How to find current and/or proposed regulatory changes in the U. S. Federal government:
Please note that the OTA is assisting the student with the "how to find" assignment, providing the student with the know-how to answer the specific questions in the assignment.
To research current and/or proposed U. S. Federal regulations, a good site to begin with is www.regulations.gov. Once you enter the site, however, you will have to decide what government agency and its current or proposed regulations interest you most. For the sake of example, I will use the Social Security Administration to research a proposed regulatory change because that is one agency that will eventually impact most Americans.
When you are at www.regulations.gov begin your search by choosing "search for a proposed rule" tab. Under the section titled "Select Document Type," go to proposed rules. To narrow you search in the home page, type in Social Security. This will bring you to a new page where you can narrow your research even more. Under the "Agency" box you can type the agency you are interested in, in this case, Social Security. Once you do this, the SSA (which stands for Social Security Administration) with a box next to it will appear. Check the box next to SSA.
A series of proposed rules will appear pertaining to Social Security regulations. For the sake of this example, I will choose the latest proposed regulation titled, "Revised Medical Criteria for Evaluating Mental Disorders." As you will see below the title, the comments from the public for this proposed regulation is due by November 17, 2010. This means that this is still a proposed regulation and has not become final.
Another source to find proposed rules and regulations is the Federal Register (FR). This can be accessed at www.federalregister.gov. The Federal Register is the official daily journal of the United States government. The Federal Register is an important resource for proposed and final rules.
The final rule of a proposed regulation will eventually be posted in the Federal Register after the public comment period has elapsed. Subsequently, the final rule will be codified and published in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The site for the CFR is http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/.
It is important to use all the resources above to verify your sources and citation when researching a current or proposed regulation. Posting ID: 340061 Law, Other
Problem
Pick an administrative agency of the Federal government. Find where the current and proposed regulation changes for that agency are located on the internet. Pick one proposed change.
Pick an administrative agency of the federal government. Find where the current and proposed regulation changes for that agency are located on the internet. Pick one proposed regulation change currently under consideration (if you find one which has already closed out, but interests you, you can use that, instead) and write the following regarding it:
1. State the administrative agency which controls the regulation. Explain why this agency and your proposed regulation interests you (briefly). Will this proposed regulation affect you or the business in which you are working? If so, how? Submit a copy of the proposed regulation along with your responses to these five questions.
2. Describe the proposal/change
3. Write the public comment which you would submit to this proposal. If the proposed regulation deadline has already passed, write the comment you would have submitted. Explain briefly what you wish to accomplish with your comment.
4. Provide the "deadline" by which the public comment must be made. (If the date has already passed, please provide when the deadline was).
5. a. Once you have submitted your comment, what will you be legally entitled to do later in the promulgation process (if you should choose to do so)?
b. If the proposal passes, identify and explain the five legal theories you could use in an attempt to have the regulation declared invalid and overturned in court.
c. Which of these challenges would be the best way to challenge the regulation you selected for this assignment if you wanted to have the regulation overturned and why?
Answer all of these questions for #5 even if you are in favor of your proposed regulation.