HHS wipes out 36,000 pages of ‘regulatory dark matter’ in sweeping child welfare office purge

Administration for Children and Families rescinded 35,781 pages of obsolete regulatory guidance dating back to 1976 after finding 74% were outdated.

The office rescinded 35,781 pages of guidance documents after an agencywide review found 74% of its "sub-regulatory footprint" was obsolete. The documents included technical bulletins, program instructions, action transmittals and dear colleague letters — letters from federal agencies or members of Congress that typically inform colleagues on new guidance or legislation — that had accumulated across the past 50 years. 

The Administration for Children and Families emphasized that the rescinded documents were not erased, but instead archived online along with a detailed list of current guidance documented on the Department of Health and Human Services' website.