White House Directs Regulatory Freeze, Delays Effective Dates of Already Issued Rules
White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on Jan. 20 directed the heads of all executive branch departments and agencies to temporarily postpone until March 21 the effective dates of regulations published in the Federal Register that haven’t taken effect. The Trump administration will review “questions of fact, law, and policy” the regulations raise, Priebus said in the memo (here). The directive also instructs agencies to consider proposing for notice and comment rules to delay the effective date even longer “where appropriate and as permitted by applicable law,” with no further action needed for unsubstantial rulemakings and notification of the Office of Management and Budget for regulations that present substantial law or policy questions.
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The memorandum grants exceptions for “emergency situations or other urgent circumstances relating to health, safety, financial, or national security matters.” It also directs agencies not to publish any new regulations in the Federal Register until a department or agency head named by President Donald Trump reviews and approves the regulation, subject to the same instructions. The memo also directs agencies to immediately withdraw regulations sent to, but not yet published in, the Federal Register, for review and approval. Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush issued similar memoranda when they took office in 2009 and 2001, respectively.
Regulations potentially affected by the delay include a CBP final rule on Toxic Substances Control Act filing in ACE that eliminates blanket negative certifications (see 1612230030), and another CBP rule on import filing for vehicles and engines (see 1612230040). CBP did not comment. Other potentially affected rules include Environmental Protection Agency formaldehyde standards and certification requirements for composite wood products (see 1607280021), EPA reporting requirements for importers of nanoscale materials (see 1701110014) and Drug Enforcement Agency electronic permit procedures (see 1612290015).
Some agencies have already acted in response to the memorandum. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will stay a final rule allowing imports of lemons from Northwest Argentina, it said (here). The Bureau of Industry and Security and Office of Foreign Assets Control had scheduled for publication final rules to amend the Entity List and remove the Burmese Sanctions regulations, respectively, but both notices were subsequently withdrawn.