Administrative State
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In the context ofadministrative rulemaking, aproposed rule, also known as anotice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), is a preliminary version of a prospective federal agency regulation. If an agency determines that a new regulation is necessary, the agency develops a proposed rule for publication in theFederal Register. After a period of public comment, the agency may determine to revise the proposed rule, abandon the proposal, or move forward to thefinal rule stage of therulemaking process.^[1][2]

Background

When a federal agency embarks on a new course for regulatory action, the agency must first publish a proposed rule in theFederal Register and initiate apublic comment period to receive written feedback, usually ranging between 30 to 60 days. If the proposed rule is complex, the agency may schedule a longerpublic comment period. An agency may also choose to hold regulatory hearings, public meetings, or internet webcasts to solicit additional feedback. Moreover, an agency may initiate an optional reply comment period in order to allow interested parties to reply to public comments and facilitate a discussion.^[3]

After reviewing public comments, the agency may decide to abandon the proposed rule or make changes based on public feedback, in which case the agency must issue a supplemental proposed rule or a new proposed rule. The agency may also choose to extend the public comment period if it is unsatisfied with the quality of feedback or if commenters have requested additional time to respond. If the agency decides to proceed with the proposed rule, the rule advances to thefinal rule stage of therulemaking process.^[3]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must review proposed rules that are deemed to besignificant rules put forth by agencies other thanindependent federal agencies.^[4]

Exemptions

According to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), the following types of rules are exempted from the proposed rule phase of therulemaking process under theAdministrative Procedure Act:^[5]

Structure

Proposed rules follow a general format for publication in theFederal Register. The proposed rule begins with a preamble, which includes several subsections, continues with a statement of authority, and concludes with the full text or narrative description of the proposed measure.^[3]

Preamble

The preamble of a proposed rule is made up of the following subsections:^[3]

• Summary
  The summary section provides information about the proposed regulatory action and issues at hand as well as the agency's rationale behind the proposed rule.
• Dates
  The dates section includes information about the deadline for submitting public comments on the proposed rule.
• Addresses
  The addresses section details the methods for submitting public comments, including physical delivery via 

the U.S.
 Postal Service or 
private
 courier and electronic submission via 
email or Regulations.gov, 
the 
official 
federal 
website to submit public comments.
• Contact
  The contact section includes the contact information of agency staff members who are available to provide further information on the proposed rule if necessary.
• Supplementary information
  According to theFederal Register, the supplementary information section of a proposed rule "discusses 

the
 merits 
of 
the 
proposed
 solution,
 cites
important
 data 
and 
other 
information 
used
 to 
develop 
the 
action, 
and
 details 
its
 choices 
and
 reasoning.

" Occasionally, the statement of authority and text or summary of the proposed rule are included under this subheading rather than broken into separate sections.^[3]

Authority

The proposed rule must include a statement of authority identifying the agency's legal authority for issuing the rule.^[3]

Text

The proposed rule includes the full regulatory text of the rule. The regulatory text includes either the full text of proposed amendments to theCode of Federal Regulations (CFR) or narrative descriptions of each amendment.^[3]

Related rules

Advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM)

An agency may issue an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) in theFederal Register in order to request information for the development of a proposed rule. An ANPRM may also be called a "notice of inquiry" or a "request for comments." The ANPRM is an optional phase of therulemaking process that agencies may use to acquire information or test the public reception of a potential regulation. After receiving feedback from an ANPRM, an agency must then issue a proposed rule in order to proceed with therulemaking process.^[5][7]

See also

• Federal Register
• Final rule

External links

• Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs homepage
• Federal Register homepage
• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

v • e The Administrative State Main The Administrative State Project main page •Administrative State Project Index •Glossary of administrative state terms •Quotes about the administrative state •Administrative state •Rulemaking •Deference •Adjudication •Nondelegation doctrine •Ballotpedia's administrative state legislation tracker Pillars Agency control •Executive control •Judicial control •Legislative control •Public control Reporting Changes to the Federal Register •Completed OIRA review of federal administrative agency rules •Federal agency rules repealed under the Congressional Review Act •Historical additions to the Federal Register, 1936-2016 Laws Administrative Procedure Act •Antiquities Act •Civil Service Reform Act •Clayton Antitrust Act •Communications Act of 1934 •Congressional Review Act •Electronic Freedom of Information Act •Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 •Federal Housekeeping Statute •Federal Reserve Act •Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 •Freedom of Information Act •Government in the Sunshine Act •Independent Offices Appropriations Act of 1952 •Information Quality Act •Interstate Commerce Act •National Labor Relations Act •Paperwork Reduction Act •Pendleton Act •Privacy Act of 1974 •Regulatory Flexibility Act •REINS Act •REINS Act (Wisconsin) •Securities Act of 1933 •Securities Exchange Act of 1934 •Sherman Antitrust Act •Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act •Truth in Regulating Act •Unfunded Mandates Reform Act Cases Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner •A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States •Association of Data Processing Service Organizations v. Camp •Auer v. Robbins •Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council •Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe •Federal Trade Commission (FTC) v. Standard Oil Company of California •Field v. Clark •Food and Drug Administration v. Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corporation •Humphrey's Executor v. United States •Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) v. Chadha •J.W. Hampton Jr. & Company v. United States •Lucia v. SEC •Marshall v. Barlow's •Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency •Mistretta v. United States •National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) v. Sebelius •National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning Company •National Labor Relations Board v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. •Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan •Securities and Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corporation •Skidmore v. Swift & Co. •United States v. Lopez •United States v. Western Pacific Railroad Co. •Universal Camera Corporation v. National Labor Relations Board •Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council •Wayman v. Southard •Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service •Whitman v. American Trucking Associations •Wickard v. Filburn •Wiener v. United States Terms Adjudication (administrative state) •Administrative judge •Administrative law •Administrative law judge •Administrative state •Arbitrary-or-capricious test •Auer deference •Barrier to entry •Bootleggers and Baptists •Chevron deference (doctrine) •Civil servant •Civil service •Code of Federal Regulations •Codify (administrative state) •Comment period •Compliance costs •Congressional Record •Coordination (administrative state) •Deference (administrative state) •Direct and indirect costs (administrative state) •Enabling statute •Ex parte communication (administrative state) •Executive agency •Federal law •Federal Register •Federalism •Final rule •Formal rulemaking •Formalism (law) •Functionalism (law) •Guidance (administrative state) •Hybrid rulemaking •Incorporation by reference •Independent federal agency •Informal rulemaking •Joint resolution of disapproval (administrative state) •Major rule •Negotiated rulemaking •Nondelegation doctrine •OIRA prompt letter •Organic statute •Pragmatism (law) •Precautionary principle •Promulgate •Proposed rule •Publication rulemaking •Regulatory budget •Regulatory capture •Regulatory dark matter •Regulatory impact analysis •Regulatory policy officer •Regulatory reform officer •Regulatory review •Rent seeking •Retrospective regulatory review •Risk assessment (administrative state) •Rulemaking •Separation of powers •Significant regulatory action •Skidmore deference •Statutory authority •Substantive law and procedural law •Sue and settle •Sunset provision •Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions •United States Code •United States Statutes at Large Bibliography "Administrative Law - The 20th Century Bequeaths an 'Illegitimate Exotic' in Full and Terrifying Flower" by Stephen P. Dresch (2000) "Confronting the Administrative Threat" by Philip Hamburger and Tony Mills (2017) "Constitutionalism after the New Deal" by Cass R. Sunstein (1987) Federalist No. 23 by Alexander Hamilton (1787) "From Administrative State to Constitutional Government" by Joseph Postell (2012) "Interring the Nondelegation Doctrine" by Eric A. Posner and Adrian Vermeule (2002) "Rulemaking as Legislating" by Kathryn Watts (2015) "The Checks & Balances of the Regulatory State" by Paul R. Verkuil (2016) "The Myth of the Nondelegation Doctrine" by Keith E. Whittington and Jason Iuliano (2017) "The Progressive Origins of the Administrative State: Wilson, Goodnow, and Landis" by Ronald J. Pestritto (2007) "The Rise and Rise of the Administrative State" by Gary Lawson (1994) "The Study of Administration" by Woodrow Wilson (1887) "The Threat to Liberty" by Steven F. Hayward (2017) "Why the Modern Administrative State Is Inconsistent with the Rule of Law" by Richard A. Epstein (2008) Agencies Administrative Conference of the United States •United States Civil Service Commission •U.S. Government Accountability Office •U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs •U.S. Office of Management and Budget