[Federal Register: November 25, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 227)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 70529]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25no02-1]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
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[[Page 70529]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Business-Cooperative Service
7 CFR Chapters XVIII and XLII
Policy Statement for Direct Final Rulemaking
AGENCY: Rural Business-Cooperative Service, USDA.
ACTION: Policy statement.
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SUMMARY: The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) is implementing a
new rulemaking procedure to expedite making noncontroversial changes to
its regulations. Rules that RBS judges to be noncontroversial and
unlikely to result in adverse comments will be published as ``direct
final'' rules. ``Adverse comments'' are those comments that suggest a
rule should not be adopted or suggest that a change should be made to
the rule. Each direct final rule will advise the public that no adverse
comments are anticipated, and that, unless written adverse comments or
written notice of intent to submit adverse comments is received within
30 days from the date the direct final rule is published in the Federal
Register, the rule will be effective 45 days from the date the direct
final rule is published in the Federal Register. At the same time, RBS
may publish a document in the proposed rules section of the same issue
of the Federal Register proposing approval of and soliciting comments
on the same action contained in the direct final rule. If adverse
comments or notice of intent to file adverse comments are received by
RBS, the direct final rule will be withdrawn prior to the effective
date. RBS will address the comments received in response to the direct
final rule in a subsequent final rule. This new policy should expedite
promulgation of non-controversial rules by reducing the time that would
be required to develop, review, clear, and publish separate proposed
and final rules.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pandor H. Hadjy, Assistant Deputy
Administrator, Business Programs, RBS, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Room 5050-S, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 3220, Washington, DC
20250-3220; Telephone: 202-720-9693; Facsimile: 202-690-0097; E-mail:
pandor.hadjy@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: RBS is committed to improving the efficiency
of its regulatory process. In pursuit of this goal, we plan to employ
the rulemaking procedure known as ``direct final rulemaking'' to
promulgate some RBS rules.
The Direct Final Rule Process
Rules that RBS judges to be noncontroversial and unlikely to result
in adverse comments will be published in the Federal Register as direct
final rules. At the same time, RBS may publish a document in the
proposed rules section of the same issue of the Federal Register
proposing approval of and soliciting comments on the same action
contained in the direct final rule. Each direct final rule will advise
the public that no adverse comments are anticipated, and that, unless
adverse comments are received within 30 days, the direct final rule
will be effective 45 days from the date the direct final rule is
published in the Federal Register. ``Adverse comments'' are comments
that suggest that the rule should not be adopted or that suggest that a
change should be made to the rule. A comment expressing support for the
rule as published will not be considered adverse. Further, a comment
suggesting that requirements in the rule should or should not be
employed by RBS in other programs or situations outside the scope of
the direct final rule will not be considered adverse. If RBS receives
written adverse comments or written notice of intent to submit adverse
comments within 30 days of the publication of a direct final rule, a
document withdrawing the direct final rule prior to its effective date
will be published in the Federal Register stating that adverse comments
were received. If RBS concurrently published a notice of proposed
rulemaking RBS will address the comments received in response to the
direct final rule in a subsequent final rule on the related proposed
rule. In such cases, RBS will not institute a second comment period on
the action.
In accordance with rulemaking provisions of the Administrative
Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 533), the direct final rulemaking procedure
gives the public general notice of RBS' intent to adopt a new rule and
gives interested persons an opportunity to participate in the
rulemaking process through submission of and consideration by RBS of
comments. The major feature of the direct final rulemaking process is
that if RBS receives no written adverse comments and no written notice
of intent to submit adverse comments within the comment period
specified, RBS will publish a document in the Federal Register stating
that no adverse comments were received regarding the direct final rule
and confirming that the direct final rule is effective on the date in
the direct final rule.
Determining When To Use Direct Final Rulemaking
Not all RBS rules are good candidates for the direct final
rulemaking. RBS intends to use the direct final rulemaking procedure
only for rules that we consider non-controversial and unlikely to
generate adverse comments. The decision whether to use the direct final
rulemaking process for a particular action will be based on RBS'
experience with similar actions.
Dated: October 31, 2002.
John Rosso,
Administrator, Rural Business-Cooperative Service.
[FR Doc. 02-29480 Filed 11-22-02; 8:45 am]