Office of the Chairman Projects

Members of Congress from both political parties have introduced bills designed to amend or overhaul aspects of federal administrative procedure.

The Council on Federal Agency Adjudication provides a forum for the heads of agency adjudication programs to exchange information—about procedural innovations, best management practices, and other subjects of mutual interest—that may be "useful in improving administrative procedure" (5 U.S.C. § 591). The Council also offers a forum for identifying subjects appropriate for ACUS study. 

The Federal Administrative Procedure Sourcebook is an annotated compilation of the key legal sources—including the Administrative Procedure Act, the Freedom of Information Act, the Congressional Review Act, and executive orders—governing nearly every aspect of administrative procedure.

In 1991, the Conference adopted Recommendation 91-1, Federal Agency Cooperation with Foreign Government Regulators, which recommended practices such as information exchanges and establishment of common regulatory agendas to facilitate regulatory cooperation.

This project studies how nationwide injunctions and similar equitable remedies affect the administration of federal regulatory programs.

The administrative procedural practices of state and local governments might provide helpful lessons for federal agencies. ACUS is soliciting information about state- and local-government practices that federal agencies may wish to consider and could feasibly adopt. Examples may include:

• State-agency processes for periodic retrospective review of regulations;

ACUS has adopted dozens of recommendations to help agencies efficiently, equitably, and effectively provide opportunities for public input and dialogue when they issue, amend, and repeal rules. These recommendations identify principles and best practices for effective public engagement. They also recognize that there is no single approach to public engagement that will work for every agency in every rulemaking.

The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) has issued dozens of recommendations pertaining to agencies’ proactive disclosure—or disclosure without having received a request—of administrative materials. Administrative materials are records that agencies generate or receive while engaged in rulemaking, adjudication, licensing, and investigation, or that they generate during judicial review of agency rules and orders.

This project studies several issues identified but not addressed in Recommendation 2021-5, Clarifying Statutory Access to Judicial Review of Agency Action. First, it considers various questions related to the event that begins the period during which a litigant can challenge an agency action in federal court. Second, it…

President Biden reconvened the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (LAIR) on May 18, 2021, naming ACUS as one of its members.