This is part of the Trump Administration's "midnight rulemaking" wherein they try to pass new rules without going through proper procedure first. The idea behin

This is part of the Trump Administration's "midnight rulemaking" wherein they try to pass new rules without going through proper procedure first. The idea behind these new rules is to create a number of headaches for the Biden administration to deal with before it can get started on its own rulemaking. "The new fee was announced on December 29 without providing any advance notice to the distilleries it impacts." Federal agencies can't do that. New fees and other rules must be announced in advance of when they take effect. If the fee or rule itself is new, it must go through a public commenting period first; otherwise, if the rate is simply being changed, then advance notice is sufficient. A new, retroactive rule/fee such as this would have needed to go through both public comment and publication to the FR to be legal. Expect litigation over this, if the distilleries can afford it. (Or possibly from a constitutional rights group, if they can't).