President Trump Wants to Hear from Your about the Impact of Federal Regulations on Domestic Manufacturing

The U.S. Department of Commerce is seeking information on the impact of Federal permitting requirements on the construction and expansion of domestic manufacturing facilities and on regulations that adversely impact domestic manufacturers. As directed by President Trump's Memorandum of January 24, 2017, "Streamlining Permitting and Reducing Regulatory Burdens for Domestic Manufacturing," the Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Secretaries of Agriculture and Energy, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, and other appropriate agency heads, is conducting outreach to stakeholders concerning the impact of Federal regulations on domestic manufacturing, and is soliciting comments from the public concerning Federal actions to streamline permitting for the construction and expansion of domestic manufacturing facilities and to reduce regulatory burdens for domestic manufacturers.

Comments must be received by 5 p.m. Eastern time on March 31, 2017.

Responses to this Request for Information will inform the Secretary's report to the President which will set forth guidelines for Federal permitting and regulatory agencies to streamline Federal permitting processes for domestic manufacturing and reduce regulatory burdens affecting domestic manufacturers. The plan will be coordinated with related activities under existing laws and executive actions.

Regarding Manufacturing Permitting Processes, the Government Seeks Information On:

1. How many permits from a Federal agency are required to build, expand or operate your manufacturing facilities? Which Federal agencies require permits and how long does it take to obtain them?

2. Do any of the Federal permits overlap with (or duplicate) other federal permits or those required by State or local agencies? If the answer is yes, how many permits? From which Federal agencies?

3. Briefly describe the most onerous part of your permitting process.

4. If you could make one change to the Federal permitting process applicable to your manufacturing business or facilities, what would it be? How could the permitting process be modified to better suit your needs?

5. Are there Federal, State, or local agencies that you have worked with on permitting whose practices should be widely implemented? What is it you like about those practices?

Regarding Regulatory Burden/Compliance the Government Seeks Information On:

Please list the top four regulations that you believe are most burdensome for your manufacturing business. Please identify the agency that issues each one. Specific citation of codes from the Code of Federal Regulations would be appreciated.

2. How could regulatory compliance be simplified within your industry or sector?

3. Please provide any other specific recommendations, not addressed by the questions above, that you believe would help reduce unnecessary Federal agency regulation of your business.