Federal Register Prints Flexibility Agendas

Yesterday, the Federal Register finally published the Fall 2011 Regulatory Flexibility Agendas, as required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 USC 602). Compared to the Unified Agenda published last month (and discussed ), the Flexibility Agendas only include rules that have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities (SEIOSNOSE) or are otherwise identified as significant rulemakings. Ever since the OMB took the lead on managing the agendas from the Federal Register, there hasn’t been much in the Flexibility Agendas that isn’t already in other sources. Department of Transportation Flexiblity Agenda (Fall 2011): PHMSA expects to continue working on new rules for lithium battery transportation, and to issue a set of miscellanous cleanup amendments later this year.

Here are links to the flexibility agendas for agencies in our area of EHS, and a few notes:

• Environmental Protection Agency Flexiblity Agenda (Fall 2011): None of the significant rules identified here involve greenhouse gases or hazardous waste.
• Department of Labor Flexiblity Agenda (Fall 2011): While 6 of the 7 significant rules in this agenda are under OSHA’s purview, all of them have been in development for some time, and are of very specific rather than general applicability.
• Department of Homeland Security Flexiblity Agenda (Fall 2011): The Coast Guard has a lot of significant rulemaking scheduled for this year and next, but none of Homeland Security’s significant rules directly effect hazmat shipping.