The Trump Administration has now taken leadership in the executive offices, and with this transfer of power comes the traditional memorandum halting the regulatory actions of the previous Administration. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus issued a memorandum directed to agency heads (“the Priebus Memo”), detailing a series of regulatory prohibitions and requirements for already-issued rules that include OSHA’s beryllium rule and EPA’s Risk Management Plan (“RMP”) safety regulation. Additionally, there are several OSHA rules that have been finalized but that have compliance dates that have yet to occur; these rules could be delayed either by the Priebus Memo or by other Trump Administration actions. The Priebus Memo specifies that a Trump official must approve regulations prior to an agency official’s submission of a notice or rule to the Federal Register for publication. Also under the umbrella of this approval requirement are any sort of actions that could lead to a final rule or regulation, including notices of inquiry, advance notices of proposed rulemaking, and notices of proposed rulemaking. The Priebus Memo has the effect of slowing or potentially even halting a number of the regulatory initiatives that the Obama Administration attempted to push through in its final weeks.
The Priebus Memo mandates that:
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Any unpublished regulations already sent to the Federal Register should be withdrawn for Trump Administration review and approval.
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Agencies are required to postpone by 60 days the effective date for published rules that have not yet taken effect.
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To delay the effective date for regulations beyond the 60-day period, agencies should consider proposing the rule for notice and comment.
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Agencies may notify the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB Director”) if they find that a particular regulation should be excluded from the Trump Administration approval requirement due to “critical health, safety, financial, or national security matters, or for some other reason.” The OMB Director will determine whether an exclusion is appropriate.
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