SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This rule makes technical amendments to certain provisions in 28 CFR part 27 to reflect that “the Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management” has been renamed “the Office of Adjudication, Recruitment, and Management” (OARM) as part of a reorganization of JMD, which included the formal realignment of OARM to JMD.

Regulatory Analysis

In developing this rule, the Department considered numerous statutes and executive orders applicable to rulemaking. The Department's analysis of the applicability of those statutes and executive orders to this rule is summarized below.

A. Administrative Procedures Act

This rule relates to matters of agency personnel, organization, and procedure, and, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2), it is exempt from the requirements of notice and comment and a 30-day delay in the effective date.

B. Executive Orders 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review), Executive Order 13563 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review), and Executive Order 14192 (Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation)

This rule is not a significant regulatory action under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866, as supplemented by Executive Order 13563. This rule makes technical amendments to portions of the existing regulations that provide whistleblower protection for FBI employees and applicants to conform with organizational changes within JMD. The changes do not materially affect the number of claims or the time, cost, or resources required to address them.

Accordingly, this rule does not require an assessment of potential costs and benefits under section 6(a)(3) of Executive Order 12866. The Office of Management and Budget has not reviewed this rule under these Orders.

Further, as this rule relates to agency organization, management, or personnel, it is fully exempt from the numerical 10-for-1 and cost offset requirements of Executive Order 14192.

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C. 601-12, as amended, requires Federal agencies to consider the potential impact of regulations on small entities during rulemaking. The term “small entities” comprises small businesses, not-for-profit organizations that are independently owned and operated and are not dominant in their fields, and governmental jurisdictions with populations of less than 50,000. 5 U.S.C. 601.

The Attorney General certifies under 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that this rule does not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The rule makes technical amendments to the portions of the regulations governing the Department's internal process for addressing allegations of retaliation for protected whistleblowing by FBI employees and applicants. It has no application to small entities as defined above.

D. Paperwork Reduction Act

This final rule does not call for a new collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501-20.

E. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)

A rule has federalism implications under Executive Order 13132 if it has a substantial direct effect on the States, on the relationship between the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government. E.O. 13132, sec. 1(a). The Department has analyzed this rule under that Order and determined that this rule does not have federalism implications.

F. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. 1531-38, requires Federal agencies to determine whether a rule, if promulgated, will result in the expenditure by State, local, or tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100 million (adjusted for inflation) or more in any one year. 2 U.S.C. 1532(a). This rule does not require or result in expenditures by any of the above-named entities.

G. Executive Order 12988 (Civil Justice Reform), Plain Language

This rule meets applicable standards in sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988. ( printed page 56050)

H. Executive Order 13175 (Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments)

This rule does not have tribal implications under Executive Order 13175 because it would not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes.

I. Congressional Review Act

The reporting requirements of the Congressional Review Act (Subtitle E of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996), 5 U.S.C. 801-08, do not apply to this rule. This rule relates primarily to agency management, personnel, and organization. 5 U.S.C. 804(3)(B). The rule makes technical amendments to 28 CFR part 27, as necessary to conform to recent Department organizational changes. This action is accordingly not a “rule” as that term is used by the Congressional Review Act, see5 U.S.C. 804(3), and the reporting requirement of 5 U.S.C. 801 does not apply.

Authority and Issuance

For the reasons stated above, the Department of Justice amends 28 CFR part 27 as follows: