[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 72 (Friday, April 14, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 22919-22920]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07928]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 72 / Friday, April 14, 2023 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 22919]]
FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY
12 CFR Chapter XII
[No. 2023-N-5]
Notice of Regulatory Review
AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance Agency.
ACTION: Regulatory review; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing a notice
of a regulatory review to be conducted in accordance with the process
set forth in its Regulatory Review Plan published in February 2012, and
is requesting comments on how its regulations may be made more
effective and less burdensome.
DATES: Comments on this notice of regulatory review must be received no
later than June 13, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit your comments, identified by ``Regulatory
Review [No. 2023-N-5]'', by any of the following methods:
Agency website: www.fhfa.gov/open-for-comment-or-input.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. If you submit your
comment to the Federal eRulemaking Portal, please also send it by email
to FHFA at [email protected] to ensure timely receipt by FHFA.
Please include ``Regulatory Review [No. 2023-N-5]'' in the subject line
of the message.
Hand Delivered/Courier: The hand delivery address is:
Clinton Jones, General Counsel, Attention: Comments/``Regulatory Review
[No. 2023-N-5],'' Federal Housing Finance Agency, 400 Seventh Street
SW, Washington, DC 20219. Deliver the package at the Seventh Street
entrance Guard Desk, First Floor, on business days between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m.
U.S. Mail, United Parcel Service, Federal Express, or
Other Mail Service: The mailing address for comments is: Clinton Jones,
General Counsel, Attention: Comments/Regulatory Review [No. 2023-N-5],
Federal Housing Finance Agency, 400 Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC
20219. Please note that all mail sent to FHFA via U.S. Mail is routed
through a national irradiation facility, a process that may delay
delivery by approximately two weeks. For any time-sensitive
correspondence, please plan accordingly.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen S. Bailey, Managing Associate
General Counsel, [email protected], (202) 649-3056; or Chris
Bederka, Counsel, [email protected], (202) 649-3796, Federal
Housing Finance Agency, Constitution Center, (OGC) Fourth Floor, 400
Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 20219. For TTY/TRS users with hearing
and speech disabilities, dial 711 and ask to be connected to any of the
contact numbers above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments
All comments received will be posted without change and will
include any personal information provided, such as your name, address,
email address, and telephone numbers, on the FHFA website at https://www.fhfa.gov. In addition, copies of all comments received will be
available for examination by the public through the electronic docket
for this Notice also located on the FHFA website.
I. Background; FHFA's Regulatory Review Plan
FHFA was established by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of
2008, Public Law 110-289, to supervise and regulate the Federal
National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan
Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (together, the Enterprises), any
affiliate of either Enterprise, the Federal Home Loan Banks (the
Banks), and the Office of Finance of the Federal Home Loan Bank System
(OF). In 2012, FHFA developed its Regulatory Review Plan (Review Plan)
after considering principles set forth in Executive Order 13579,
``Regulation and Independent Regulatory Agencies'' (July 11, 2011).\1\
Executive Order 13579 requested--but did not require--independent
regulatory agencies, such as FHFA, to develop, release to the public,
and implement a plan for the periodic review of their existing
significant regulations to determine whether any regulation should be
modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed to make the agency's
regulatory program more effective or less burdensome in achieving its
objectives.
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\1\ 77 FR 10351 (Feb. 22, 2012) (FHFA Regulatory Review Plan);
see also 76 FR 41585 (July 14, 2011) (E.O. 13579).
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Under its Review Plan, FHFA reviews its regulations at least every
five years, except for those regulations that were adopted or
substantially amended within the two years prior to issuance of a
Notice of Regulatory Review and rules of agency organization,
procedure, or practice. The Review Plan suggests factors that
commenters should consider in order to assist FHFA with its regulatory
review, including factors related to legal, regulatory, or market
developments, regulatory overlap, less burdensome alternatives, and
clarity of regulatory requirements.
II. Results of the 2018 Regulatory Review
FHFA's most recent regulatory review was initiated in April 2018,
by a Notice of Regulatory Review and request for comments and
considered 52 regulations. FHFA received 11 total comment letters from
trade associations, a research center associated with a major
university, an insured depository institution, a credit union, and the
Federal Home Loan Banks. FHFA also conducted an internal review of its
regulations that were subject to the five-year Review Plan, seeking
staff input on the same questions on which the Review Notice sought
public comment.
FHFA evaluated all comments received and determined that some
amendments were warranted. In response to amendments to the Dodd-Frank
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-
203, 124 Stat. 1376), and as requested by commenters, FHFA amended 12
CFR part 1238 to remove the stress testing requirements for the
Banks.\2\ Additionally, FHFA undertook a comprehensive amendment of its
regulation on prior approval of Enterprise products, 12 CFR part 1253.
In some cases, FHFA determined that a
[[Page 22920]]
suggestion should be considered when the underlying regulation was
otherwise being amended by FHFA. In other cases, FHFA determined that
an amendment was not necessary because, for example, the comment
requested a clarification that could effectively be provided through
another means (such as an interpretation or guidance).
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\2\ 85 FR 16528 (Mar. 24, 2020) (Stress Testing of Regulated
Entities).
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III. FHFA's 2023 Regulatory Review; Request for Comment
Consistent with its Review Plan, FHFA's next regulatory review must
begin not later than five years after its prior review, or in April
2023. All current regulations--except, as noted, rules of agency
organization, procedure, or practice, or regulations adopted or
substantially amended since April 2021 (meaning, within the past two
years)--are subject to review. If members of the public comment on
recently adopted or amended regulations, FHFA may consider those
comments, as it deems appropriate. FHFA does not anticipate responding
to individual comments.
Regulations administered by FHFA are published in chapter XII of
title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations, except for two regulations
of predecessor agencies which FHFA has not yet moved.\3\ FHFA's
regulations are also posted on the FHFA website at https://www.fhfa.gov.
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\3\ These are a regulation of the former Office of Federal
Housing Enterprise Oversight on Prompt Corrective Action related to
the Enterprises, at 12 CFR part 1777, which FHFA has suspended due
to the Enterprise conservatorships; and a regulation of the
Department of Housing and Urban Development on public-use databases
and public information provided by the Enterprises, at 24 CFR part
81, subpart F.
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FHFA hereby requests comment on its regulations for purposes of
improving their effectiveness and reducing their burden. Factors that
FHFA's Review Plan identifies as relevant to the review, and which FHFA
suggests should guide commenters, are:
(1) Legal or regulatory developments--including new laws, executive
orders, or judicial decisions that have been adopted since the
promulgation of a regulation--that make a regulation inefficient,
obsolete, contrary to controlling legal precedent, or unduly
burdensome;
(2) Marketplace developments, technological evolution, and related
changes that may have rendered a regulation, in whole or in part,
inefficient, outmoded, or outdated;
(3) The extent to which provisions of the regulation are written in
plain language or need clarification;
(4) Compelling evidence that a consolidation of two or more
regulations, elimination of a duplicative regulation, or other revision
to regulatory requirements would facilitate compliance by Fannie Mae,
Freddie Mac, any affiliate of either Enterprise, the Banks, or OF with
the regulation, or would improve supervision by FHFA of Fannie Mae,
Freddie Mac, any affiliate of either Enterprise, the Banks, or OF; and
(5) Demonstration of a better alternative method to effect a
regulatory purpose or requirement, supported by compelling evidence of
significantly less intrusive means or of a substantially more efficient
method of accomplishing the same supervisory purpose.
In accordance with FHFA's Review Plan, the 2023 regulatory review
process will be conducted by the FHFA Office of General Counsel, which
will review all comments received and consult with other FHFA offices
and divisions. After that review, a report of findings and
recommendations will be provided to the FHFA Director. The report of
findings and recommendations will be privileged and confidential. After
receiving the report of findings and recommendations, the Director will
determine what steps may be necessary to relieve any unnecessary
burden, including amendment to or repeal of existing regulations or
issuance of less formal guidance.
The 2023 FHFA regulatory review is not a formal or informal
rulemaking proceeding under the Administrative Procedure Act and
creates no right of action against FHFA. FHFA's determination whether
to conduct or not to conduct a review of a regulation and any
determination, finding, or recommendation resulting from any review is
not a final agency action and therefore is not subject to judicial
review.
Sandra L. Thompson,
Director, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
[FR Doc. 2023-07928 Filed 4-13-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8070-01-P