[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 194 (Friday, October 7, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-24777]
Federal Register / Vol. 59, No. 194 / Friday, October 7, 1994 /
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: October 7, 1994]
VOL. 59, NO. 194
Friday, October 7, 1994
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Chapters I, IX, X, and XI
[Docket No. L&RRS-94-001]
Use of Direct Final Rulemaking
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Policy statement.
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SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service is implementing a new
rulemaking procedure to expedite making noncontroversial changes to its
regulations. Rules that the agency judges to be non-controversial and
unlikely to result in adverse comments will be published as ``direct
final'' rules. (``Adverse comments'' are comments that suggest that 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 are
received within 30 days, the revision made by the rule will be
effective 60 days from the date the direct final rule is published in
the Federal Register. This new policy should expedite the promulgation
of routine or otherwise noncontroversial rules by reducing the time
that would be required to develop, review, clear, and publish separate
proposed and final rules.
DATES: Policy Statement effective October 7, 1994; comments should be
received by December 6, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to Director, Legislative and
Regulatory Review Staff, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, Room 3510-S,
Washington, DC 20090-6456.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Bryant at 202-720-3203.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Agricultural Marketing Service 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 Agricultural
Marketing Service rules.
The Direct Final Rule Process
Rules that the Agricultural Marketing Service judges to be
noncontroversial and unlikely to result in adverse comments will be
published as direct final rules. 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 are received within 30 days, the revision made by the direct
final rule will be effective 60 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 the Agricultural
Marketing Service in other programs or situations outside the scope of
the direct final rule will not be considered adverse.
In accordance with the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative
Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553), the direct final rulemaking procedure
gives the public general notice of the Agricultural Marketing Service's
intent to adopt a rule, and gives interested persons an opportunity to
participate in the rulemaking through submission of comments. The major
feature of direct final rulemaking is that if the Agricultural
Marketing Service receives no written adverse comments and no written
notice of intent to submit adverse comments within 30 days of the
publication of the direct final rule, the rule will become effective
without the need to publish a separate final rule. However, the
Agricultural Marketing Service will publish a notice 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 stated in the direct final rule.
If the Agricultural Marketing Service 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 notice of
withdrawal of the direct final rule will be published in the Federal
Register. If the Agricultural Marketing Service intends to proceed with
the rulemaking, the direct final rule will be republished as a proposed
rule and we will proceed with the normal notice-and-comment rulemaking
procedures.
Determining When to Use Direct Final Rulemaking
Not all Agricultural Marketing Service rules are good candidates
for direct final rulemaking. The Agricultural Marketing Service intends
to use the direct final rulemaking procedure only for rules that we
consider to be noncontroversial and unlikely to generate adverse
comments. The decision to use direct final rulemaking for a rule will
be based on the Agricultural Marketing Service experience with similar
rules.
Dated: October 3, 1994.
Lon Hatamiya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-24777 Filed 10-6-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
