Memorandum M-21-24: Promoting Public Trust in the Federal Government and Effective Policy Implementation through Interagency Review and Coordination of the American Rescue Plan Act

Summary

OMB Memorandum M-21-24, dated April 26, 2021 and signed by Acting Director Shalanda D. Young, tells agency heads how OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs will review regulations and guidance under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Pub. L. No. 117-2). OIRA will treat all ARP-related guidance and regulations as presumptively significant under Executive Order 12866; agencies should plan on at least five business days of OIRA review for the most urgent items and at least 15 business days for more typical ones. Agencies are asked to alert OIRA by noon on Fridays about items that may need weekend circulation, to get sign-off from a political appointee before interagency review, and to send ARP Regulatory Implementation Plans to OMB, for existing programs by May 10, 2021. OIRA will ask whether agencies have fully considered equity impacts under Executive Order 13985.

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Full text

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503

April 26, 2021
M-21-24

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

FROM: Shalanda D. Young
Acting Director

SUBJECT: Promoting Public Trust in the Federal Government and Effective Policy
Implementation through Interagency Review and Coordination of the
American Rescue Plan Act

In order for the Federal Government to effectively respond to the public health
and economic crisis the Nation faces as a result of the COVID-19 Public Health
Emergency (COVID-19 PHE), the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021
(Pub. L. No. 117-2) requires departments and agencies (agencies) to quickly issue or
revise many regulations and guidance on an expedited basis. Effective review and
interagency coordination are key to ensuring the unprecedented Government-wide
response is effective in meeting the needs of the American public. To that end, this
memorandum summarizes expedited review procedures coordinated by the Office of
Management and Budget’s (OMB’s) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
(OIRA) under Executive Order (EO) 12866,1 as well as the important goals the
Administration has established in the ARP regulatory review process.

Expedited Review Procedures

Over the course of the COVID-19 PHE, OIRA has developed and implemented
expedited review procedures, and we intend to execute similar procedures for ARP
implementation. First, as with COVID-19-related items, OIRA will consider all ARP-
related guidance and regulations as presumptively significant under EO 12866, but we
will work with agencies on review schedules and emergency waivers of EO 12866 as
needed and justified. OIRA will also continue to work with the agencies to facilitate
quick, informal circulation of items not typically subject to such review. Casting a
broader net than our typical reviews is intended as a mechanism to facilitate coordination
across agencies—a must with so many interacting authorities and areas of expertise
central to the Federal Government’s response efforts.

In addition, we remind agencies that any information collections subject to the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) must undergo OMB review prior to use. The PRA also
contains emergency procedures that have been widely used by agencies during the
COVID-19 PHE. Those emergency PRA waivers must be approved by OIRA.

1
58 Fed. Reg. 51,735 (Oct. 4, 1993).
For the review of key priority regulatory and policy documents associated with
timely and effective ARP implementation, agencies should generally plan on the
following: 1) for packages on par with similarly situated COVID-19 PHE reviews in
terms of imminent need, length, and complexity, at least one week (five business days)
for OIRA review; 2) for packages on par with more typical legislative rules or guidance
(e.g., length, complexity, broader interagency or budgetary equities) and that are urgent
but not imminent in need, at least 3 weeks (15 business days) for OIRA review. OIRA
may consider exceptions to these minimum timelines, but if an agency needs a faster
review, a sufficiently senior agency policy official must give OIRA advance notice and
a rationale, including whether there is any pending statutory deadline.

Second, given the need to balance the urgency and demand for quick-turn reviews
with the fact that many agencies may face constraints as both drafters and reviewers, we
continue to request that agencies provide OIRA with an alert by noon on Fridays for any
item that might require weekend circulation, along with a substantive rationale for why
the action cannot wait until the following Monday. We are also endeavoring to keep
comment deadlines and passbacks to Monday through Friday during business hours when
possible. Doing so ensures that interagency offices and programs with equities in a given
document, including agencies reviewing other agency policies, have the opportunity to
see the circulation and respond. We acknowledge, however, that is not always possible,
and therefore appreciate assistance in ensuring OIRA has up-to-date circulation contacts
who are willing and able to engage outside of business hours when truly needed.

Finally, we want to emphasize that coordination within your agencies for these
fast-moving policy documents is essential. As such, we request that no documents
should be put into OIRA-led interagency review without sign-off from a political
appointee that agency review has concluded, and the subsequent regulatory action,
guidance, or policy document represents the official views of the agency. Also, these
expedited review procedures should not replace proactive engagement by agencies with
OMB. Agencies should continue to engage proactively with OMB on important issues
before the OIRA review process begins.

American Rescue Plan Regulatory Implementation Plans

OMB requests that agencies develop ARP Regulatory Implementation Plans for
submission to OMB, in order to help with orderly planning and review. In order to avoid
duplication with other OMB requests, we have developed two methods for submission of
these plans; however, in either case, your plans should include, at a minimum, the
following pieces of information:

• Description of the item—e.g., regulation (include RIN, if available),
guidance, ICR
• Statutory deadline or other time constraints
• Preferred date of issuance
• Date proposed to be submitted to OIRA

Submission for new ARP programs: In accordance with Memorandum M-21-20,
OMB has established and provided to agencies a template, 2 CFR Implementation Plan
2
for New Programs Authorized by the American Rescue Plan. Agencies must submit their
proposed implementation plan of 2 CFR to OMB for approval before submitting
assistance listings for new programs authorized and appropriated by the ARP, by
emailing such plans to ARP.implementation@omb.eop.gov. In that template, OMB
requests that agencies also share with OMB their ARP Regulatory Implementation Plans.

Submission of ARP actions associated with existing programs: In addition, we
understand that agencies will also need to take regulatory, guidance, and information
collection actions associated with existing programs. Therefore, OMB also requests that
agencies share ARP Regulatory Implementation Plans for all other ARP programs by
email to ARPRegPlan@omb.eop.gov by May 10, 2021 a listing of all forthcoming ARP
implementation actions and the information listed above.

Guidelines for OIRA Review

Finally, because many documents will need to move quickly through formal EO
12866 review, early coordination is essential to policy development. OMB will reach out
to your agencies, as needed, to request briefings, discussions, and other methods to
discuss and understand the policy choices the agencies are pursuing.

Among those goals, in both interagency reviews and during our outreach, OIRA
intends to follow the principles established in the Presidential Memorandum Modernizing
Regulatory Review, which reaffirms the basic principles of EOs 12866 and 13563.2 It
also directs OIRA to take steps to modernize review to ensure swift and effective Federal
Action that re-emphasizes the direction of EO 12866 that agencies endeavor to take
account of quantitative and qualitative impacts in service of broad social impacts,
specifically including values such as public health and safety, economic growth, social
welfare, racial justice, environmental stewardship, human dignity, equity, and the
interests of future generations.

In particular, OIRA will ask during review whether agencies have fully
considered equity impacts in making implementation choices, in support of the
requirements outlined in Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support
for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government,3 and in particular
questions of how to reduce burdens and expand access to underserved communities in
implementing the relief and recovery provisions of the statute. We will also emphasize
evidence-based decision making, respectively building on the long-established principles
contained in the Memorandum on Restoring Trust in Government through Scientific
Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking.

We are grateful for the hard work of the interagency community in responding to
the COVID-19 PHE and related economic recovery needs, and executing the priorities of
the Administration. As always, OMB staff are prepared to assist you in the
implementation of this Memorandum and help advance the objectives of the
American Rescue Plan, the Administration’s priorities, and address urgent public needs.

2
76 Fed. Reg. 3821 (Jan. 21, 2011).
3
86 Fed. Reg. 7009 (Jan. 25, 2021).
3

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