Department of Defense February 9, 2024 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This agenda announces the regulatory actions the Department of Defense (DoD) plans to take in the next 12 months and those regulatory actions completed since the publication of the spring 2023 Unified Agenda. It was developed under the guidelines of Executive Order 12866, ``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' and Executive Order 13563, ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.'' This agenda includes regulatory actions that support the Administration's regulatory priorities, the Secretary of Defense's top priorities to defend the Nation, take care of our people, and succeed through teamwork, as well as those priorities of the National Defense Strategy. These actions include efforts to promote the country's economic resilience; address healthcare issues; support underserved communities and improve small business opportunities; promote competition in the American economy; promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the Federal workforce; support national security efforts, especially safeguarding Federal Government information and information technology systems; tackle the climate crisis; and address military family matters. Members of the public may submit comments on individual proposed and interim final rulemakings at www.regulations.gov during the comment period that follows publication in the Federal Register. Additionally, specific agenda entries include information on public participation and community outreach efforts conducted or planned for those regulatory entries. This agenda updates the report published on June 13, 2023, and includes regulations expected to be issued and under review over the next 12 months. The next agenda will publish in the spring of 2024. The complete Unified Agenda will be available online at www.reginfo.gov. In accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 602), which requires agencies to publish its regulatory flexibility agendas in the Federal Register, the Department of Defense's printed agenda entries in the Federal Register include only: (1) rules that are in the Agency's regulatory flexibility agenda, in accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, because they are likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities; and (2) Any rules that the Agency has identified for periodic review under section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Although printing of these entries is limited to fields that contain information required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act's agenda requirements, additional information on these entries is in the Unified Agenda available online.

To demonstrate the greatest possible consistency between the procedures used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Regulatory Program to comply with the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and its implementing regulations, ``Protection of Historic Properties'' when processing permit applications, the Corps is proposing to amend its Regulatory Program's permitting regulations. The Corps will instead follow the NHPA's implementing regulations, developed and interpreted by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), relying on the flexibility in those regulations for Federal agency compliance with the steps of review. The Corps will take into account, among other factors, the degree and scope of the Federal involvement in the undertaking and the relationship of Federal actions to the overall proposed activities. Further, the Corps is also proposing to make conforming changes to its nationwide permit program regulations to eliminate references in the regulations.