Opinion ID: 2446
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether the 1999 State Department Amendment was Valid

Text: We must also consider the validity of the State Department's 1999 amendment of its own visa waiver regulation, which made its regulation consistent with the INS's 1996 regulation. The State Department did not conduct a notice-and-comment period, and it did not act in concert with the INS. The INS claims that neither of these issues is fatal to the amendment because: (1) the State Department had delegated its authority in this area to them, its 1999 amendment was simply a confirmation of the INS's primary authority; and (2) the 1999 amendment was technical and therefore good cause existed to forgo notice and comment. Neither of these rationales is persuasive. As discussed above, the State Department never delegated its regulatory authorityas distinguished from its primary enforcement authority. The 1999 State Department amendment, like the 1996 INS amendment, violated the joint action requirement, and the prior versions of both agencies' regulations remain effective until the two agencies act jointly to amend them. The second argument fails because the 1999 amendment was not merely a technical change to existing valid regulations. This expansion of liability for the carriers cannot be viewed as being of little importance to the parties it affected; it is a great deal more than a technical change to the regulation. Because the 1999 amendment was not merely technical, it should have undergone notice and comment before being adopted.