Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/04/20/2020-07523/administrative-guidance
Timestamp: 2020-07-13 21:22:25
Document Index: 278672013

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 1473', 'art 1473', 'art 1473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473', '§\u20091473']

Federal Register :: Administrative Guidance
A Rule by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service on 04/20/2020
Effective on May 20, 2020.
85 FR 21770
21770-21773 (4 pages)
29 CFR 1473
3076-AA15
2020-07523
List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 1473
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2020-07523
This final rule sets forth the Service's procedures governing the issuance of guidance documents as required by the Executive order titled “Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents”.
Sarah Cudahy, Office of the General Counsel, 202-606-8090, scudahy@fmcs.gov.
This final rule, which adds to the Code of Federal Regulations at 49 part 1473, is adopted pursuant to Executive Order 13891, titled: “Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents” (October 9, 2019). In that Executive order, Federal agencies are required to finalize regulations, or amend existing regulations as necessary, to set forth processes and procedures for issuing guidance documents.
Under the Administrative Procedure Act, an agency may waive the normal notice and comment procedures if the action is a rule of agency organization, procedure, or practice. See 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A). As this final rule merely codifies procedures applicable to the Service's administrative procedures into the Code of Federal Regulations, notice and comment are not necessary.
The Office of Management and Budget has determined that this rulemaking is not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866. The Service does not anticipate that this rulemaking will have an economic impact on regulated entities. This is a rule of agency procedure and practice. The Start Printed Page 21771final rule describes the Service's procedures for processing of guidance documents. The Service has adopted these internal procedures as required by Executive Order 13891, and has not incurred any additional resource costs in doing so. The adoption of these practices has been accomplished through the use of existing agency resources, and it is anticipated that the public will benefit from the resulting increase in efficiency in delivery of government services.
Executive Order 13132 requires agencies to ensure meaningful and timely input by State and local officials in the development of regulatory policies that may have a substantial, direct effect 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. This action has been analyzed in accordance with the principles and criteria contained in Executive Order 13132 (August 4, 1999), and the Service has determined that this action will not have a substantial direct effect or federalism implications on the States and would not preempt any State law or regulation or affect the States' ability to discharge traditional State governmental functions. Therefore, consultation with the States is not necessary.
This final rule has been analyzed in accordance with the principles and criteria contained in Executive Order 13175, “Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments.” Because this rulemaking does not significantly or uniquely affect the communities of the Indian tribal governments or impose substantial direct compliance costs on them, the funding and consultation requirements of Executive Order 13175 do not apply.
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) requires that FMCS consider the impact of paperwork and other information collection burdens imposed on the public and, under the provisions of PRA section 3507(d), obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of information it conducts, sponsors, or requires through regulations. The Service has determined there are no new information collection requirements associated with this final rule.
The agency has analyzed the environmental impacts of this action pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and has determined that it does not apply. The purpose of this rulemaking is to formalize the Service's administrative procedures for guidance documents. The agency does not anticipate any environmental impacts, and there are no extraordinary circumstances present in connection with this rulemaking.
A regulation identifier number (RIN) is assigned to each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations. The Regulatory Information Service Center publishes the Unified Agenda in the spring and fall of each year. The RIN contained in the heading of this document can be used to cross reference this action with the Unified Agenda.
Issued in Washington, DC on April 6, 2020.
Gregory Goldstein,
In consideration of the foregoing, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service adds 29 CFR part 1473 to read as follows:
Definition of guidance document.
Review and clearance by the Office of the General Counsel.
Public access to guidance documents.
Waiver of publication of guidance documents.
Definition of significant guidance document.
Procedure for guidance documents identified as “significant”.
Petitions to withdraw or modify guidance.
§ 1473.1
§ 1473.2
(5) Agency statements of specific applicability, including advisory or legal opinions directed to particular parties about circumstance-specific questions (e.g., case or investigatory letters responding to complaints, warning letters), notices regarding particular locations or facilities (e.g., guidance pertaining to the use, operation, or control of a Government facility or property), and Start Printed Page 21772correspondence with individual persons or entities (e.g., congressional correspondence), except documents ostensibly directed to a particular party but designed to guide the conduct of the broader regulated public;
§ 1473.3
All Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service guidance documents, as defined in § 1473.2, require review and clearance in accordance with this subpart. All guidance proposed to be issued by the Service must be reviewed and cleared by the Office of General Counsel.
§ 1473.4
§ 1473.5
(b) Ensure all effective guidance documents, identified by a unique identifier as described in § 1473.4(b)(4), are on the guidance portal in a single, searchable, indexed database, and available to the public;
(d) Maintain and publish on the Service's guidance portal a means for the public to comment electronically on any guidance documents that are subject to the notice-and-comment procedures, and to submit requests electronically for issuance, reconsideration, modification, or rescission of guidance documents in accordance with § 1473.11;
§ 1473.6
§ 1473.7
Even though not legally binding, some agency guidance may result in a substantial economic impact. For example, the issuance of agency guidance may induce private parties to alter their conduct to conform to recommended standards or practices, thereby incurring costs beyond the costs of complying with existing statutes and regulations. While it may be difficult to predict with precision the economic impact of voluntary guidance, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) shall, to the extent practicable, make a good faith effort to estimate the likely economic cost impact of the guidance document to determine whether the document might be significant. When FMCS is assessing or explaining whether it believes a guidance document is significant, it shall, at a minimum, provide the same level of analysis that is required for a major determination under the Congressional Review Act.[1] When FMCS, in consultation with OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), determines that a guidance document will be economically significant, FMCS will conduct and publish a Regulatory Impact Analysis of the sort that would accompany an economically significant rulemaking, to the extent reasonably possible.
§ 1473.8
(b) The term significant guidance document does not include the categories of documents excluded by § 1473.2 or any other category of guidance documents exempted in writing by the Office of General Counsel in consultation with OIRA.
§ 1473.9
§ 1473.10
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, all proposed Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service guidance documents determined to be a “significant guidance document” within the meaning of § 1473.8 shall be subject to the following informal notice-and-comment procedures. The Office of General Counsel shall publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing that a draft of the proposed guidance document is publicly available, shall post the draft guidance document on its website, shall invite public comment on the draft document for a minimum of 30 days, and shall prepare and post a public response to major concerns raised in the comments, as appropriate, on its guidance portal, either before or when the guidance document is finalized and issued.
§ 1473.11
(a) Any person may petition the Office of General Counsel to withdraw or modify a particular guidance document as specified by § 1473.5(d).
§ 1473.12
§ 1473.13
§ 1473.14
Unless otherwise determined in writing by the Office of General Counsel, it is the policy of the Service that upon issuing a guidance document determined to be “significant” within the meaning of § 1473.8, the Director will submit a report to Congress and GAO in accordance with the procedures described in 5 U.S.C. 801 (the “Congressional Review Act”).
§ 1473.15
1. See OMB Memorandum M-19-14, Guidance on Compliance with the Congressional Review Act (April 11, 2019).
[FR Doc. 2020-07523 Filed 4-17-20; 8:45 am]