Executive Order 13777, signed by President Trump on February 24, 2017, requires federal agencies to review all existing regulations; identify those that meet specific review criteria; and make recommendations regarding leaving regulations as they are, or recommending their repeal, replacement, or modification.
Federal agencies are to identify regulations that: eliminate jobs; are outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective; impose costs that exceed benefits; create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with regulatory reform initiatives; or, derive from or implement Executive or Presidential Declarations that have been subsequently rescinded or substantially modified. Federal agencies are also directed to consider combining multiple regulations into one.
The Department of Defense (DoD) has a data base of all regulations currently in force. According to the DoD data base, ~500 regulations are subject to review under EO 13777, 50 of which are USACE regulations. The 50 regulations apply to real estate, navigation, flood control, procurement, emergency, planning, regulatory, and environmental regulations.
A Federal Register notice was published on July 20, 2017 listing the 50 regulations that are subject to review. You can view the Federal Register notice at this web link.
The public will have until October 18, 2017 to comment on these regulations in relation to the objectives of the review. Interested parties can submit comments and suggestions for changes to the regulations by going to www.regulations.gov and searching for docket number COE-2017-0004. Comments and suggestions can be submitted via email using this address: CorpsRegulatoryReview@usace.army.mil.
USACE will review all of the comments received and each regulation will be reviewed in light of the comments received.
The results of the review will be briefed to a DoD Task Force in November 2017, May 2018, and November 2018 (roughly 1/3 of the regulations each time, or in groups that make sense). The DoD Task Force will consider the recommendations made by USACE and may provide an initial approval of one or more of the recommendations, which means that the recommendation(s) can be added into a master DoD review document that will be briefed to, and approved by, the Secretary of Defense for implementation. Once approved by the Secretary of Defense, the USACE will collaborate with Army to implement the recommendations. Recommendations may include such actions as new rulemaking to repeal, replace, or modify regulations or to leave regulations unchanged.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Applicable Executive Orders:
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13771, 1-30-17, Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs (eliminate two regulations for every new regulation, control costs)
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13777, 2-24-17, Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda (remove regulatory burdens, establish Regulatory Reform Officers, review all regulations using criteria from previous slide; make recommendations regarding repeal, replacement, or modification)
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13783, 3-28-17, Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth (“shall review all existing regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and any other similar agency actions that potentially burden the development and use of domestically produced energy resources, with particular attention to oil, gas, coal, and nuclear energy resources.”)