Removing Outdated and Overly-Prescriptive Regulations Governing the Use of Penalty Mail in the Location and Recovery of Missing Children

What it does

By this rule, the Department of Commerce ("Department") is amending its regulations governing the use of penalty mail to assist in the location and recovery of missing children to remove several sections that are outdated, contain expired reporting requirements, or detail overly prescriptive internal administrative procedures. This action is necessary to streamline the Department's regulations, remove obsolete provisions, and allow for more efficient internal management of this program. The intended effect of this rule is to enhance the clarity of these regulations and provide the Department with greater administrative flexibility, thereby strengthening the Department's ability to implement this important national program.

The Commerce Department's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

1 part of Title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

15 CFR 23

Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).

Compared with

The Commerce Department has published 19 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 2 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

Before this

No earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 0605-AA81 since Jan. 1, 2025.

What happens next and when

The rule is effective January 15, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Title 15 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register