AASHTO Journal, 26 August 2011
The U.S. Department of Transportation published Tuesday a 199-page document responding to hundreds of comments received during this year’s re-examination of its regulations, a process set in motion in January when President Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13563, “Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.” The president challenged agencies across the federal government to review and remove rules that are out of date, unnecessary, excessively burdensome, or in conflict with other rules.USDOT held a public meeting to discuss and consider the public’s comments in March, then issued a preliminary response in June that it would reconsider more than 70 regulations. (see June 3 AASHTO Journal story) Tuesday’s final response closes the process by stating what steps USDOT will take to address some regulations, while dismissing other comments it will not act upon for various reasons.