The Trump administration is greasing the path to advance its regulation-busting crusade through a public online submission form.
A new feature on regulations.gov dubbed “deregulation suggestions” allows members of the public and private companies “impacted by an existing rule or regulation” to recommend rules to slash and share ideas for how to justify the rollback.
It’s the latest example of President Donald Trump’s government-wide push to slash regulations on private businesses, including rules aimed at protecting public health and the environment. Recently, EPA invited companies to apply directly for exemptions from emissions requirements for toxic air pollutants — an offer that at least one coal plant owner has already pursued.
Regulations.gov is managed by the eRulemaking Program Management Office within the General Services Administration, according to the website. It is the primary mechanism for members of the public to submit comments and recommendations on federal agency proposals.
GSA did not immediately provide a comment on the suggestions form, nor did the White House.
The deregulation form asks a series of questions about the specific rule that should be targeted, which agency promulgated it and what stage of development it is in. It also asks for the “title, parts, and/or sections of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) [that] should be rescinded.”
It lists a series of potential reasons to include when submitting a rollback request form, such as “the regulation is inconsistent with a statute” and “the regulation is bad policy, unreasoned or unsound.”
“You should discuss the current state of the regulation, how it operates, and its history,” the form says. “A high level of detail is preferred.”
Entities submitting a request could potentially have the regulatory rollback named after them. “Providing your name does not guarantee that it will appear on any final agency action, and we reserve the right to refrain from using names that are inappropriate or offensive,” the form adds.
President Donald Trump has made rescinding regulations a central part of his administration. In February, he signed an executive order that seeks to slash 10 regulations for every new one issued by an agency.
It’s not clear when the online submission form was posted, but an analysis of the regulations.gov webpage on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine suggests it was posted this week.
James Goodwin, policy director at the Center for Progressive Reform, said the form seems geared toward people with deep expertise in federal regulations, not “ordinary Americans.”
“Basically, if you’re an industry attorney or work through a trade association, it’s the kind of thing you can zoom right through without a problem,” Goodwin said.
Reporter Ellie Borst contributed.
