What's the difference between an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM or proposal), a Final Rule, a Direct Final Rule, and an Emergency Temporary Standard?

ANPRM: We use an advance notice of proposed rulemaking when we need more information or data to determine whether a rule is needed, what regulation to develop, or when we want ideas or alternative suggestions for dealing with a specific hazard.



NPRM or Proposed Rule: A proposed rule lays out how we plan to address a specific problem and requests comment on our plan. It consists of proposed regulatory text and a preamble (see Question 5 below). After a proposed rule is published in the Federal Register and after public hearings, if the Agency holds them, we can proceed to a final rule or, if the comments warrant, we can develop a different rule and re-propose it.



Final Rule: A final rule is the standard or regulation we enforce. We publish the regulatory text and preamble in the Federal Register. Each final rule is codified in Title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations (30 CFR). Only the final rule itself appears in the 30 CFR, not the preamble.



Direct Final Rule: A direct final rule is a final rule that does not go through proposed rulemaking first. We use direct final rulemaking when we expect that the rule will generate no significant adverse comments. Typically, when we publish a direct final rule in the Federal Register, we publish a substantively-identical companion proposed rule under MSHA's usual procedures for notice and comment rulemaking. In the event we do receive significant adverse comment on the direct final rule, we will withdraw the direct final rule and continue rulemaking, making use of the proposed rule and the adverse comment.



Emergency Temporary Standard: We issue an emergency temporary standard when the danger to miners is so grave that immediate action is necessary. This standard can be enforced immediately while concurrently serving as a proposed rule.