This Month at ACUS: June 2022

This series highlights selected ACUS projects. To learn more about ongoing projects, subscribe to our mailing list.

 

ACUS WELCOMES NEW CHAIRMAN

Andrew Fois was appointed as the new Chairman of ACUS on May 26, 2022, following his confirmation by the Senate. Chairman Fois is an attorney with an almost 40-year legal career in public service, the nonprofit sector, and private practice. Prior to joining ACUS, he served as an Attorney Advisor in the Office of Legislative Affairs at the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. He previously served as Deputy Attorney General for Public Safety in the Office of the Attorney General for Washington, D.C., as Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs in the U.S. Department of Justice and Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, and as Chief Counsel of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime.

 

77th PLENARY SESSION

ACUS’s 77th Plenary Session took place on Thursday, June 16. The Assembly approved three recommendations: Automated Legal Guidance at Federal Agencies, Contractors in Rulemaking, and Improving Notice of Regulatory Changes. They will be published in the Federal Register and made available on ACUS’s website. The Assembly also discussed two projects of ACUS’s Office of the Chairman: Nationwide Injunctions and Federal Regulatory Programs and Statement of Principles for the Disclosure of Federal Administrative Materials.

 

SOURCEBOOK OF JUDICIAL REVIEW STATUTES

ACUS is pleased to announce the publication of its new Sourcebook of Federal Judicial Review Statutes, prepared for ACUS by Senior Fellow Jonathan Siegel (GW Law). Based on a survey of the entire United States Code, the Sourcebook comprehensively analyzes more than 650 statutory provisions that govern how federal courts review agency rules and orders. It also includes a checklist to help Congress draft new or amend existing judicial review statutes. 

ACUS relied on Professor Siegel’s research when it adopted Recommendation 2021-5, Clarifying Statutory Access to Judicial Review of Agency Action, last year.

 

REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION

As part of a new project, Disclosure of Agency Legal Materials, ACUS is requesting information on what legal materials agencies must or should make publicly available and how they ought to do so. See the Federal Register notice for more information. Comments are due by July 18.

The Office of the Chairman is also requesting information on issues associated with and options for designing a small claims patent court as part of an ongoing study for the Patent and Trademark Office. See the Federal Register notice for more information. Comments are due by July 5.

 

NEW PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

ACUS has announced three new projects directed toward the development of recommendations for consideration and adoption by the Assembly: Virtual Public Engagement in Agency Rulemaking, Identifying and Reducing Burdens in Administrative Processes, and Online Processes in Agency Adjudication.

ACUS also recently announced it is undertaking a new study, Timing of Judicial Review of Agency Action.