[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 170 (Wednesday, September 3, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 52198-52199]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-20925]



[[Page 52198]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau

27 CFR Part 73

[Docket No. TTB-2014-0004; T.D. TTB-119A; Re: T.D. TTB-119]
RIN 1513-AB97


Electronic Submission of Forms, the Finished Products Records for 
Distilled Spirits Plants, and Closures on Certain Distilled Spirits 
Products; Correction

AGENCY: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, Treasury.

ACTION: Direct final rule; Treasury decision; Correction.

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SUMMARY: The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) recently 
published a direct final rule amending its regulations regarding the 
electronic submission of forms and other documents. Among other 
provisions, those amendments added a new section providing that any 
requirement in the TTB regulations to submit a form to another agency 
may be met by the electronic submission of the form to the other 
agency, as long as that agency provides for and authorizes the 
electronic submission of the form. This final rule corrects those 
recent amendments by amending the definition of the term ``form'' to 
encompass all documents required by the TTB regulations to be submitted 
to any other agency, as well as to TTB, and by inserting a cross 
reference to that definition in the new section on the electronic 
submission of forms to other agencies.

DATES: Effective September 3, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael D. Hoover, Regulations and 
Rulings Division, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, at 202-453-
1039, ext. 135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Recent Amendments to 27 CFR Part 73

    The electronic submission of forms to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax 
and Trade Bureau (TTB) is governed by the regulations in 27 CFR Part 
73, Electronic Signatures; Electronic Submission of Forms. Part 73 sets 
forth the conditions under which TTB allows current and prospective 
industry members to submit forms to TTB or to other agencies 
electronically, and to use electronic signatures or digital signatures 
to sign those forms, in lieu of submitting paper documents with 
handwritten signatures.
    When first issued in 2003, part 73 did not address the electronic 
submission to other agencies of forms that are required by the TTB 
regulations to be submitted to those agencies (see T.D. TTB-5, 68 FR 
58600, October 10, 2003). To address this issue, as well as several 
other regulatory issues, TTB published T.D. TTB-119 in the Federal 
Register on March 27, 2014, at 79 FR 17029. The regulatory amendments 
made by T.D. TTB-119 became effective on April 28, 2014.
    Among other regulatory changes, T.D. TTB-119 amended 27 CFR 
73.1(a)(2) to state that part 73 sets forth the conditions under which 
TTB allows the electronic submission of certain forms to other 
agencies, where applicable, in addition to the conditions for the 
electronic submission of certain forms to TTB. To accomplish this 
purpose, T.D. TTB-119 added new subpart D, ``Electronic Filing of 
Documents with Other Agencies,'' to part 73, which consisted of one new 
section, Sec.  73.40. This new section provides that any requirement in 
the TTB regulations to submit a form to another agency may be satisfied 
by submitting the form electronically to that agency, as long as the 
agency provides for and authorizes the electronic submission of that 
form and the submitter satisfies any registration or related 
requirement of that agency for this electronic submission.
    A full discussion of the amendments made by T.D. TTB-119, including 
TTB's authority to issue regulations under the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986, as amended (26 U.S.C.), and the Federal Alcohol Administration 
Act (27 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), may be found in the preamble to that final 
rule.

Need for Correction of T.D. TTB-119

    In part 73, the term ``form'' is defined in Sec.  73.3 to mean 
``all documents required by 27 CFR, chapter I, to be submitted to 
TTB.'' In T.D. TTB-119, when adding a provision allowing the electronic 
submission of forms required by the TTB regulations to be submitted to 
other agencies, TTB inadvertently neglected to amend this definition to 
include documents required by 27 CFR chapter I to be submitted to other 
agencies. Therefore, TTB is correcting the definition of the term 
``form'' in Sec.  73.3 in order to clarify that, when used in part 73, 
the term ``form'' includes all documents required by 27 CFR chapter I 
to be submitted to TTB or to any other agency. In addition, TTB is 
amending new Sec.  73.40 to add a cross reference to the amended 
definition of ``form'' in Sec.  73.3 in order to clarify that the 
provisions of Sec.  73.40 regarding the electronic submission of forms 
to other agencies apply to all documents required by the TTB 
regulations to be submitted to other agencies, not just official TTB 
forms (documents issued by TTB that bear an Office of Management and 
Budget control number).
    These corrections are merely clarifying in nature and do not change 
any existing regulatory or recordkeeping requirement.

Inapplicability of Prior Notice and Comment Procedures and Delayed 
Effective Date Requirement

    TTB is issuing this final rule without prior notice and opportunity 
for public comment in accordance with sections 553(b)(A) and (B) of the 
Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A) and (B)). These 
provisions authorize an agency to issue a rule without prior notice and 
comment when it issues rules of agency procedure or when an agency for 
good cause finds that prior notice and public comment procedures are 
unnecessary. Because the amendments contained in this final rule merely 
make technical corrections to existing procedural regulations in order 
to clarify the application of those provisions to documents submitted 
electronically to other agencies, and because these corrections do not 
change TTB's interpretation of any regulation or the requirements of 
any recordkeeping provision, TTB has determined that the 5 U.S.C. 
553(b) prior notice and public comment requirement does not apply to 
this final rule.
    Because this final rule merely makes technical corrections to 
existing regulations to clarify the application of those provisions to 
documents submitted electronically to other agencies and does not 
change TTB's interpretation of any regulation or the requirements of 
any recordkeeping provision, TTB finds good cause under 5 U.S.C. 
553(d)(3) to dispense with the effective date limitation in 5 U.S.C. 
553(d).

Drafting Information

    Michael D. Hoover of the Regulations and Rulings Division, Alcohol 
and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, drafted this document.

List of Subjects in 27 CFR Part 73

    Electronic filing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Amendments to the Regulations

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, TTB is correcting 27 CFR 
chapter I, part 73 as follows:

[[Page 52199]]

PART 73--Electronic Signatures; Electronic Submission of Forms

0
1. The authority citation for part 73 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  26 U.S.C. 6011(f), 6061(b), 7502(c); 44 U.S.C. 3504 
Note.


Sec.  73.3  [Amended]

0
2. In Sec.  73.3, the definition of the term ``Form(s)'' is amended by 
adding the words ``or any other agency'' before the period at the end 
of the definition.


Sec.  73.40  [Amended]

0
3. In Sec.  73.40, the first sentence is amended by adding the 
parenthetical phrase ``(as that term is defined in Sec.  73.3)'' after 
the words ``to submit a form''.

    Dated: August 25, 2014.
John J. Manfreda,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2014-20925 Filed 9-2-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-31-P