narrow Senate majority

Environmental and public health advocates were concerned about the delay, which caused stress. They worry that the Biden administration may face more bureaucratic delays as they rush to implement complex policies with a limited Senate majority this year.

Possible reversal is a potential looming danger.

If Trump is reelected, there will be a second term of his administration.

“I am happy that it is coming to fruition,” Paul Billings, the American Lung Association’s national senior vice president for public policy, expressed upon the confirmed release of the publication. “It was definitely a long time coming.”

During a previous interview, Billings had stated that the Biden administration’s action on climate in 2023 was the most significant rule thus far. He added that they had been actively working on it since they took office in January 2021.

The new standards, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in December at the U.N. climate talks

Regan and Zaidi, alongside the United States, have made progress in addressing international climate goals and enhancing air quality in communities throughout the nation by being present in Dubai.

Publication in the government journal — which includes rules, notices and executive orders — triggers when rules take effect. It also kicks off a timeline that allows Congress to unravel rules — a process that environmental advocates worry a second Trump administration could use to torpedo Biden regulations in early 2025.

According to the unpublished version on the Federal Register’s website, EPA’s methane rule is scheduled to go into effect in 60 days after its publication. Using the new timetable for publication, this would occur in early May.

An email from EPA spokesperson Nick Conger stated that on Jan. 5, the agency submitted a 1,690-page regulation to the Office of the Federal Register, which is a department within the National Archives and Records Administration.

According to Conger, rulemakings that are complex and detailed may require more time to be published in the Federal Register compared to other actions. The EPA is reassured that the implementation of the Oil and Gas Methane Emissions Standards is progressing as planned and that the positive impact on health and climate will be fully realized. It should be noted that the industry, states, Tribes, and the public have had access to the standards in their pre-publication form since December.

in blockchain te

There are concerns about a potential bottleneck in the blockchain system.

Experts on rules cite the final regulation’s length, end-of-year holidays, and formatting logistics as potential obstacles that could have caused a delay in its publication.

However, a delay of approximately 12 weeks is particularly significant, according to James Goodwin, a senior policy analyst at the progressive-oriented Center for Progressive Reform.

Billings is wary of a “traffic jam” at the Office of the Federal Register as the Biden administration works to finalize a series of major regulations this year.

The Congressional Review Act grants Congress the power to reverse agency regulations within 60 days of their finalization and submission to Congress. However, the exact deadline for protecting these regulations remains uncertain due to the unpredictable schedule of Congress. Supporters of the Biden administration aim to have regulations finalized and published by the spring to safeguard them from potential rollbacks by the Trump administration.

Any rules that government agencies have finished but have not yet released by January 20, 2025, may also be affected by a new president’s decision to halt all pending regulations – a common practice on the first day of a new administration.

In the past, there has been an increase in the pages published in the Federal Register towards the end of administrations, according to Susan Dudley, a senior researcher at the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center.

During the final years of the George W. Bush presidency, employees in the White House department responsible for reviewing rules worked together with the Federal Register office due to an excessive amount of requests from agencies, according to Dudley, the former head of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

According to Dudley, the Federal Register experiences delays and it is impossible to print everything.

In an interview, Richard Claypoole, former director of the Office of the Federal Register in the mid-1990s, stated that it typically took four days for a rule to be sent from an agency to the office and then published.

According to Claypoole, a regulation with 1,600 pages would require more time for the Federal Register schedulers to review. The timing of its publication would depend on the office’s workload and the request from the issuing agency. Claypoole, who is retired, stated that it would take longer for the regulation to be published.

Ms. Allyson Pokres, the head of staff at the Office of the Federal Register, stated that documents are typically published within three business days. However, if there is an abnormally large amount of documents submitted, more complex ones may take longer to publish than usual.

According to Pokres, the office follows a first-come, first-served approach when processing documents for publication. However, the speed of processing also depends on various factors such as the number of documents in the queue, the complexity and length of each document, and the time needed to collaborate with agencies for edits and resolutions.

Goodwin advised agencies to consider potential delays in publication as they work quickly toward meeting their rule deadlines for the year.

Goodwin noted that a rule spanning 1,600 pages may require some extra consideration and processing time in order to be passed through the Federal Register.

This report originally appeared on E&E News’ Climatewire.

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