August 10, 2021
By:
Walter G. Wright
Category:
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released the Semiannual Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (“Agenda”) in a July 30th Federal Register Notice. See 86 Fed. Reg. 41276.
The Agenda includes information addressing:
- EPA regulations in the Semiannual Agenda that are under development, completed, or cancelled since the last Agenda
- EPA review of regulations with small business impacts under Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act
EPA (and all federal agencies) twice a year produce in combination a comprehensive report describing regulatory actions currently under development or recently completed.
In particular, the Agenda identifies each regulatory action that the federal agency (such as EPA) expects to work on within the next 12 months.
Agenda entries are typically associated with one of five rulemaking stages. Two key rulemaking stages include:
- Proposed Rulemaking Stage (indicating that the agency plans to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking or to close an existing comment period)
- Final Rule Stage (indicating that the agency plans to issue a Final Rule)
Each agenda entry typically provides a variety of information.
Congress, interest groups, regulatory entities, environmental organizations and the general public rely on the Agenda to understand which rules EPA plans to issue in the upcoming year. Nevertheless, the Agenda does not create a legal obligation to adhere to schedules in the publication or limit their regulatory activities to those items that are encompassed by it.
A copy of the Federal Register Notice including the Agenda can be downloaded here.
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