Two Transportation Reg Rollback Initiative Published Today

Today DHS and DOT published separate notices in the Federal Register (82 FR 26632-26634, and 82 FR 26734-26735) requesting public feedback on potential rules and regulations that should be reviewed for potential elimination under President Trumps regulatory rollback initiative (EO 13777). The DHS initiative addresses Coast Guard regulations, guidance documents, and interpretative documents that could be repealed, replaced, or modified. The DOT effort is a Department-wide look at existing policy statements, guidance documents, and regulations to identify unnecessary obstacles to transportation infrastructure projects.

Coast Guard

DHS is looking for input on Coast Guard regulations that:

• Eliminate jobs, or inhibit job creation;

• Are outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective;

• Impose costs that exceed benefits;

• Create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with regulatory reform initiatives and policies;

• Are inconsistent with the requirements of section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 (44 U.S.C. 3516 note), or the guidance issued pursuant to that provision, in particular those regulations that rely in whole or in part on data, information, or methods that are not publicly available or that are insufficiently transparent to meet the standard of reproducibility; or

• Derive from or implement Executive Orders or other Presidential directives that have been subsequently rescinded or substantially modified.

Specifically, DHS is looking to review regulations found in:

• 33 CFR Chapter I;

• 46 CFR Chapter I;

• 46 CFR Chapter III; and

• 49 CFR Chapter IV

They are also planning on looking at guidance documents and information collection requests.

DHS is soliciting public comments. Comments may be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.Regulations.gov; Docket # USCG-2017-0480). Comments should be submitted by July 10^th, 2017.

DOT

The DOT initiative published today takes a slightly different tact. They are specifically trying to identify regulations, guidance documents and policies that unjustifiably delay or prevent completion of surface, maritime, and aviation transportation infrastructure projects. They want information that identifies:

• A specific reference;

• A description of the burden;

• A description of less burdensome alternatives; and

• Examples of affected projects

DOT is soliciting public comments. Comments may be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.Regulations.gov; Docket # OST-2017-0057). Comments should be submitted by July 24^th, 2017.

Commentary

Regardless of how you might feel about the current administration, it is almost certainly a good idea to periodically review the current regulatory environment to ensure that outdated, outmoded or even ineffective regulations are modified or removed. There are statutory processes in place for internal departmental reviews, but no government employee is going to be able to identify or even understand all of those regulations that cause unnecessary pain and economic hardships in the regulated community.

Having said that, it should be remembered that no executive branch department can change regulatory requirements specifically mandated by Congress. Those will require legislative changes, something that can only be suggested by the Administration. This is briefly addressed in the DOT project.