Sponsors (2)
The bill prioritizes better federal coordination, transparency, and a formalized channel for pene‑exclave residents and local nonprofits to engage agencies, at the cost of added administrative burdens, potential delays and expenses, privacy risks, and ambiguity over what areas qualify.
State, Tribal, county, and local officials (and eligible local nonprofits) in pene‑exclaves will be in a centralized federal directory, giving agencies ready contacts and speeding coordination and emergency/administrative responses for those areas.
Residents of pene‑exclaves (e.g., some border communities and tribal lands) get dedicated public meetings and written responses when a proposed federal rule may uniquely burden them, improving their ability to influence rulemaking that directly affects them.
Agencies must identify potential unique burdens in rule notices and publish meeting recordings/minutes in the Federal Register within 60 days, increasing transparency and public accountability about agency engagement with pene‑exclave communities and officials.
Tighter procedural deadlines (e.g., 30‑day meeting, 60‑day publication) create extra administrative workload for agencies, which could slow overall rulemaking, increase costs, and ultimately raise taxpayer burdens.
The bill does not define 'pene‑exclave', risking inconsistent identification of eligible places and stakeholders, confusion for listed officials/nonprofits, and disputes that could undercut the directory and engagement requirements.
Requiring exclusive meetings for small pene‑exclave populations may be logistically difficult and costly, diverting limited agency resources away from broader stakeholder engagement and program delivery.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Adds targeted notice, meeting, recordkeeping, and comment-response requirements when federal rules may impose specific burdens on residents of pene-exclaves; requires OMB to publish a pene-exclave list.
Official title: To amend title 5, United States Code, to require consultation by agencies during rulemaking in the case of unique burdens on pene-exclaves.
Introduced June 24, 2026 by Richard Ray Larsen · Last progress June 24, 2026
Requires federal agencies to identify when a proposed federal rule would place a "unique burden" on residents of pene-exclaves (U.S. areas reachable by land only through foreign territory) and to hold accessible, exclusive public meetings for those residents when such a determination is made or when a resident raises such a concern. Directs OMB to create and publish a list of U.S. pene-exclaves with contact details for relevant local, state, tribal, and municipal officials, and to allow local nonprofits in those areas to be added to the list on petition. Specifies categories of "unique burden" (border crossing, emergency services, veterinary care, procuring necessities, or trade/business), sets timeline requirements for meetings, notice, recordkeeping, and requires agencies to respond to each comment received at those meetings. OIRA must set a process for identifying comments tied to these meetings; OMB must produce the pene-exclave list within 90 days of enactment.