Posted April 7, 2014
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently responded
to the American Bar Association’s (ABA) concerns regarding USDA’s revocation of
a statement of policy on public participation in rulemaking in a letter dated
March 20, 2014.
On October 28, 2013, USDA published a Federal Register
notice revoking a Statement of Policy titled “Public Participation in
Rulemaking.” The notice is available here.
The Statement of Policy, published in the Federal
Register on July 24, 1971, “required all USDA agencies to follow the public participation
requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act” (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 553(b) and
(c)) in rulemakings related to “public property, loans, grants, benefits, or
contracts, even though the APA specifically exempts that class of rulemaking
from such public participation requirements.”
USDA published a proposal to revoke the Statement of
Policy and requested public comment in the Federal
Register on June 3, 2013.
The ABA voiced its concerns over the revocation in a
letter in January of 2014.
In response, Secretary Vilsack stated that the USDA has
“no plans to reconsider the revocation, which was finalized on October 28,
2013.” Vilsack explained, “USDA’s
revocation…does not signal that the Department has decided never to use
notice-and-comment rulemaking procedures.”
“Rather, the revocation is intended to provide USDA agencies with the
flexibility to select the most appropriate process for each particular
rulemaking” area which does not require notice-and comment rulemaking.
Vilsack continued, stating that increased flexibility
will reduce the “potential for unnecessary delays and costs in program implementation”
and “promote transparency.” “USDA will
continue to use formal notice-and-comment procedures where appropriate given
the nature or scope of the action or where required by other law.”
For more information on administrative law, please
visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
