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January 23, 2001
Bush Administration Holds Movement on Federal Rules
Immediately following President Bush’s inauguration, the White House Office of the Press Secretary issued a memorandum to heads and acting heads of federal agencies ordering a hold on sending any regulations to the Office of the Federal Register "unless and until a department or agency head appointed by the President after noon on January 20, 2001, reviews and approves the regulatory action." The January 20, 2001 memorandum, which follows, from Andrew H. Card, Jr., Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, will at least temporarily halt progress on several proposed water quality regulations that affect AMSA members. AMSA’s interpretation of the memorandum indicates that rules covering sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs), concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) and, potentially, centralized waste treatment (CWT) facilities will be impacted by this "regulatory review plan".The memorandum sets out procedures for withdrawing rules depending upon their status and effective date. The memorandum establishes the following procedures:
- Regulations that have been sent to the Office of the Federal Register, but have not yet been published: These rules will be withdrawn for review and approval by the new agency head. The proposed SSO and CAFO rules fall under this category because they have been signed by ex-Administrator Browner, but not yet published in the Federal Register.
- Regulations that have been published by the Office of the Federal Register, but have not taken effect: The effective date for these rules will be temporarily postponed for 60 days. The effective dates for both the CWT and TMDL final rules will be postponed under this category. The new effective date for the TMDL rule will be November 30, 2001. If the CWT rule is subject to the postponement, the new effective date will be March 23, 2001.
An exception to the Administration’s directive is established for proposed or final rules that the Director or Acting Director of the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) "allows for emergency or other urgent situations relating to health and safety". In addition, an exclusion has also been established for "any regulations promulgated pursuant to statutory or judicial deadlines."
AMSA will continue to monitor how the transition will affect key regulatory and legislative issues. The National Office is currently preparing draft recommendations to the new EPA Administrator for discussion at next week’s Regulatory Strategy Session in San Diego, CA in conjunction with AMSA’s Winter Meeting. Please contact Greg Schaner at 202/296-9836 or by email at gschaner@amsa-cleanwater.org if you have any questions.
ATTACHMENT
- White House Memorandum on Federal Register Notices (PDF ~ 162KB)
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