Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 

21235, (410) 966–5855. 

For information on eligibility or filing 

for benefits, call our national toll-free 

number, 1–800–772–1213, or TTY 1– 

800–325–0778, or visit our internet site, 

Social Security Online, at https://

www.ssa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The FOIA is a Federal statute that 

allows the public to request records 

from the Federal government. The FOIA 

provides that any person has a right, 

enforceable in court, to obtain access to 

federal agency records subject to the 

FOIA, except to the extent that any 

portions of such records are protected 

from public disclosure by one of nine 

exemptions. Under the FOIA, agencies 

must make records specified in 5 U.S.C. 

552(a)(2) (e.g., instructional manuals 

issued to our employees, general 

statements of policy, other materials 

used in processing claims, etc.) 

available for public inspection in an 

electronic format. The FOIA also 

statutorily requires Federal agencies to 

annually report on numerous and 

various metrics to the Department of 

Justice (DOJ). 

Since the time the SSA became an 

agency independent of the Department 

of Health and Human Services, Congress 

enacted two significant laws. These 

laws, the Openness Promotes 

Effectiveness in our National 

Government Act of 2007 (OPEN 

Government Act of 2007) 1 and the FOIA 

Improvement Act of 2016,2 guide how 

agencies implement the requirements of 

the FOIA. We are finalizing our 

proposed updates and revisions to our 

regulation at 20 CFR part 402 to 

conform with these laws, as well as the 

FOIA Improvement Act of 2016’s 

requirement to issue regulations on 

procedures for disclosure of records in 

accordance with its amendments. 

On June 6, 2023, we published a 

notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) 

to update, reorganize, and clarify our 

FOIA processes for the public.3 In the 

NPRM, we proposed comprehensive 

revisions to the entirety of 20 CFR part 

402. This reorganization starts with our 

FOIA policies and procedures for 

processing FOIA requests and concludes 

with information on records available 

for public inspection. Our revisions, 

finalized here with some modifications 

from the NPRM, streamline our FOIA 

regulations at part 402 by creating new 

sections, consolidating sections based 

on content, and revising section 

headings to more clearly capture the 

information contained therein. We also 

proposed updates to reflect office name 

changes, as well as general text changes 

consistent with the plain language 

initiative.4

Our proposed revisions to our FOIA 

regulation at 20 CFR part 402, which we 

are finalizing with minor revisions, are 

supported by the requirements of the 

OPEN Government Act of 2007 and the 

FOIA Improvement Act of 2016. 

These changes also correlate with the 

guidelines on the FOIA that Attorney 

General Merrick Garland issued within 

his March 2022 Memorandum for Heads 

of Executive Departments and Agencies. 

As summarized by DOJ’s Office of 

Information Policy, Attorney General 

Garland’s memorandum ‘‘direct[s] the 

heads of all executive branch 

departments and agencies to apply a 

presumption of openness in 

administering the FOIA and make clear 

that the Justice Department will not 

defend nondisclosure decisions that fail 

to do so.’’ Attorney General Garland 

stated that proactive disclosures are 

‘‘fundamental to the faithful application 

of FOIA,’’ and advised agencies of the 

need ‘‘to remove barriers to access and 

to help requesters understand the FOIA 

process and the nature and scope of the 

records the agency maintains.’’ 

In the NPRM, and in this final rule, 

we explained and justified the 

rulemaking on the requirements of the 


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