Regulatory Relief To Support Economic Recovery

Citation85 FR 31353
Record Number2020-11301
Published date22 May 2020
SectionPresidential Documents
CourtExecutive Office Of The President
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 100 (Friday, May 22, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 100 (Friday, May 22, 2020)]
                [Presidential Documents]
                [Pages 31353-31356]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2020-11301]
                [[Page 31351]]
                Vol. 85
                Friday,
                No. 100
                May 22, 2020
                Part IV
                The President
                -----------------------------------------------------------------------
                Executive Order 13924--Regulatory Relief To Support Economic Recovery
                 Presidential Documents
                Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 100 / Friday, May 22, 2020 /
                Presidential Documents
                ___________________________________________________________________
                Title 3--
                The President
                [[Page 31353]]
                 Executive Order 13924 of May 19, 2020
                
                Regulatory Relief To Support Economic Recovery
                 In December 2019, a novel coronavirus known as SARS-
                 CoV-2 (``the virus'') was first detected in Wuhan,
                 Hubei Province, People's Republic of China, causing an
                 outbreak of the disease COVID-19, which has now spread
                 globally. The Secretary of Health and Human Services
                 declared a public health emergency on January 31, 2020,
                 under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42
                 U.S.C. 247d), in response to COVID-19. In Proclamation
                 9994 of March 13, 2020 (Declaring a National Emergency
                 Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
                 Outbreak), I declared that the COVID-19 outbreak in the
                 United States constituted a national emergency,
                 beginning March 1, 2020.
                 I have taken sweeping action to control the spread of
                 the virus in the United States, including by suspending
                 entry of certain foreign nationals who present a risk
                 of transmitting the virus; implementing policies to
                 accelerate acquisition of personal protective equipment
                 and bring new diagnostic capabilities to laboratories;
                 and pressing forward rapidly in the search for
                 effective treatments and vaccines. Our States, tribes,
                 territories, local communities, health authorities,
                 hospitals, doctors and nurses, manufacturers, and
                 critical infrastructure workers have all performed
                 heroic service on the front lines battling COVID-19.
                 Executive departments and agencies (agencies), under my
                 leadership, have helped them by taking hundreds of
                 administrative actions since March, many of which
                 provided flexibility regarding burdensome requirements
                 that stood in the way of implementing the most
                 effective strategies to stop the virus's spread.
                 The virus has attacked our Nation's economy as well as
                 its health. Many businesses and non-profits have been
                 forced to close or lay off workers, and in the last 8
                 weeks, the Nation has seen more than 36 million new
                 unemployment insurance claims. I have worked with the
                 Congress to provide vital relief to small businesses to
                 keep workers employed and to bring assistance to those
                 who have lost their jobs. On April 16, 2020, I
                 announced Guidelines for Opening Up America Again, a
                 framework for safely re-opening the country and putting
                 millions of Americans back to work.
                 Just as we continue to battle COVID-19 itself, so too
                 must we now join together to overcome the effects the
                 virus has had on our economy. Success will require the
                 efforts not only of the Federal Government, but also of
                 every State, tribe, territory, and locality; of
                 businesses, non-profits, and houses of worship; and of
                 the American people. To aid those efforts, agencies
                 must continue to remove barriers to the greatest engine
                 of economic prosperity the world has ever known: the
                 innovation, initiative, and drive of the American
                 people.
                 By the authority vested in me as President by the
                 Constitution and the laws of the United States of
                 America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
                 Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United
                 States to combat the economic consequences of COVID-19
                 with the same vigor and resourcefulness with which the
                 fight against COVID-19 itself has been waged. Agencies
                 should address this economic emergency by rescinding,
                 modifying, waiving, or providing exemptions from
                 regulations and other requirements that may inhibit
                 economic recovery, consistent with applicable law and
                 with protection of the public health and safety, with
                 national and homeland security, and with budgetary
                 priorities and operational feasibility. They should
                 also give
                [[Page 31354]]
                 businesses, especially small businesses, the confidence
                 they need to re-open by providing guidance on what the
                 law requires; by recognizing the efforts of businesses
                 to comply with often-complex regulations in complicated
                 and swiftly changing circumstances; and by committing
                 to fairness in administrative enforcement and
                 adjudication.
                 Sec. 2. Definitions. (a) ``Emergency authorities''
                 means any statutory or regulatory authorities or
                 exceptions that authorize action in an emergency, in
                 exigent circumstances, for good cause, or in similar
                 situations.
                 (b) ``Agency'' has the meaning given in section
                 3502 of title 44, United States Code.
                 (c) ``Administrative enforcement'' includes
                 investigations, assertions of statutory or regulatory
                 violations, and adjudications by adjudicators as
                 defined herein.
                 (d) ``Adjudicator'' means an agency official who
                 makes a determination that has legal consequence, as
                 defined in section 2(d) of Executive Order 13892 of
                 October 9, 2019 (Promoting the Rule of Law Through
                 Transparency and Fairness in Civil Administrative
                 Enforcement and Adjudication), for a person, except
                 that it does not mean the head of an agency, a member
                 of a multi-member board that heads an agency, or a
                 Presidential appointee.
                 (e) ``Pre-enforcement ruling'' has the meaning
                 given it in section 2(f) of Executive Order 13892.
                 (f) ``Regulatory standard'' includes any
                 requirement imposed on the public by a Federal
                 regulation, as defined in section 2(g) of Executive
                 Order 13892, or any recommendation, best practice,
                 standard, or other, similar provision of a Federal
                 guidance document as defined in section 2(c) of
                 Executive Order 13892.
                 (g) ``Unfair surprise'' has the meaning given it in
                 section 2(e) of Executive Order 13892.
                 Sec. 3. Federal Response. The heads of all agencies are
                 directed to use, to the fullest extent possible and
                 consistent with applicable law, any emergency
                 authorities that I have previously invoked in response
                 to the COVID-19 outbreak or that are otherwise
                 available to them to support the economic response to
                 the COVID-19 outbreak. The heads of all agencies are
                 also encouraged to promote economic recovery through
                 non-regulatory actions.
                 Sec. 4. Rescission and waiver of regulatory standards.
                 The heads of all agencies shall identify regulatory
                 standards that may inhibit economic recovery and shall
                 consider taking appropriate action, consistent with
                 applicable law, including by issuing proposed rules as
                 necessary, to temporarily or permanently rescind,
                 modify, waive, or exempt persons or entities from those
                 requirements, and to consider exercising appropriate
                 temporary enforcement discretion or appropriate
                 temporary extensions of time as provided for in
                 enforceable agreements with respect to those
                 requirements, for the purpose of promoting job creation
                 and economic growth, insofar as doing so is consistent
                 with the law and with the policy considerations
                 identified in section 1 of this order.
                 Sec. 5. Compliance assistance for regulated entities.
                 (a) The heads of all agencies, excluding the Department
                 of Justice, shall accelerate procedures by which a
                 regulated person or entity may receive a pre-
                 enforcement ruling under Executive Order 13892 with
                 respect to whether proposed conduct in response to the
                 COVID-19 outbreak, including any response to
                 legislative or executive economic stimulus actions, is
                 consistent with statutes and regulations administered
                 by the agency, insofar as doing so is consistent with
                 the law and with the policy considerations identified
                 in section 1 of this order. Pre-enforcement rulings
                 under this subsection may be issued without regard to
                 the requirements of section 6(a) of Executive Order
                 13892.
                 (b) The heads of all agencies shall consider
                 whether to formulate, and make public, policies of
                 enforcement discretion that, as permitted by law and as
                 appropriate in the context of particular statutory and
                 regulatory
                [[Page 31355]]
                 programs and the policy considerations identified in
                 section 1 of this order, decline enforcement against
                 persons and entities that have attempted in reasonable
                 good faith to comply with applicable statutory and
                 regulatory standards, including those persons and
                 entities acting in conformity with a pre-enforcement
                 ruling.
                 (c) As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,
                 the Department of Health and Human Services, including
                 through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
                 and other agencies have issued, or plan to issue in the
                 future, guidance on action suggested to stem the
                 transmission and spread of that disease. In formulating
                 any policies of enforcement discretion under subsection
                 (b) of this section, an agency head should consider a
                 situation in which a person or entity makes a
                 reasonable attempt to comply with such guidance, which
                 the person or entity reasonably deems applicable to its
                 circumstances, to be a rationale for declining
                 enforcement under subsection (b) of this section. Non-
                 adherence to guidance shall not by itself form the
                 basis for an enforcement action by a Federal agency.
                 Sec. 6. Fairness in Administrative Enforcement and
                 Adjudication. The heads of all agencies shall consider
                 the principles of fairness in administrative
                 enforcement and adjudication listed below, and revise
                 their procedures and practices in light of them,
                 consistent with applicable law and as they deem
                 appropriate in the context of particular statutory and
                 regulatory programs and the policy considerations
                 identified in section 1 of this order.
                 (a) The Government should bear the burden of
                 proving an alleged violation of law; the subject of
                 enforcement should not bear the burden of proving
                 compliance.
                 (b) Administrative enforcement should be prompt and
                 fair.
                 (c) Administrative adjudicators should be
                 independent of enforcement staff.
                 (d) Consistent with any executive branch
                 confidentiality interests, the Government should
                 provide favorable relevant evidence in possession of
                 the agency to the subject of an administrative
                 enforcement action.
                 (e) All rules of evidence and procedure should be
                 public, clear, and effective.
                 (f) Penalties should be proportionate, transparent,
                 and imposed in adherence to consistent standards and
                 only as authorized by law.
                 (g) Administrative enforcement should be free of
                 improper Government coercion.
                 (h) Liability should be imposed only for violations
                 of statutes or duly issued regulations, after notice
                 and an opportunity to respond.
                 (i) Administrative enforcement should be free of
                 unfair surprise.
                 (j) Agencies must be accountable for their
                 administrative enforcement decisions.
                 Sec. 7. Review of Regulatory Response. The heads of all
                 agencies shall review any regulatory standards they
                 have temporarily rescinded, suspended, modified, or
                 waived during the public health emergency, any such
                 actions they take pursuant to section 4 of this order,
                 and other regulatory flexibilities they have
                 implemented in response to COVID-19, whether before or
                 after issuance of this order, and determine which, if
                 any, would promote economic recovery if made permanent,
                 insofar as doing so is consistent with the policy
                 considerations identified in section 1 of this order,
                 and report the results of such review to the Director
                 of the Office of Management and Budget, the Assistant
                 to the President for Domestic Policy, and the Assistant
                 to the President for Economic Policy.
                 Sec. 8. Implementation. The Director of the Office of
                 Management and Budget, in consultation with the
                 Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the
                 Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, shall
                 monitor
                [[Page 31356]]
                 compliance with this order and may also issue memoranda
                 providing guidance for implementing this order,
                 including by setting deadlines for the reviews and
                 reports required under section 7 of this order.
                 Sec. 9. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
                 shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
                (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
                the head thereof; or
                (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
                relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
                 (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
                 applicable law and subject to the availability of
                 appropriations.
                 (c) Notwithstanding any other provision in this
                 order, nothing in this order shall apply to any action
                 that pertains to foreign or military affairs, or to a
                 national security or homeland security function of the
                 United States (other than procurement actions and
                 actions involving the import or export of non-defense
                 articles and services).
                 (d) This order is not intended to, and does not,
                 create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
                 enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
                 the United States, its departments, agencies, or
                 entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
                 other person.
                
                
                 (Presidential Sig.)
                 THE WHITE HOUSE,
                 May 19, 2020.
                [FR Doc. 2020-11301
                Filed 5-21-20; 11:15 am]
                Billing code 3295-F0-P
                

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT