Prisons Bureau January 14, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In this document, the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) finalizes three proposed rules on the drug abuse treatment program. Finalizing all three proposed rules together results in a more uniform and comprehensive revision of our drug abuse treatment program (DATP) regulations. Specifically, this amendment will streamline and clarify these regulations, eliminating unnecessary text and obsolete language, and removing internal agency procedures that need not be in rules text. This rule clarifies the distinction between mandatory and voluntary participation in the drug abuse education course, removes eligibility limitations pertaining to cognitive impairments and learning disabilities, and addresses the effects of non-participation both in the drug abuse education course and in the residential drug abuse treatment program (RDAP). In this rule, we also add escape and attempted escape to the list of reasons an inmate may be expelled from the RDAP. Furthermore, in our regulation on considering inmates for early release, we remove obsolete language, add as ineligible for early release inmates with a prior felony or misdemeanor conviction for arson or kidnapping, and clarify that inmates cannot earn early release twice.