Regulatory Review Initiative

The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) completed a substantial revision to its adjudicatory regulations with the publication of a Final Rule in the Federal Register on October 12, 2012 (77 FR 62349). The Final Rule affects 5 C.F.R. Parts 1200, 1201, 1203, 1208, and 1209. The revisions follow a notice-and-comment rulemaking via the Federal Register, as required by the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 553. The Final Rule is effective November 13, 2012. The revisions follow an unprecedented review and the first significant reconsideration of MSPB's regulations since the agency's establishment in 1979.

This initiative began in January 2011 and included suggestions for revisions from MSPB staff, an internal MSPB working group's in-depth review of the regulations, and input on their recommendations and the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking from a wide range of stakeholder agencies, organizations, and individuals.

Chairman Grundmann stated, "Today marks the culmination of a tremendous amount of work by MSPB staff with broad participation and input from our stakeholders and the public. We greatly appreciate the comments we received throughout the process, and they improved the Final Rule. As a result of this input, we are going to step back and look even more closely at our jurisdictional regulations in a follow-up rulemaking this fiscal year. We look forward to further improving our regulations for everyone, and we pledge to monitor and review the impact of the changes published today."

The MSPB is conducting outreach on the changes to our regulations for interested agencies and organizations. If you would like MSPB staff to provide an overview of the changes for your group, please contact the Office of the Clerk of the Board by email at mspb@mspb.gov. The following outreach activities are planned, and we will update the list as new sessions are added.

Society of Federal Labor & Employee Relations Professionals (SFLERP) - October 16

Federal Employment Lawyers Group (FELG) - November 14 Metropolitan

Washington Employment Lawyers Association (MWELA) - November 19