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FMCSA Regulatory Support
ICF International support for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has involved a wide range of regulatory development and Federal Register drafting work for approximately 40 regulatory actions addressing such topics as licensing of commercial drivers, financial responsibility for motor carriers, registration of commercial trucks, safety standards for motor carriers, health and operation standards for drivers, and commercial non-safety-related issues.
ICF has performed public comment analysis using ICF’s proprietary CommentWorks® comment management system, provided drafting and editing services for the client's preparation of policy support and regulatory planning documents and Federal Register notices (Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), and Final Rules), developed regulatory training materials, and prepared benchmarking reviews and assessments of regulatory effectiveness. ICF has developed regulatory evaluations, including regulatory analyses and small entity economic impact analyses, paperwork burden analyses, energy impact analyses, and unfunded mandates reform analyses for several proposed and final rules.
TSA Regulatory Support
ICF provided regulatory economic analysis and research support, comment processing, and technical drafting support to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff for several proposed rules. ICF’s support also included regulatory flexibility and Small Business Regulatory Fairness Act (SBREFA) analyses. ICF also supported the management, sorting, and analysis of public comments on several rules (some including thousands of comments), using ICF’s CommentWorks® software.
DEA Regulatory Support
ICF International has supported the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) continuously since 1999. ICF has provided regulatory support for a number of DEA rules, including conducting background research to support policy decisions, drafting Federal Register preambles and preliminary rule text for agency review and revision, summarizing comments, and developing regulatory economic analyses, small entity analyses, and information collection requests. Representative rules supported include Electronic Ordering rules, rules implementing the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005, the Electronic Prescription rule, and rules to add substances.
Integration of Access Authorization and Fitness-for-Duty Rulemaking Efforts for NRC
ICF International supports the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR) and Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) in rulemaking activities related to the Fitness-for-Duty (FFD) Rule in 10 CFR Part 26. The FFD rule establishes requirements for background investigations and drug and alcohol testing and fatigue monitoring for reactor operators, security personnel, and other persons admitted to the secure areas of nuclear power reactors (including reactors under construction). ICF supported development of both the proposed and final rules, which comprehensively revised the requirements to incorporate new technical and security-related criteria, and is currently supporting implementation of the requirements. ICF and our team performed the following activities:
- Conducted and documented a detailed section-by-section analysis of the changes resulting from the proposed rule
- Provided data collection support and analysis
- Conducted and documented detailed regulatory benefit/cost and backfit analyses of the proposed rule
- Prepared a Paperwork Reduction Act analysis of the reporting and record-keeping requirements in the proposed and final rules
- Prepared an innovative, risk-informed quantitative analysis of the benefits of the rule’s fatigue management provisions
- Prepared a detailed summary and analysis of the public comments on the proposed rule
- Supported the development of guidance documents
- Provided analysis of the interrelationships among the FFD rule and other security requirements pertaining to nuclear power reactors
USPTO Regulatory Flexibility Act and Expert Support Services
ICF supported the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in evaluating the regulatory burden, including the paperwork burden, expected to fall on small entity patent applicants as a result of proposed and final rulemakings. ICF worked on a series of tasks that involved conducting a detailed small entity analysis and preparing a carefully-documented report supporting USPTO’s certification under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) that the rulemaking would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, providing additional analysis related to litigation, analyzing paperwork costs, preparing a draft Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), and analyzing public comments on the IRFA in order to develop the draft Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA).
Assistance to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission for Drafting and Codifying Administrative Regulations
ICF International reviewed federal laws and other authorities defining the administrative requirements of a federal agency and working with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to help identify the administrative regulations the EAC should consider adopting. Following the EAC’s decision on the administrative rules to adopt, ICF worked closely with the client to help develop an organizational structure for the EAC’s portion of the Code of Federal Regulations, 11 CFR Chapter II, to arrange the rules in a logical sequence and leave room for expansion as necessary. ICF also reviewed other agencies’ administrative rules on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Policies and Procedures, Privacy Act Policies and Procedures, Touhy Action Procedures, Sunshine Act Policies and Procedures, Common Rule (Grant Management) Regulations, Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) Policies and Procedures, confidential business information (CBI) and Trade Secrets protection, non-discrimination in programs, and standards of conduct. The rules were used by EAC as models for its regulations on each of the listed topics. ICF provided additional research support as requested. ICF also provided support with respect to the Unified Regulatory Agenda and the Federal Docket Management System.
Lead Hazard Control in Housing for the U.S. HUD and the U.S. EPA
ICF International supported the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Lead Hazard Control in developing regulations to reduce lead-based paint hazards in federally assisted and federally owned housing. ICF assisted HUD in developing the regulatory framework, drafting sections of preambles, conducting the regulatory impact analysis and regulatory flexibility analysis for the proposed and final rulemakings, analyzing public comments on the proposed rule, and preparing NEPA lead-based paint documentation and ICRs. We provided similar support for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) programs, including facilitating the involvement of Small Entity Representatives in the rule development process.
Hazardous, Industrial, Municipal, and Special Waste Program Support for the U.S. EPA
ICF International has provided a wide range of support for a rulemaking on revisions to the definition of solid waste. ICF researched hazardous waste recycling damage cases and developed portions of EPA’s environmental problems report, preparing graphics as well as text. ICF also developed a white paper on the economics of hazardous waste recycling and researched state regulatory and programmatic approaches to hazardous waste recycling and industrial standards for incorporation of recycled hazardous waste materials into commercial products. ICF provided technical analysis of financial assurance issues for recycling facilities, evaluating financial alternatives by which recycling firms could demonstrate the ability to decontaminate their facilities. ICF provided drafting support for the preamble to the Federal Register notice. ICF has used CommentWorks® to support preparation of public comment documents, comment summaries, and responses to public comments. ICF also has provided support for the Paperwork Reduction Analyses for the rulemaking.
Guidance on Small Entity Economic Analyses for the U.S. EPA
ICF International supported EPA's development of guidance on performing small-entity economic analyses under the Regulatory Flexibility Act as amended by SBREFA. The guidance provides regulatory staff with direction on applying the latest economic theory (including the use of appropriate analytical measures and data sources) to regulatory analyses of small businesses, governments, and nonprofit entities. ICF developed the theoretical background and justification for internally consistent economic impact screening analyses. We described the economic reasoning in support of each measure and discussed how to interpret the results of each measure.
Information Collection Requests
After the Paperwork Reduction Act was amended in 1995, ICF International drafted a revised Information Collection Request (ICR) handbook for EPA use. The handbook included sections on determining whether Office of Management and Budget (OMB clearance and an ICR are needed, complying with public notice requirements, filling out standard forms, and performing other new steps. Over the past decade, ICF has prepared more than 150 ICRs for federal agencies, including generic and survey ICRs.
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