83 FR 18939 - Restricted Buildings and Grounds

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Secret Service

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 84 (May 1, 2018)

This final rule repeals outdated U.S. Secret Service (``USSS'') regulations concerning the designation of and access to a temporary residence of the President or other USSS protectee. Due to amendments to the relevant statutory authority, the USSS regulations are no longer necessary. This final rule removes these outdated regulations, thereby bringing the CFR into alignment with the terms of the statutory authority and eliminating unnecessary provisions.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 1, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 18939-18941]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-09230]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Secret Service

31 CFR Part 408


Restricted Buildings and Grounds

AGENCY: U.S. Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule repeals outdated U.S. Secret Service 
(``USSS'') regulations concerning the designation of and access to a 
temporary residence of the President or other USSS protectee. Due to 
amendments to the relevant statutory authority, the USSS regulations 
are no longer necessary. This final rule removes these outdated 
regulations, thereby bringing the CFR into alignment with the terms of 
the statutory authority and eliminating unnecessary provisions.

DATES: Effective Date: May 1, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Catherine Milhoan, USSS Office of 
Government and Public Affairs, (202) 406-5708.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    As part of the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1970, Congress enacted 
18 U.S.C. 1752 (Temporary residence of the President) (``Section 
1752''), making it unlawful to willfully and knowingly enter or remain 
in any building or grounds designated by the Secretary of the Treasury 
as a temporary residence of the President or the temporary offices of 
the President and his staff. Public Law 91-644, Title V, Sec. 18, 84 
Stat. 1891-92 (Jan. 2, 1971). Subsection (d) of Section 1752 further 
authorized the Secretary of the Treasury:
    (1) To designate by regulation the buildings and grounds which 
constitute the temporary residences of the President and the temporary 
offices of the President and his staff, and
    (2) to prescribe regulations governing ingress or egress to such 
buildings and grounds and to posted, cordoned off, or otherwise 
restricted areas where the President is or will be temporarily 
visiting.
    Department of Treasury regulations designating the temporary 
residence of the President and the temporary offices of the President 
and his staff and governing ingress and egress to those buildings and 
grounds are set forth in Chapter IV, part 408 of title 31 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations and consist of sections 408.1-408.3 (31 CFR 
408.1-408.3). Section 1752 has been amended several times since its 
enactment in 1971. For example, amendments in 1982 modified subsection 
(d) to include the authority to issue regulations concerning the 
residences of USSS protectees in addition to the President. But further 
modifications in 2006 have eliminated the need for implementing 
regulations and have removed provisions regarding the issuance of 
regulations.

Need for Correction

    In 2006, the Secret Service Authorization and Technical 
Modification Act of 2005, Public Law 109-177, Title VI, Sec. 602, 120 
Stat. 252 (Mar. 9, 2006), amended Section 1752 to eliminate any 
reference to regulations. Subsection (d), which

[[Page 18940]]

authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to issue regulations, was 
stricken. References to residences as ``designated'' were also 
eliminated throughout the text. Instead, the offense conduct was 
described as willfully and knowingly entering or remaining in any 
posted, cordoned off, or otherwise restricted area of a building or 
grounds where the President or other person protected by the USSS is or 
will be temporarily visiting or in any posted, cordoned off, or 
otherwise restricted area of a building or grounds so restricted in 
conjunction with an event designated as an event of national 
significance. With those amendments, the regulations found at 31 CFR 
part 408 became obsolete.
    While Section 1752 was amended again in 2012, the authorization to 
the promulgate regulations was not reintroduced, and the statute in its 
current form makes no reference to regulation. Those amendments, made 
in the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 
2011, Public Law 112-98, Sec. 2, 126 Stat. 263 (Mar. 8, 2012), reflect 
the most recent expression of Congressional intent. As in 2006, the 
2012 amendments to Section 1752 reflect that the offense conduct is 
fully described in the text of the statute itself. Rather than 
identifying restricted residences and offices through regulation, the 
2012 statutory amendments define those venues as any posted, cordoned 
off, or otherwise restricted of the White House or its grounds, the 
Vice President's official residence and its grounds, the building or 
grounds where a Secret Service protectee is or will be temporarily 
visiting, or a building or grounds that is restricted in conjunction 
with an event designated as a special event of national significance. 
There have been no amendments to Section 1752 since 2012.
    The regulations found in part 408 were not removed after the 
enactment of the Secret Service Authorization and Technical 
Modification Act of 2005 or the Federal Restricted Buildings and 
Grounds Improvement Act of 2011. The regulations have also not been 
updated since 1984, well before the statutory language was changed in 
2006 to eliminate all references to regulation. For instance, the 
regulations currently list the President's designated temporary 
residence in Santa Barbara County, California, as it was in the Reagan 
Administration.
    The existing regulations are now obsolete and retaining them 
maintains an inconsistency between the terms of the statute itself and 
the outdated regulations. As a result, USSS is repealing part 408 in 
its entirety. This change will align the provisions of the CFR with the 
express language of the statute and eliminate any potential confusion 
as to the offense conduct at issue in Section 1752.

Executive Orders 13563, 12866, and 13771

    Executive Orders 13563 and 12866 direct agencies to assess the 
costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if 
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize 
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public 
health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). Executive 
Order 13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and 
benefits, of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of promoting 
flexibility. Executive Order 13771 (``Reducing Regulation and 
Controlling Regulatory Costs'') directs agencies to reduce regulation 
and control regulatory costs. This rule is not a ``significant 
regulatory action,'' under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866. 
Accordingly, the Office of Management and Budget has not reviewed this 
regulation.
    DHS considers this final rule to be an Executive Order 13771 
deregulatory action. See OMB's Memorandum titled ``Guidance 
Implementing Executive Order 13771, Titled `Reducing Regulation and 
Controlling Regulatory Costs' '' (April 5, 2017).
    This rule will serve to remove obsolete provisions and will 
eliminate any inconsistency between the offense conduct set forth in 
Section 1752 and the outdated regulatory provisions. This rule will not 
affect the current application of the terms of the statute. Instead, 
the rule will provide greater clarity for the public of its 
application. Therefore, this rule will not impose any costs on USSS or 
the public. DHS believes that removing the obsolete regulations will 
reduce confusion for the public and that streamlining the regulations 
will provide non-monetized efficiencies.

Inapplicability of Notice and Delayed Effective Date

    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) of the Administrative Procedure Act 
(APA), an agency may, for good cause, find that notice and public 
comment procedure on a rule is impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary 
to the public interest. Part 408 of 31 CFR contains obsolete 
regulations, which are no longer required pursuant to statutory 
authority. Further, USSS believes that maintaining outdated regulations 
causes confusion for the public. Therefore, USSS has determined that it 
would be unnecessary and contrary to the public interest to delay 
publication of this rule in final form pending an opportunity for 
public comment.
    Under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) of the APA, USSS has, for the same 
reasons, determined that there is good cause for this final rule to 
become effective immediately upon publication. USSS currently applies 
the terms of Section 1752 as they appear in the text of the statute as 
a matter of law. The repeal of obsolete regulations will serve to align 
the Code of Federal Regulations with the terms of the authorizing 
statute itself.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), as amended 
by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement and Fairness Act of 1996, 
requires agencies to assess the impact of regulations on small 
entities. A small entity may be a small business (defined as any 
independently owned and operated business not dominant in its field 
that qualifies as a small business per the Small Business Act); a small 
not-for-profit organization; or a small governmental jurisdiction 
(locality with fewer than 50,000 people). The Regulatory Flexibility 
Act applies only to rules subject to notice and comment rulemaking 
requirements under the APA or any other law (5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2)). 
Because this rule is not subject to such notice and comment rulemaking 
requirements, the provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act do not 
apply. However, as discussed above in the ``Executive Orders 13563, 
12866, and 13771'' section, this rule will impose no costs on the 
public, including small entities, because it merely eliminates outdated 
USSS regulations.

Signing Authority

    Prior to March 1, 2003, USSS was a component of the Department of 
the Treasury. On November 25, 2002, the President signed the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002, 6 U.S.C. 101 et seq., Public Law 107-296, (the 
``HSA''), establishing the Department of Homeland Security (``DHS''). 
Pursuant to section 821 of the HSA, the USSS was transferred from 
Treasury to DHS effective March 1, 2003. Accordingly, this final rule 
to repeal Treasury regulations impacting USSS functions may be signed 
by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

List of Subjects in 31 CFR Part 408

    Federal buildings and facilities, Security measures.

[[Page 18941]]

PART 408--[REMOVED AND RESERVED]

0
Under 18 U.S.C. 1752 and for the reasons discussed in the preamble, 
amend 31 CFR chapter IV by removing and reserving part 408.

Claire M. Grady,
Acting Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-09230 Filed 4-30-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-18-P