03-2517. Admission and Orientation Program: Removal From Rules

AGENCY:

Bureau of Prisons, Justice.

ACTION:

Interim final rule.

SUMMARY:

In this document, the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) removes its rules on the Admission and Orientation Program from the CFR. We intend this amendment to streamline our regulations by removing internal agency management procedures that need not be stated in regulation.

DATES:

This rule is effective February 4, 2003. Please send comments on this rulemaking by April 7, 2003.

ADDRESSES:

Rules Unit, Office of General Counsel, Bureau of Prisons, HOLC Room 754, 320 First Street, NW., Washington, DC 20534.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sarah Qureshi, Office of General Counsel, Bureau of Prisons, phone [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In this document, the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) removes its rules on the Admission and Orientation Program by reserving 28 CFR subpart E. Although we are removing these rules from the CFR, they will remain in Bureau policy statements on the Admission and Orientation Program.

Why Are We Making This Change?

We intend this change to streamline our regulations by removing internal agency management procedures that need not be stated in regulation. In doing this, we will be able to adjust our Admission and Orientation program, through policy instead of rules, to allow us to provide more current information more quickly to new inmates. Bureau policy is a more appropriate vehicle through which to provide instruction and guidance to staff.

Admission and Orientation Program Rules

The three rules in 28 CFR subpart E, §§ 522.40, 522.41, and 522.43 contained descriptions of the Bureau's Admission and Orientation Program. Although we are removing these rules from the CFR, we retain the language of these rules in our Admission and Orientation policy, which is an instructional document for Bureau employees and institutional staff.

Section 522.40 required institutions and staff to “offer each newly committed inmate an orientation to the institution” which includes information on the inmate's rights, responsibilities, obligations, and the institution's programs and disciplinary system.

Section 522.41 delineated Warden and staff responsibility for conducting the Admission and Orientation (A&O) program. This section required staff involved in the A&O program to develop an outline of information to present during A&O and develop written orientation materials. This section also instructed staff to monitor inmates with significant emotional stress during A&O, so that the institution could provide them with appropriate assistance.

Section 522.42 contained guidelines for institutions' A&O programs, including such details as location, activities, and length of the program.

All of these rules consist of our instruction and guidance to Bureau staff. These rules relate solely to internal agency management and practice, and do not impose obligations or confer any benefits upon our regulated entities (the inmates) or the public.

Administrative Procedure Act

Because procedures relating to agency management are exempt from the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553), we are publishing this change as an interim final rule.

The Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) allows exceptions to notice-and-comment rulemaking for “(A) interpretive rules, general statements of policy, or rules of agency organization, procedure, or practice; or (B) when the agency for good cause finds * * * that notice and public procedure thereon are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.”

This rulemaking is exempt from normal notice-and-comment procedures because these rules are general statements of policy and relate only to internal agency procedure and practice. The procedures that were in these regulations will continue to exist, unchanged, in our policy statement on the Admission and Orientation Program. Any requirement imposed on our staff in these rules will remain a Bureau-wide requirement in our policy.

Because this change maintains current Bureau policy and practice while eliminating rule text from the CFR, we find that normal notice-and-comment rulemaking is unnecessary. We are, however, allowing the public to comment on this rule change by publishing it as an interim final rule.

Where To Send Comments

You can send written comments on this rule to the Rules Unit, Office of General Counsel, Bureau of Prisons, 320 First Street, NW., HOLC Room 754, Washington, DC 20534.

We will consider comments received during the comment period before taking final action. We will try to consider comments received after the end of the comment period. In light of comments received, we may change the rule.

We do not plan to have oral hearings on this rule. All the comments received remain on file for public inspection at the above address.

Executive Order 12866

This rule falls within a category of actions that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has determined not to constitute “significant regulatory actions” under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866 and, accordingly, it was not reviewed by OMB.

Executive Order 13132

This regulation will not have substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship between the national government and the States, or on distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government. Therefore, under Executive Order 13132, we determine that this rule does not have sufficient federalism implications to warrant the preparation of a Federalism Assessment.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Director of the Bureau of Prisons, under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), reviewed this regulation and by approving it certifies that it will not have a significant economic impact upon a substantial number of small entities for the following reasons: This rule pertains to the correctional management of offenders committed to the custody of the Attorney General or the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, and its economic impact is limited to the Bureau's appropriated funds.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

This rule will not result in the expenditure by State, local and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100,000,000 or more in any one year, and it will not significantly or uniquely affect small governments. Therefore, no actions were deemed necessary under the provisions of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996

This rule is not a major rule as defined by § 804 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. This rule will not result in an annual effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more; a major increase in costs or prices; or significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or on the ability of United States-based companies to compete with foreign-based companies in domestic and export markets.

Plain Language Instructions

We want to make Bureau documents easier to read and understand. If you can suggest how to improve the clarity of these regulations, call or write Sarah Qureshi at the telephone number or address listed above.

List of Subjects in 28 CFR Part 522

• Prisoners

Kathleen Hawk Sawyer,

Director, Bureau of Prisons.

Under the rulemaking authority vested in the Attorney General in 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and delegated to the Director, Bureau of Prisons, we are amending 28 CFR part 522, chapter V, subchapter B, as follows:

SUBCHAPTER B—INMATE ADMISSION, CLASSIFICATION, AND TRANSFER

PART 522—ADMISSION TO INSTITUTION

1. Revise the authority citation for 28 CFR part 522 to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 18 U.S.C. 3621, 3622, 3624, 4001, 4042, 4081, 4082 (Repealed in part as to offenses committed on or after November 1, 1987), 4161-4166 (Repealed in part as to offenses committed on or after November 1, 1987), 5006-5024 (Repealed October 12, 1984, as to offenses committed after that date), 5039; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510.

Subpart E—[Reserved]

2. Remove §§ 522.40 through 522.42 and reserve Subpart E.