§2691 General Provisions Relating to Administrative Proceedings

Summary

When the EPA makes or changes a rule under this part, the EPA Administrator must open a public rulemaking docket by the time the rule is proposed. If the rule applies only in one State, the same docket must also be set up in the EPA regional office for that State. The docket must be open at reasonable times listed in the proposal notice. Anyone can look at the papers and get copies. People must pay copying costs, but the EPA can lower or waive the fee. Mail requests are allowed if the requester pays the costs. All written comments and documents sent in during the comment period must go into the docket quickly. Hearing transcripts and later-discovered documents that are clearly important must be added as soon as possible. Drafts and related papers sent to other agencies for review before proposal, plus those agencies’ written comments and the Administrator’s replies, must be put in the docket by the proposal date. Drafts and comments sent for review before the final rule must be put in the docket by the date the final rule is issued. The final rule must explain major changes from the proposal and answer significant comments or new data. The final rule cannot rely on information not in the docket when it is issued. Materials from the pre-proposal interagency review are not part of the record for court review. These rules apply to any proposal made after 90 days after October 28, 1992.