82 FR 32493 - Reducing Regulation and Public Burden, and Controlling Cost

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 134 (July 14, 2017)

As part of its implementation of Executive Order 13771, ``Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs,'' issued by the President on January 30, 2017, the Department of State (the Department) is seeking comments and information from interested parties to assist the Department in identifying existing regulations, paperwork requirements and other regulatory obligations that can be modified or repealed, consistent with law, to achieve meaningful burden reduction while continuing to achieve the Department's statutory obligations.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 134 (Friday, July 14, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32493-32494]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-14620]


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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 134 / Friday, July 14, 2017 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 32493]]



DEPARTMENT OF STATE

2 CFR Chapter VI

22 CFR Chapter I

28 CFR Chapter XI

48 CFR Chapter 6

[Public Notice: 10057]


Reducing Regulation and Public Burden, and Controlling Cost

AGENCY: Department of State.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: As part of its implementation of Executive Order 13771, 
``Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs,'' issued by the 
President on January 30, 2017, the Department of State (the Department) 
is seeking comments and information from interested parties to assist 
the Department in identifying existing regulations, paperwork 
requirements and other regulatory obligations that can be modified or 
repealed, consistent with law, to achieve meaningful burden reduction 
while continuing to achieve the Department's statutory obligations.

DATES: Written comments and related material must be received on or 
before August 14, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Internet: At www.regulations.gov, search for this notice 
by searching for Docket No. DOS-2017-0030.
     By email: Submit comments to: state.gov">RegsReform@state.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alice Kottmyer, Attorney-Adviser, 202-
647-2318, state.gov">RegsReform@state.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 24, 2017, the President issued 
Executive Order 13777, Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda. That 
Executive Order directs agencies to take specific steps to identify and 
alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens placed on the American people. 
We are seeking comments on Department regulations, guidance documents, 
and collections of information that you believe should be removed or 
modified to alleviate unnecessary burdens. The Department is also 
requesting economic data to support any proposed changes.

The Regulatory Reform Task Force

    Executive Order 13777 directs agencies to designate a Regulatory 
Reform Officer (RRO) and to establish a Regulatory Reform Task Force 
(RRTF). The Deputy Secretary of State is the RRO. Other RRTF members 
include senior officials in the Department's primary regulatory bureaus 
(Bureaus of Consular Affairs, Educational and Cultural Affairs, 
Political-Military Affairs, and Administration), as well as other 
Department officials with expertise in legal requirements, planning and 
budget.
    One of the duties of the RRTF is to evaluate existing regulations 
and make recommendations to the Secretary regarding their repeal, 
replacement, or modification. Executive Order 13777 further directs 
that the RRTF attempt to identify 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.
    Section 3(e) of the Executive Order calls on the RRTF to ``seek 
input and other assistance, as permitted by law, from entities 
significantly affected by Federal regulations, including State, local, 
and tribal governments, small businesses, consumers, nongovernmental 
organizations, and trade associations'' on regulations that meet some 
or all of the criteria above.
    The Executive Orders are at the following sites:

 Executive Order 13771 is located at: http://bit.ly/2kx0TlY
 Executive Order 13777 is located at: http://bit.ly/2lTZPIQ

Department Regulations

    Existing Department of State regulations can be found in the Code 
of Federal Regulations (CFR) in two places:
     22 CFR Chapter I (parts 1 through 199), which contains 
rules governing Department operations); and
     48 CFR Chapter 6 (part 600), which contains the 
Department's Acquisition Rules.
    You may view the most up-to-date versions of these regulations in 
the electronic CFR, located at www.ecfr.gov.

Department Guidance

    Department guidance that relates to the missions of the rulemaking 
bureaus (identified above) can be found in a number of locations on the 
state.gov public Web site. The Department is interested in comments 
regarding any of the guidance located on its public site. For your 
convenience, the following sites cover specific missions:

 For Consular Affairs, including passports and visas, please 
visit https://travel.state.gov
 For Educational and Cultural Affairs, including the Exchange 
Visitor Program, please visit https://exchanges.state.gov/
 For Defense Trade issues, please visit: https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/

    You are invited to provide comment on any guidance published by the 
Department that you feel should be considered for modification or 
elimination, in accordance with E.O. 13777.

Department's Unified Agenda Submission

    The Department's most current submission to the Unified Agenda of 
Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions is located at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaMain. Select ``Department of State'' 
from the dropdown menu. The Agenda consists of regulatory and de-
regulatory actions either in progress or contemplated by the 
Department. The rules are identified by Regulatory Information Numbers 
(RINs), which for the Department all begin with ``1400-''. When 
commenting

[[Page 32494]]

on a rule in the Agenda, please identify it by its RIN.

Approved Collections of Information

    You can find the Department's approved collections of information 
at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Please choose ``Current 
Inventory'' and pick ``Department of State'' from the dropdown menu. 
All approved collections of information have a Control Number issued by 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Department Control Numbers 
all begin with ``1405-''. When commenting on an information collection, 
please identify it by the OMB Control Number.

Public Comments

    Please make your comments as specific as possible, and include any 
supporting data or other information, such as cost information, that 
you may have. Please note that all comments are publically available, 
so do not include any information in your comments that you would not 
want released to the public. We accept anonymous comments. The 
Department will not edit your comments to remove personal information; 
however, in our discretion, we might not post on regulations.gov any 
comments that contain personal information. If your submission cannot 
be made using www.regulations.gov, please submit using the following 
email address state.gov">RegsReform@state.gov or contact Alice Kottmyer, Attorney-
Adviser, 202-647-2318 for alternate instructions.
    Although the Department will not respond to individual comments, we 
value your comments and will give careful consideration to them.

Janet Freer,
Director, Office of Directives Management, Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2017-14620 Filed 7-13-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4710-24-P