Home > 1994 Unified Agenda > ua14no94 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DOD)...ua14no94 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DOD)...
<DOC> DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (DOC) Regulatory Plan Overview Departmental Goals Sustainable, long-term economic growth is a central focus of the President's policies and priorities. The mission of the Department of Commerce--ensuring and enhancing long-term economic opportunity and a rising standard of living for all Americans--fully supports the President's economic policy. The Department of Commerce plays a critical role in helping the Nation meet its economic goals. The Department works primarily with and through the private sector, creating partnerships that facilitate job creation, international trade, local and regional economic development, manufacturing excellence, investment in R&D, environmentally sound development, and other activities that contribute to the Nation's economic well-being. It is both the representative and the pacesetter for the course business must take to be competitive in the new world order. The President and the Secretary of Commerce have established a clear set of priorities and programs for the Department of Commerce that will enable the Department to help create the best possible climate for long-term private sector economic growth and development in the United States. The Department's policy and program priorities stress economic growth and development through: <bullet> Opening and expanding foreign markets and promoting increased exports of U.S. goods and services in markets with the highest potential for growth and in important growing sectors; <bullet> Promoting increased tourism to the United States; <bullet> Advocating free and fair trade policies and enacting and implementing the first post-Cold War export regime--a regime that facilitates trade while safeguarding our national security; <bullet> Enhancing technological development and commercialization through improved strategies for Government-industry cooperation; <bullet> Providing developmental assistance to distressed communities and minority business; <bullet> Establishing a new economic information infrastructure; <bullet> Promoting stewardship and assessment of the global environment; and <bullet> Creating a more effective, economical, productive and responsive Department of Commerce. The Department's Regulatory Plan directly tracks these policy and program priorities, only a few of which involve regulation of the private sector by the Department. Responding to the Administration's Regulatory Philosophy and Principles To the extent permitted by law, all preregulatory and regulatory activities and decisions adhere to the Administration's statement of regulatory philosophy and principles, as set forth in section 1 of Executive Order 12866. The Department of Commerce has long been a leader in advocating and using market-oriented regulatory approaches in lieu of traditional command-and-control regulations when such approaches offer a better alternative. All regulations are designed and implemented to maximize societal benefits while placing the smallest possible burden on those being regulated. When a regulation is no longer needed, the Secretary's standing order is to rescind it. The Secretary has prohibited the issuance of any regulation that discriminates on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, handicap, or age, and requires that all regulations be written in simple, plain English and be understandable to those affected by them. The Secretary also requires that the Department afford the public the maximum possible opportunity to participate in Departmental rulemakings, even where public participation is not required by law. The vast majority of the Department's programs and activities do not involve regulation. Of the Department's 12 primary operating units, only six--the Bureau of Export Administration (BXA), the International Trade Administration (ITA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Patent and Trademark Office, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and the Technology Administration--plan significant preregulatory or regulatory actions for the Regulatory Plan year. Many of these regulatory actions do not involve new or increased regulation of the private sector. Three of these operating units--BXA, ITA, and NOAA--have the most important of the Department's significant regulatory actions planned for the Regulatory Plan year. These three units are described below, along with their regulatory objectives and priorities and how they relate to the President's priorities and their most significant planned regulatory actions. In addition, the Department is taking steps to streamline its regulatory processes and delivery systems in line with the President's directives. In his September 30, 1993, Memorandum for Heads of Departments and Agencies, President Clinton stated: In order to streamline the entire (Federal) rulemaking process, agencies must, consistent with any applicable laws, utilize internally the most efficient method of developing and reviewing regulations. Accordingly, I direct the head of each agency and department to examine its internal review procedures to determine whether, and if so, how those procedures can be improved and streamlined. In conducting this examination, the agency or department shall consider the number of clearances required by its review process and whether its review process varies according to the complexity or significance of the rule. Each preregulatory and regulatory action of the Department is undertaken with the concept of streamlining in mind. Methodologies for eliminating levels of review and delegating decisionmaking authority down to the lowest appropriate level are constantly being tested. Further, the Department is employing advanced technology designed to create greater responsiveness. For example, the Office of the General Counsel is currently working with computer experts within the Commerce Department to develop a regulation database and tracking system. This system, which is planned to be fully operational this fall, will provide decisionmakers with precise, concise, and up-to-the-minute information on the substance, status, and history of each of the Department's regulatory actions. Bureau of Export Administration The Department of Commerce's Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) administers and enforces U.S. export controls on certain dual-use commodities, software, and technical data, under the Export Administration Act of 1979, as amended (EAA), and other laws. BXA also implements policies and administers programs under certain provisions of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA) designed to assure the availability of industrial resources needed for our national security, both in peacetime and in time of national emergency. In addition, BXA investigates the impact of imports on national security, pursuant to the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (TEA). Finally, BXA administers controls on nuclear-related exports under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Act of 1978. The regulations of the Bureau of Export Administration are the Export Administration Regulations (EARs). BXA's main programmatic objective is to operate an export control program which encourages economic opportunities without compromising national security. BXA implements export controls in furtherance of the national security and foreign policy objectives of the United States. BXA helps achieve the major Departmental goal of advocating free and fair trade policies and enacting and implementing the first post-Cold War export regime--a regime that will facilitate trade while safeguarding our national security. It is essential that United States have and implement export controls that take into account the realities of the post-Cold War world. Strong controls will continue to be needed to combat the threat of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and to preserve our national security and foreign policy interests. However, long overdue reforms are needed to ensure that our export controls do not unfairly and unnecessarily burden our important commercial interests. Streamlining the Export Administration Regulations While many substantive changes to the EARs must await reauthorization of the EAA, BXA's top regulatory priority is to reduce, consistent with U.S. national security and foreign policy interests and present law, U.S. export regulatory barriers to the export of some of our most attractive products--computers and telecommunications--and to clarify, simplify, and make more userfriendly the present EARs. This is one of the export control reform measures announced by the Administration in the first report of the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC), ``Toward a National Export Strategy,'' (Sept. 30, 1993).The TPCC is a 19-agency working group chaired by the Secetary of Commerce whose report recommendations form an integral part of the Administration's economic development strategy for the next several years. In order to meet the programmatic end described above within the regulatory philosophy and principles of E.O. 12866 and the President's streamlining goals, BXA is planning to re-organize its regulations in a more logical and transaction-oriented order; to make its regulations usable by both newcomers and professionals; to remove redundancy, overlap, and inconsistency; and to use consistent and easily understood drafting style. Implementing a Revised Export Administration Act The EAA expired on August 20, 1994. However, on August 19, 1994, the President issued Executive Order 12924 invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and continuing in effect, to the extent permitted by law, the provisions of the EAA and EAR. The EARs will need to be amended, in various degrees, to take into account changes made to the EAA as part of its reauthorization. At the present time, however, we cannot predict with any degree of certainty how the EAA will be amended. Both the House and the Senate are presently considering bills to reauthorize the EAA. The Administration seeks amendments to the EAA that will make it show a clear preference for multilateral export controls and strengthening multilateral regimes. The development of common control lists and commitments to comparable procedures between members of a regime are essential. The Administration's reauthorization proposal to the Congress contains explicit guidelines for effective regimes which include: (1) full membership by all supplier countries, (2) effective enforcement and compliance procedures, (3) effective implementation procedures, and (4) programs to enhance public understanding. An important goal of the Administration's proposed EAA reauthorization legislation is to increase the transparency of our export control decisionmaking process. U.S. industry must be able to depend on accurate, consistent, and timely licensing decisions. The Administration proposes new and broader rights of petition for industry to seek relief from export control requirements when it can be demonstrated that they place an unfair burden on U.S. business, or when specific licensing decisions are clearly inequitable when compared to the rules of other nations. Specifically, under the Administration's proposal, industry would have the right to petition for relief when: (1) there is foreign availability or items are expected to become available in the near future, (2) the differences in the control imposed by the United States and other governments places the petitioner at an unfair competitive disadvantage, or (3) the controls are ineffective due to an item's wide domestic availability and the inability to enforce the controls effectively. Before new export restrictions are imposed or existing restrictions continued, the costs to the United States in lost jobs and in lost export opportunities must be carefully measured. An objective of the new EAA must be to recognize this reality and provide for the thorough assessment of the economic effect of proposed controls. The Administration's legislative proposal, consistent with the philosophy and principles of Executive Order 12866, includes the requirement for a formal evaluation of the costs and benefits of unilateral controls before such controls are imposed and extended. International Trade Administration The International Trade Administration (ITA) is responsible for most nonagricultural trade promotion and enforcement activities of the Federal Government. It works with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in coordinating U.S. trade policy. A large component of ITA's activities do not involve regulation. However, ITA has important regulatory authority under a number of U.S. trade laws. ITA administers programs to strengthen domestic export competitiveness and to promote U.S. industry's increased participation in international markets. ITA's trade development program includes policy development, industry analysis, and promotion organized by industrial sectors such as aerospace, automotive vehicles and parts, basic industries, chemicals and allied products, energy, and textiles and apparel. Among its regulatory activities, ITA issues export trade certificates of review providing exporters with limited immunity from liability under U.S. antitrust laws. ITA helps achieve the major Departmental goal of opening and expanding foreign markets and promoting increased exports of U.S. goods and services in markets with the highest potential for growth, such as Asia and Latin America, and in important growing sectors, such as computers, telecommunications, and environmental technologies. The report of the TPCC outlined more than 60 specific actions to strengthen U.S. export promotion efforts. Many of these actions, such as increasing U.S. businesses' awareness of sources of, and access to, trade finance and the establishment of one-stop U.S. Export Assistance Centers, directly involve ITA but do not involve regulation. ITA also enforces our trade laws to ensure free and fair competition in our domestic market between U.S.- and foreign-manufactured goods. It administers and enforces the antidumping and countervailing duty laws of the United States. It investigates whether exports to the United States are subsidized or sold at less than fair value; when it finds that they are, and the U.S. International Trade Commission finds that a U.S. industry has been injured or threatened with material injury as a result, it issues an order to the U. S. Customs Service to impose offsetting duties. In addition, ITA administers the Foreign Trade Zone, Watch Quota, and Steel Import Stabilization Programs and the Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Materials Importation Act, and enforces the machine tool voluntary restraint agreements with Japan and Taiwan. Antidumping and Countervailing Duties Regulations The top regulatory priority of ITA is revising the antidumping and countervailing duty regulations to conform to anticipated legislation implementing the results of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations. The newly negotiated Antidumping Agreement and Subsidies/Countervailing Measures Agreement (Agreements) establish general principles regarding the administration of antidumping and countervailing duty laws. In order to facilitate the administration of these laws and to provide greater predictability for private parties affected by these laws, it will be necessary to promulgate regulations which translate the principles of the Agreements and the implementing legislation into specific and predictable rules. Revisions also will address matters that were the subject of other uncompleted rulemaking proceedings that the Department of Commerce has previously withdrawn. By clarifying the methodologies and procedures used in administering the antidumping and countervailing duty laws, the efficiency and fairness of these laws will be enhanced at little, if any, additional cost. The manner in which these regulations are drafted could have a significant impact on various important sectors of the economy, including steel, lumber and bearings. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) establishes and administers Federal policy for the conservation and management of the Nation's oceanic, coastal, and atmospheric resources. It provides a variety of essential environmental services vital to public safety and to the Nation's economy, such as weather forecasts and storm warnings. It is a source of objective information on the state of the environment. NOAA plays the lead role in achieving the Departmental goal of promoting stewardship and assessment of the global environment. Three of NOAA's major components, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the National Ocean Service (NOS), and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), exercise regulatory authority. NMFS oversees the management and conservation of the Nation's marine fisheries, protects marine mammals, and promotes the economic development of the U.S. fishing industries. NOS assists the coastal States in their management of land and ocean resources in their coastal zones, including estuarine research reserves; manages the Nation's national marine sanctuaries; monitors marine pollution; and directs the national program for deep-seabed minerals and ocean thermal energy. NESDIS administers the civilian weather satellite program and licenses private organizations to operate civil operational land-remote sensing satellite systems. The Administration is committed to an environmental strategy that promotes sustainable economic development and rejects the false choice between environmental goals and economic growth. The intent is to have the Government's economic decisions be guided by a comprehensive understanding of the environment. The Department of Commerce through NOAA has a unique role in promoting stewardship of the global environment through effective management of the Nation's marine and coastal resources and in monitoring and predicting changes in the Earth's environment, thus linking trade, development and technology with environmental issues. NOAA has the primary Federal responsibility for providing the sound scientific observations, assessments and forecasts of environmental phenomena on which resource management and other societal decisions can be made. The Department of Commerce's Economics and Statistics Administration has the primary Federal responsibility for providing information about the economy. Other Popular 1994 Unified Agenda Documents:
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