Regulatory ReformWaiver of Penalties and Reduction of Reports

[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 26, 1995)]

[Presidential Documents]

[Pages 20621-20622]

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[FR Doc No: 95-10433]

[[Page 20619]]

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Part VI

The President

_______________________________________________________________________

Memorandum of April 21, 1995--Regulatory Reform--Waiver of Penalties

and Reduction of Reports

Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 80 / Wednesday, April 26, 1995 /

Presidential Documents

____________________________________________________________________

Title 3--

The President

[[Page 20621]]

Memorandum of April 21, 1995

Regulatory Reform--Waiver of Penalties and

Reduction of Reports

Memorandum for

The Secretary of State

The Secretary of the Treasury

The Secretary of Defense

The Attorney General

The Secretary of the Interior

The Secretary of Agriculture

The Secretary of Commerce

The Secretary of Labor

The Secretary of Health and Human Services

The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

The Secretary of Transportation

The Secretary of Energy

The Secretary of Education

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs

The Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency

The Administrator, Small Business Administration

The Secretary of the Army

The Secretary of the Navy

The Secretary of the Air Force

The Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency

The Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space

Administration

The Director, National Science Foundation

The Acting Archivist of the United States

The Administrator of General Services

The Chair, Railroad Retirement Board

The Chairperson, Architectural and Transportation

Barriers Compliance

Board

The Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation

On March 16, I announced that the Administration would

implement new policies to give compliance officials

more flexibility in dealing with small business and to

cut back on paperwork. These Governmentwide policies,

as well as the specific agency actions I announced, are

part of this Administration's continuing commitment to

sensible regulatory reform. With your help and

cooperation, we hope to move the Government toward a

more flexible, effective, and user friendly approach to

regulation.

A. Actions: This memorandum directs the designated

department and agency heads to implement the policies

set forth below.

1. Authority to Waive Penalties. (a) To the extent

permitted by law, each agency shall use its discretion

to modify the penalties for small businesses in the

following situations. Agencies shall exercise their

enforcement discretion to waive the imposition of all

or a portion of a penalty when the violation is

corrected within a time period appropriate to the

violation in question. For those violations that may

take longer to correct than the period set by the

agency, the agency shall use its enforcement discretion

to waive up to 100 percent of the financial penalties

if the amounts waived [[Page 20622]] are used to bring

the entity into compliance. The provisions in paragraph

1(a) of this memorandum shall apply only where there

has been a good faith effort to comply with applicable

regulations and the violation does not involve criminal

wrongdoing or significant threat to health, safety, or

the environment.

(b) Each agency shall, by June 15, 1995, submit a plan

to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget

(``Director'') describing the actions it will take to

implement the policies in paragraph 1(a) of this

memorandum. The plan shall provide that the agency will

implement the policies described in paragraph 1(a) of

this memorandum on or before July 14, 1995. Plans

should include information on how notification will be

given to frontline workers and small businesses.

2. Cutting Frequency of Reports. (a) Each agency shall

reduce by one-half the frequency of the regularly

scheduled reports that the public is required, by rule

or by policy, to provide to the Government (from

quarterly to semiannually, from semiannually to

annually, etc.), unless the department or agency head

determines that such action is not legally permissible;

would not adequately protect health, safety, or the

environment; would be inconsistent with achieving

regulatory flexibility or reducing regulatory burdens;

or would impede the effective administration of the

agency's program. The duty to make such determinations

shall be nondelegable.

(b) Each agency shall, by June 15, 1995, submit a plan

to the Director describing the actions it will take to

implement the policies in paragraph 2(a), including a

copy of any determination that certain reports are

excluded.

B. Application and Scope: 1. The Director may issue

further guidance as necessary to carry out the purposes

of this memorandum.

2. This memorandum does not apply to matters related to

law enforcement, national security, or foreign affairs,

the importation or exportation of prohibited or

restricted items, Government taxes, duties, fees,

revenues, or receipts; nor does it apply to agencies

(or components thereof) whose principal purpose is the

collection, analysis, and dissemination of statistical

information.

3. This memorandum is not intended, and should not be

construed, to create any right or benefit, substantive

or procedural, enforceable at law by a party against

the United States, its agencies, its officers, or its

employees.

4. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget

is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum

in the Federal Register.

(Presidential Sig.)>

THE WHITE HOUSE,

Washington, April 21, 1995

[FR Doc. 95-10433

Filed 4-24-95; 4:25 pm]

Billing code 3110-01-P