Browse regulations

DOJ adopts OMB guidance for nonprocurement debarment and suspension, establishing procedures to exclude individuals/entities from participating in DOJ nonprocurement transactions (grants, cooperative agreements) based on various grounds, and requires flow-down of compliance to sub-recipients.

Debarment imposes severe consequences with inadequate due process, creates high compliance costs especially harming small entities, and enables a blacklisting power prone to abuse, violating limited government principles.

This regulation adopts OMB guidance for SBA's nonprocurement debarment and suspension system. It applies to participants in SBA-covered transactions, establishes appeal procedures to the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals, defines suspending and debarring officials, and requires flow-down of compliance obligations to lower-tier subcontracts.

The regulation imposes significant compliance costs and complexity on small businesses, creates a chilling effect that deters legitimate participation in SBA programs, vests excessive discretion in agency officials with only deferential judicial review, and is an unnecessary layer of the administrative state. Fraud prevention can be more efficiently handled through existing criminal laws and contract enforcement without a parallel debarment regime that risks arbitrary exclusion and regulatory capture.

Adopts OMB guidance for NSF's nonprocurement debarment and suspension policies, applying to participants in covered transactions, respondents in NSF actions, and officials. Establishes procedures for excluding persons from federal transactions based on misconduct.

Creates a federal blacklist system that federalizes what should be contractual or state-level decisions, imposes compliance costs on businesses without clear constitutional authority, and enables regulatory capture through opaque debarment criteria that can be weaponized against competitors.

HUD regulation implementing nonprocurement debarment and suspension procedures, adopting OMB guidance to exclude individuals and entities from participating in HUD programs based on fraud, poor performance, or other causes. Establishes 'limited denial of participation' (LDP) mechanism allowing HUD officials to immediately exclude parties for up to 12 months, with extremely broad definitions of who qualifies as a 'participant' and provisions imputing misconduct across affiliates and related organizations.

This regulation creates an enormous compliance burden on thousands of small businesses and individuals in the housing market while granting HUD bureaucrats sweeping power to exclude people from their livelihoods with minimal due process. The LDP takes effect immediately upon issuance based on 'adequate evidence' as low as a mere indictment (not conviction), forces affiliates to prove they're not controlled by sanctioned parties, and defines 'participants' so broadly it could capture nearly anyone tangentially connected to housing. The unseen costs include chilling participation in HUD programs, raising barriers to entry for small competitors, and creating a dangerous weapon for regulatory abuse and political weaponization. Fraud prevention is legitimate but this sledgehammer approach violates due process and free enterprise principles.

This regulation implements federal debarment and suspension policies for the Social Security Administration, requiring compliance with OMB guidance for covered transactions and establishing procedures for excluding entities from federal programs.

Creates bureaucratic overhead without clear benefit - debarment processes already exist at agency level, this adds redundant compliance costs and paperwork burden on businesses while providing minimal additional protection against fraud or misconduct.

This regulation adopts OMB guidance on debarment and suspension policies for the Corporation for National and Community Service, establishing procedures for excluding individuals from federal contracts and grants based on misconduct or other disqualifying factors.

This regulation creates costly administrative bureaucracy that burdens small organizations and nonprofits with compliance requirements, while the debarment process itself can be used politically to exclude competitors from federal funding opportunities. The costs of compliance and administrative overhead far exceed any benefits from preventing a small number of bad actors from receiving federal contracts.

NASA adopts OMB government-wide nonprocurement debarment and suspension policies, barring entities suspended or debarred for fraud or misconduct from NASA transactions and requiring contractors to flow down this prohibition to all subcontract tiers to protect government integrity.

If deleted, NASA would lose a critical, low-cost prophylactic tool, exposing taxpayer-funded transactions to heightened fraud risk and waste; debarment uniquely enables proactive exclusion of bad actors, a safeguard criminal law alone cannot efficiently provide.

EPA's nonprocurement debarment and suspension regulation implementing Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act conviction disqualifications. It bars convicted persons and facilities from EPA contracts/grants, requires flow-down clauses, maintains the Excluded Parties List System, and sets procedures for suspension, debarment, review, and reinstatement.

Duplicates criminal penalties with an expensive bureaucracy; imposes heavy compliance costs (EPLS checks, flow-down clauses) that disproportionately burden small businesses; grants excessive agency discretion, inviting regulatory capture; extends federal control over private contracting, violating federalism; and lacks adequate due process. The hidden tax and barriers to competition outweigh any marginal enforcement benefits.

This regulation establishes the Department of the Interior's procedures for suspension and debarment in nonprocurement transactions (grants, cooperative agreements, etc.). It implements OMB government-wide guidance (2 CFR part 180) with DOI-specific supplements, creating an administrative regime where the Director of the Office of Acquisition and Property Management can suspend or debar individuals/entities from participating in DOI transactions. The rule outlines processes for referrals, fact-finding hearings, administrative reconsideration, exceptions, and reporting to the System for Award Management (SAM).

The regulation creates a costly centralized administrative apparatus that duplicates OMB guidance while granting one official sweeping power to effectively blacklist businesses from federal funding. Debarment can destroy small firms that rely on DOI transactions, with disproportionate compliance burdens and limited due process. The government's legitimate interest in preventing fraud can be achieved through less restrictive means: robust auditing, contractual penalties, performance bonds, and state enforcement of fraud laws. The unseen costs include regulatory capture risk, chilling effects on participation, and the administrative overhead of maintaining the entire suspension/debarment bureaucracy.

Implements OMB guidance for nonprocurement debarment and suspension in DoD, establishing procedures to exclude individuals or entities convicted of certain offenses from receiving grants, cooperative agreements, and other nonprocurement transactions, with flow-down requirements to subrecipients.

Americans would be worse off if deleted because it would allow known bad actors—those suspended or debarred for fraud, misconduct, or other disqualifying offenses—to more easily access DoD nonprocurement funds, increasing waste, fraud, and abuse. The regulation ensures uniform, department-wide enforcement and extends protections through lower tiers via flow-down clauses, creating a comprehensive shield that would be difficult to replicate through ad hoc measures.

Implements debarment/suspension procedures for VA program participants, allowing officials to exclude entities for fraud, performance failures, or violations, with limited denial of participation as a tool. Adopts OMB guidance with VA-specific supplements.

Duplicates existing criminal and civil fraud enforcement, imposing costly compliance burdens and administrative overhead on businesses—especially small firms—without marginal benefit. Discretionary denial powers invite arbitrary application, chilling competition and innovation in veteran services while diverting resources from direct care.

This regulation implements federal debarment and suspension policies for the Department of State, adopting OMB guidance to exclude individuals and entities from federal nonprocurement transactions based on misconduct or other disqualifying factors. It establishes procedures for debarment, suspension, and lower-tier coverage requirements for contracts over $25,000.

Americans would be worse off if this regulation was deleted because debarment and suspension protect taxpayers from fraud, waste, and abuse by preventing government agencies from doing business with individuals and entities that have demonstrated untrustworthiness through misconduct, criminal activity, or other serious violations. This regulatory framework helps ensure federal funds are spent responsibly and maintains integrity in government contracting.

HHS regulation implementing OMB guidance for nonprocurement debarment and suspension, barring excluded individuals/entities from federal grants, cooperative agreements, and other nonprocurement transactions, with requirements flowing down to lower-tier subcontractors and mandatory checks of the Excluded Parties List System.

Creates a costly compliance regime imposing burdens on private transactions to exclude parties from federal funding, with administrative costs borne by businesses and recipients; extends government control through subcontract tiers and enables exclusion without traditional due process, raising barriers for small firms and creating unseen harms outweighing any marginal oversight benefits that could be achieved through simpler mechanisms.

This regulation implements the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, a vast marine protected area established by presidential proclamation. It prohibits virtually all activities without a permit - including fishing, anchoring on coral, collecting resources, and even swimming in certain zones. It imposes vessel monitoring (VMS) and ship reporting requirements, and creates a complex permit system for research, Native Hawaiian practices, ocean ecotourism, and recreation. Commercial fishing was grandfathered until 2011 (now expired).

The regulation imposes massive compliance costs and bureaucratic burdens on a minuscule number of users (local fishermen, Native Hawaiian practitioners, researchers, and the rare tourist) while transferring control from Hawaii's state and local authorities to distant federal agencies. It criminalizes traditional Native Hawaiian cultural practices unless they navigate a costly permit process, violating both the Tenth Amendment and the principle of self-determination. The 2011 commercial fishing expiration demonstrates the rule's inflexibility and lack of congressional oversight. Environmental protection of this remote area could be achieved more efficiently and accountably through state marine sanctuary designations or cooperation with Native Hawaiian governing bodies, eliminating invasive VMS mandates, reporting requirements, and the federal enforcement apparatus that costs more than the value it protects.

Requires vehicles with event data recorders (EDRs) to collect, store, and make crash data retrievable, including 15 data elements like speed, brake status, and air bag deployment, with standardized formats and tools for investigators and researchers.

Creates a hidden surveillance infrastructure in vehicles without explicit consent, raises privacy concerns about data access by third parties, and imposes costly compliance burdens on manufacturers while offering marginal safety benefits that could be achieved through voluntary industry standards.