Additional DHS Rules Pending

Periodically over the last couple of weeks I have discussed various aspects of the Fall 2010 Regulatory Agenda that was published in the Federal Register on December 20th. The reader who has been following the regulatory process at DHS will recognize that the list of proposed regulations that I listed as being in the Agenda on my blog about the release of the Regulatory Agenda is not a complete list of regulations that DHS has proposed. This is because the regulations listed in the RISC Agenda document are only those that are ‘economically significant’; have a significant economic impact on a large number of small businesses.


Today I would like to briefly look at some of the less ‘economically significant’ rules in the regulatory process that might be of interest to the chemical security community. I will list the rules actually in process and rules that DHS is currently looking at introducing in the future. The information on these rules can be found on the Unified Agenda page on the RegInfo.gov website. Each of the rules listed below will be preceded by an RIN number; this is the tracking number used by OMB to plot the progress of rule through the regulatory process and serves as a link to the current status of that rule.

In this posting I’ll just provide listings of the rules in the various stages of development. In later posts I’ll take a closer look at some of the more important (to chemical facilities) rules in more detail.

Proposed Rules

The regulations in the ‘proposed rule’ stage have either had an advance notice of proposed rule making (ANPRM) published or have a notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) being written or reviewed. The next action to be expected would be the publication of an NPRM.

The following is a list of regulations in the proposed rule stage at DHS:

• 1601-AA56 Petitions for Rulemaking, Amendment, or Repeal

• 1625-AB21 Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC); Card Reader Requirements

• 1652-AA54 Sensitive Security Information: Disclosure in Federal Civil Court Proceedings

• 1652-AA61 Standardized Vetting, Adjudication, and Redress Services

Final Rules

The regulations in the ‘final rule’ stage have had an NPRM published and the public comment period is closed. DHS is reviewing those comments and making the appropriate adjustments to the rule. The next action to be expected would be the publication of a final rule.

The following is a list of regulations in the final rule stage at DHS:

• 1601-AA01 Production or Disclosure of Official Information in Connection With Legal Proceedings

• 1651-AA70 Importer Security Filing and Additional Carrier Requirements

Long Term Actions

‘Long Term Actions’ are those rules that DHS is considering developing. Some of these are congressionally mandated rule makings that are going to require a great deal of time to complete for technical or political reasons. Others are existing ‘interim final regulations’ that need to be made permanent. Others still are items that DHS has internally identified as areas potentially requiring regulatory action. Items on this list may never be introduced into the regulatory process.

The following is a list of regulations in the long term action stage at DHS:

• 1625-AA87 (Coast Guard) Security Zone Regulations

• 1652-AA08 Protection of Sensitive Security Information (SSI)

• 1652-AA16 Transportation of Explosives from Canada to the United States Via Commercial Motor Vehicle and Railroad Carrier

• 1652-AA50 Drivers Licensed by Canada or Mexico Transporting Hazardous Materials To and Within the United States

• 1652-AA58 Freight Railroads--Vulnerability Assessment and Security Plan

• 1652-AA66 Reporting of Security Issues