49 C.F.R. Subpart C—Procedures for Adoption of Rules
Title 49 - Transportation
Source: Amdt. 190–8, 61 FR 50909, Sept. 27, 1996, unless otherwise noted.
This subpart prescribes general rulemaking procedures for the issue, amendment, and repeal of Pipeline Safety Program regulations of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration of the Department of Transportation. [Amdt. 190–8, 61 FR 50909, Sept. 27, 1996, as amended at 70 FR 11137, Mar. 8, 2005] For the purposes of this subpart, Administrator means the Administrator, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or his or her delegate. [Amdt. 190–8, 61 FR 50909, Sept. 27, 1996, as amended at 70 FR 11137, Mar. 8, 2005] (a) Information and data considered relevant by the Administrator relating to rulemaking actions, including notices of proposed rulemaking; comments received in response to notices; petitions for rulemaking and reconsideration; denials of petitions for rulemaking and reconsideration; records of additional rulemaking proceedings under §190.325; and final regulations are maintained by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration at 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20590–0001. (b) Any person may examine public docket material, once a docket is established, at the offices of the Dockets Management System, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 7th Street, SW., Room PL–401, Washington, DC 20590, and may obtain a copy of it upon payment of a fee, at any time between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays, with the exception of material which the Administrator, PHMSA determines should be withheld from public disclosure under applicable provisions of any statute administered by the Administrator and section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code. Public comments may also be submitted and reviewed by accessing the Dockets Management System's Web site at http://dms.dot.gov. Inquiries and comment submissions must identify the Docket Number. The Dockets Management System is located on the Plaza Level of the Nassif Building at the above address. [Amdt. 190–8, 61 FR 50909, Sept. 27, 1996, as amended at 70 FR 11137 and 11139, Mar. 8, 2005] Records of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration relating to rulemaking proceedings are available for inspection as provided in section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code, and part 7 of the Regulations of the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (part 7 of this title). [Amdt. 190–8, 61 FR 50909, Sept. 27, 1996, as amended at 70 FR 11137, Mar. 8, 2005] Petitions for extension of time to comment submitted under §190.319, petitions for hearings submitted under §190.327, petitions for rulemaking submitted under §190.331, and petitions for reconsideration submitted under §190.335 must be submitted to: Administrator, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 7th Street, SW., Washington, D.C. 20590–0001. [Amdt. 190–8, 61 FR 50909, Sept. 27, 1996, as amended at 70 FR 11137, Mar. 8, 2005] Unless the Administrator, for good cause, finds that notice is impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, and incorporates that finding and a brief statement of the reasons for it in the rule, a notice of proposed rulemaking is issued and interested persons are invited to participate in the rulemaking proceedings with respect to each substantive rule. The Administrator initiates rulemaking on his or her own motion; however, in so doing, the Administrator may use discretion to consider the recommendations of other agencies of the United States or of other interested persons including those of any technical advisory body established by statute for that purpose. (a) Each notice of proposed rulemaking is published in the (b) Each notice, whether published in the (1) A statement of the time, place, and nature of the proposed rulemaking proceeding; (2) A reference to the authority under which it is issued; (3) A description of the subjects and issues involved or the substance and terms of the proposed regulation; (4) A statement of the time within which written comments must be submitted; and (5) A statement of how and to what extent interested persons may participate in the proceeding. (a) Any interested person may participate in rulemaking proceedings by submitting comments in writing containing information, views or arguments in accordance with instructions for participation in the rulemaking document. (b) The Administrator may invite any interested person to participate in the rulemaking proceedings described in §190.325. (c) For the purposes of this subpart, an interested person includes any Federal or State government agency or any political subdivision of a State. A petition for extension of the time to submit comments must be received not later than 10 days before expiration of the time stated in the notice. It is requested, but not required, that three copies be submitted. The filing of the petition does not automatically extend the time for petitioner's comments. A petition is granted only if the petitioner shows good cause for the extension, and if the extension is consistent with the public interest. If an extension is granted, it is granted to all persons, and it is published in the All written comments must be in English. It is requested, but not required, that five copies be submitted. Any interested person should submit as part of written comments all material considered relevant to any statement of fact. Incorporation of material by reference should be avoided; however, where necessary, such incorporated material shall be identified by document title and page. All timely comments and the recommendations of any technical advisory body established by statute for the purpose of reviewing the proposed rule concerned are considered before final action is taken on a rulemaking proposal. Late filed comments are considered so far as practicable. The Administrator may initiate any further rulemaking proceedings that the Administrator finds necessary or desirable. For example, interested persons may be invited to make oral arguments, to participate in conferences between the Administrator or the Administrator's representative and interested persons, at which minutes of the conference are kept, to appear at informal hearings presided over by officials designated by the Administrator at which a transcript of minutes are kept, or participate in any other proceeding to assure informed administrative action and to protect the public interest. (a) If a notice of proposed rulemaking does not provide for a hearing, any interested person may petition the Administrator for an informal hearing. The petition must be received by the Administrator not later than 20 days before expiration of the time stated in the notice. The filing of the petition does not automatically result in the scheduling of a hearing. A petition is granted only if the petitioner shows good cause for a hearing. If a petition for a hearing is granted, notice of the hearing is published in the (b) Sections 556 and 557 of title 5, United States Code, do not apply to hearings held under this part. Unless otherwise specified, hearings held under this part are informal, nonadversary fact-finding proceedings, at which there are no formal pleadings or adverse parties. Any regulation issued in a case in which an informal hearing is held is not necessarily based exclusively on the record of the hearing. (c) The Administrator designates a representative to conduct any hearing held under this subpart. The Chief Counsel designates a member of his or her staff to serve as legal officer at the hearing. Final rules are prepared by representatives of the Office of Pipeline Safety and the Office of the Chief Counsel. The regulation is then submitted to the Administrator for consideration. If the Administrator adopts the regulation, it is published in the (a) Any interested person may petition the Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety to establish, amend, or repeal a substantive regulation, or may petition the Chief Counsel to establish, amend, or repeal a procedural regulation. (b) Each petition filed under this section must— (1) Summarize the proposed action and explain its purpose; (2) State the text of the proposed rule or amendment, or specify the rule proposed to be repealed; (3) Explain the petitioner's interest in the proposed action and the interest of any party the petitioner represents; and (4) Provide information and arguments that support the proposed action, including relevant technical, scientific or other data as available to the petitioner, and any specific known cases that illustrate the need for the proposed action. (c) If the potential impact of the proposed action is substantial, and information and data related to that impact are available to the petitioner, the Associate Administrator or the Chief Counsel may request the petitioner to provide— (1) The costs and benefits to society and identifiable groups within society, quantifiable and otherwise; (2) The direct effects (including preemption effects) of the proposed action on States, on the relationship between the Federal Government and the States, and on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government; (3) The regulatory burden on small businesses, small organizations and small governmental jurisdictions; (4) The recordkeeping and reporting requirements and to whom they would apply; and (5) Impacts on the quality of the natural and social environments. (d) The Associate Administrator or Chief Counsel may return a petition that does not comply with the requirements of this section, accompanied by a written statement indicating the deficiencies in the petition. (a) General. Unless the Associate Administrator or the Chief Counsel otherwise specifies, no public hearing, argument, or other proceeding is held directly on a petition before its disposition under this section. (b) Grants. If the Associate Administrator or the Chief Counsel determines that the petition contains adequate justification, he or she initiates rulemaking action under this subpart. (c) Denials. If the Associate Administrator or the Chief Counsel determines that the petition does not justify rulemaking, the petition is denied. (d) Notification. The Associate Administrator or the Chief Counsel will notify a petitioner, in writing, of the decision to grant or deny a petition for rulemaking. (a) Except as provided in §190.339(d), any interested person may petition the Associate Administrator for reconsideration of any regulation issued under this subpart, or may petition the Chief Counsel for reconsideration of any procedural regulation issued under this subpart and contained in this subpart. It is requested, but not required, that three copies be submitted. The petition must be received not later than 30 days after publication of the rule in the (b) If the petitioner requests the consideration of additional facts, the petitioner must state the reason they were not presented to the Associate Administrator or the Chief Counsel within the prescribed time. (c) The Associate Administrator or the Chief Counsel does not consider repetitious petitions. (d) Unless the Associate Administrator or the Chief Counsel otherwise provides, the filing of a petition under this section does not stay the effectiveness of the rule. (a) The Associate Administrator or the Chief Counsel may grant or deny, in whole or in part, any petition for reconsideration without further proceedings, except where a grant of the petition would result in issuance of a new final rule. In the event that the Associate Administrator or the Chief Counsel determines to reconsider any regulation, a final decision on reconsideration may be issued without further proceedings, or an opportunity to submit comment or information and data as deemed appropriate, may be provided. Whenever the Associate Administrator or the Chief Counsel determines that a petition should be granted or denied, the Office of the Chief Counsel prepares a notice of the grant or denial of a petition for reconsideration, for issuance to the petitioner, and the Associate Administrator or the Chief Counsel issues it to the petitioner. The Associate Administrator or the Chief Counsel may consolidate petitions relating to the same rules. (b) It is the policy of the Associate Administrator or the Chief Counsel to issue notice of the action taken on a petition for reconsideration within 90 days after the date on which the regulation in question is published in the (a) Any interested person may appeal a denial of the Associate Administrator or the Chief Counsel, issued under §190.333 or §190.337, to the Administrator. (b) An appeal must be received within 20 days of service of written notice to petitioner of the Associate Administrator's or the Chief Counsel's decision, or within 20 days from the date of publication of the decision in the (c) It is requested, but not required, that three copies of the appeal be submitted to the Administrator. (d) Unless the Administrator otherwise provides, the filing of an appeal under this section does not stay the effectiveness of any rule. (a) Where practicable, the Administrator will use direct final rulemaking to issue the following types of rules: (1) Minor, substantive changes to regulations; (2) Incorporation by reference of the latest edition of technical or industry standards; (3) Extensions of compliance dates; and (4) Other noncontroversial rules where the Administrator determines that use of direct final rulemaking is in the public interest, and that a regulation is unlikely to result in adverse comment. (b) The direct final rule will state an effective date. The direct final rule will also state that unless an adverse comment or notice of intent to file an adverse comment is received within the specified comment period, generally 60 days after publication of the direct final rule in the (c) For purposes of this section, an adverse comment is one which explains why the rule would be inappropriate, including a challenge to the rule's underlying premise or approach, or would be ineffective or unacceptable without a change. Comments that are frivolous or insubstantial will not be considered adverse under this procedure. A comment recommending a rule change in addition to the rule will not be considered an adverse comment, unless the commenter states why the rule would be ineffective without the additional change. (d) Only parties who filed comments to a direct final rule issued under this section may petition under §190.335 for reconsideration of that direct final rule. (e) If an adverse comment or notice of intent to file an adverse comment is received, a timely document will be published in the
Title 49: Transportation
PART 190—PIPELINE SAFETY PROGRAMS AND RULEMAKING PROCEDURES
Subpart C—Procedures for Adoption of Rules
§ 190.301 Scope.
§ 190.303 Delegations.
§ 190.305 Regulatory dockets.
§ 190.307 Records.
§ 190.309 Where to file petitions.
§ 190.311 General.
§ 190.313 Initiation of rulemaking.
§ 190.315 Contents of notices of proposed rulemaking.
§ 190.317 Participation by interested persons.
§ 190.319 Petitions for extension of time to comment.
§ 190.321 Contents of written comments.
§ 190.323 Consideration of comments received.
§ 190.325 Additional rulemaking proceedings.
§ 190.327 Hearings.
§ 190.329 Adoption of final rules.
§ 190.331 Petitions for rulemaking.
§ 190.333 Processing of petition.
§ 190.335 Petitions for reconsideration.
§ 190.337 Proceedings on petitions for reconsideration.
§ 190.338 Appeals.
§ 190.339 Direct final rulemaking.
