View all text of Subchapter V [§ 7191 - § 7195]
§ 7191. Procedures for issuance of rules, regulations, or orders
(a) Applicability of subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5
(1) Subject to the other requirements of this subchapter, the provisions of subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5 shall apply in accordance with its terms to any rule or regulation, or any order having the applicability and effect of a rule (as defined in section 551(4) of title 5), issued pursuant to authority vested by law in, or transferred or delegated to, the Secretary, or required by this chapter or any other Act to be carried out by any other officer, employee, or component of the Department, other than the Commission, including any such rule, regulation, or order of a State, or local government agency or officer thereof, issued pursuant to authority delegated by the Secretary in accordance with this subchapter. If any provision of any Act, the functions of which are transferred, vested, or delegated pursuant to this chapter, provides administrative procedure requirements in addition to the requirements provided in this subchapter, such additional requirements shall also apply to actions under that provision.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), this subchapter shall apply to the Commission to the same extent this subchapter applies to the Secretary in the exercise of any of the Commission’s functions under section 7172(c)(1) of this title or which the Secretary has assigned under section 7172(e) of this title.
(b) Substantial issue of fact or law or likelihood of substantial impact on Nation’s economy, etc.; oral presentation
(1) If the Secretary determines, on his own initiative or in response to any showing made pursuant to paragraph (2) (with respect to a proposed rule, regulation, or order described in subsection (a)) that no substantial issue of fact or law exists and that such rule, regulation, or order is unlikely to have a substantial impact on the Nation’s economy or large numbers of individuals or businesses, such proposed rule, regulation, or order may be promulgated in accordance with section 553 of title 5. If the Secretary determines that a substantial issue of fact or law exists or that such rule, regulation, or order is likely to have a substantial impact on the Nation’s economy or large numbers of individuals or businesses, an opportunity for oral presentation of views, data, and arguments shall be provided.
(2) Any person, who would be adversely affected by the implementation of any proposed rule, regulation, or order who desires an opportunity for oral presentation of views, data, and arguments, may submit material supporting the existence of such substantial issues or such impact.
(3) A transcript shall be kept of any oral presentation with respect to a rule, regulation, or order described in subsection (a).
(c) Waiver of requirements
(d) Effects confined to single unit of local government, geographic area within State, or State; hearing or oral presentation
(1) With respect to any rule, regulation, or order described in subsection (a), the effects of which, except for indirect effects of an inconsequential nature, are confined to—
(A) a single unit of local government or the residents thereof;
(B) a single geographic area within a State or the residents thereof; or
(C) a single State or the residents thereof;
the Secretary shall, in any case where appropriate, afford an opportunity for a hearing or the oral presentation of views, and provide procedures for the holding of such hearing or oral presentation within the boundaries of the unit of local government, geographic area, or State described in paragraphs (A) through (C) of this paragraph as the case may be.
(2) For the purposes of this subsection—
(A) the term “unit of local government” means a county, municipality, town, township, village, or other unit of general government below the State level; and
(B) the term “geographic area within a State” means a special purpose district or other region recognized for governmental purposes within such State which is not a unit of local government.
(3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as requiring a hearing or an oral presentation of views where none is required by this section or other provision of law.
(e) Prescription of procedures for State and local government agencies
(Pub. L. 95–91, title V, § 501, Aug. 4, 1977, 91 Stat. 587; Pub. L. 105–28, § 2(a), July 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 245.)