Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting to Unleash American Energy
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
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By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. In our country, laws are supposed to provide the certainty and order necessary to foster liberty and innovation. Instead, our vast regulatory structure often serves to constrict ordered liberty, not promote it. The United States Code itself is more than 60,000 pages. But unelected agency officials write most of the complex, legally binding rules on top of that, often stretching these statutory provisions beyond what the Congress enacted.
In particular, the previous administration added more pages to the Federal Register than any other in history, with the result that the Code of Federal Regulations now approaches a staggering 200,000 pages. These regulations linger in such volume that serious reexamination seldom occurs.This regime of governance-by-regulator has imposed particularly severe costs on energy production, where innovation is critical. The net result is an energy landscape perpetually trapped in the 1970s. By rescinding outdated regulations that serve as a drag on progress, we can stimulate innovation and deliver prosperity to everyday Americans.
This order directs certain agencies to incorporate a sunset provision into their regulations governing energy production to the extent permitted by law, thus compelling those agencies to reexamine their regulations periodically to ensure that those rules serve the public good.
Sec. 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this order:(a) “Conditional Sunset Date” means the date a regulation will cease to be effective and be removed from the Code of Federal Regulations, if the agency does not extend the Sunset Date pursuant to section 4(d) of this order.(b) “Covered Agency” means one of the agencies listed in section 3(a) of this order.(c) “Covered Regulation” means a regulation issued in whole or in part pursuant to a statutory authority listed in sections 3(b)-(j) of this order. (d) “DOGE Team Lead” means the leader of the DOGE Team at each agency as described in Executive Order 14158.(e) “Regulation” means each part, subpart, or individual provision of the Code of Federal Regulations promulgated under an agency rule as defined in 5 U.S.C. 551(4).
Sec. 3. Covered Agencies and Regulations. (a) This order applies to the following agencies and their subcomponents: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); the Department of Energy (DoE); the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC); and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). It further applies to the following agency subcomponents: the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), all within the Department of the Interior; and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (ACE), within the United States Army.(b) For the DoE, this order applies to all regulations issued pursuant to the following statutes and any amendments thereto:(i) the Atomic Energy Act of 1954;(ii) the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987;(iii) the Energy Policy Act of 1992;(iv) the Energy Policy Act of 2005; and(v) the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.(c) For FERC, this order applies to all regulations issued pursuant to the following statutes and any amendments thereto:(i) the Federal Power Act of 1935; (ii) the Natural Gas Act of 1938; and(iii) the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978.(d) For the NRC, this order applies to all regulations issued pursuant to the following statutes and any amendments thereto:(i) the Atomic Energy Act of 1954;(ii) the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974; and(iii) the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.(e) For the OSMRE, this order applies to all regulations issued pursuant to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 and any amendments thereto.(f) For the BLM, this order applies to all regulations issued pursuant to the following statutes and any amendments thereto:(i) the Mining Act of 1872; (ii) the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976; and (iii) the Energy Policy Act of 2005.(g) For the BOEM, this order applies to all regulations issued pursuant to the following statutes and any amendments thereto:(i) the Outer Continental Shelf Act of 1953; and(ii) the Energy Policy Act of 2005.(h) For the BSEE, this order applies to all regulations issued pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf Act of 1953 and any amendments thereto.(i) For the FWS, this order applies to all regulations issued pursuant to the following statutes and any amendments thereto:(i) the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act;(ii) the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918;(iii) the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1934;(iv) the Anadromous Fish Conservation Act of 1965; (v) the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972;(vi) the Endangered Species Act of 1973;(vii) the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976; and(viii) the Coastal Barrier Resources Act of 1982.(j) For the EPA and ACE, within 30 days of the date of this order, the Administrator of the EPA and Secretary of the Army shall provide to the President, through the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB Director), a list of statutes vesting EPA and ACE with regulatory authority that shall be subject to this order.