§ 1.8 Petitions for rulemaking.

(a) Any interested person may petition the Administrator for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of a rule. For purposes of this section, the term person includes any member of the public and any entity outside the Federal Executive branch of Government. Each petitioner must:

(1) Submit the petition to the Regulatory Affairs Division, Office of Chief Counsel, FEMA, 8NE, 500 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20472;

(2) Label the petition with the following: “Petition for Rulemaking” or “Rulemaking Petition”;

(3) Set forth the substance of the rule or amendment proposed or specify the rule sought to be repealed or amended;

(4) Explain the interest of the petitioner in support of the action sought; and

(5) Set forth all data and arguments available to the petitioner in support of the action sought.

(b) FEMA will specify additional methods of submitting rulemaking petitions on its website at www.fema.gov/about/offices/chief-counsel/rulemaking and petitioners seeking to confirm whether FEMA has received or responded to a specific rulemaking petition may inquire at fema-regulations@fema.dhs.gov. The website may also contain other information about the petition for rulemaking process.

(c)(1) FEMA may solicit public comment on the petition in its discretion. If the Administrator finds that the petition contains adequate justification, a rulemaking proceeding will be initiated, or a final rule will be issued as appropriate. If the Administrator finds that the petition does not contain adequate justification, the petition will be denied by letter or other notice, with a brief statement of the ground for denial. The disposition will be posted on www.regulations.gov under docket ID FEMA-2022-0011.

(2) The Administrator may consider new evidence at any time; however, FEMA will not consider repetitious petitions for rulemaking.