[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 188 (Wednesday, September 28, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 66529-66530]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-23348]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

31 CFR Part 34

RIN 1505-AC52


Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund

AGENCY: Office of the Fiscal Assistant Secretary, Treasury.

ACTION: Interim Final Rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury is issuing this Interim Final 
Rule to change when the statutory three percent cap on administrative 
expenses is applied to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council 
(Council) under the Resources and Ecosystem Sustainability, Tourist 
Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 
2012 (RESTORE Act or Act).

DATES: Effective date for the Interim Final Rule: September 28, 2016. 
Written comments on the Interim Final Rule must be received on or 
before: November 14, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Treasury invites comments on the topic addressed in this 
Interim Final Rule. Comments may be submitted by any of the following 
methods:
    Electronic Submission of Comments: Interested persons may submit 
comments electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
http://www.regulations.gov. Electronic submission of comments allows 
the commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment, ensures 
timely receipt, and enables the Department to make them available to 
the public. Comments submitted electronically through the http://www.regulations.gov Web site can be viewed by other commenters and 
interested members of the public.
    Mail: Send to Department of the Treasury, Attention Janet Vail, 
Office of Gulf Coast Restoration, Office of the Fiscal Assistant 
Secretary, Room 2112; 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20220.
    In general, Treasury will post all comments to http://www.regulations.gov without change, including any business or personal 
information provided, such as names, addresses, email addresses, or 
telephone numbers. Treasury also will make such comments available for 
public inspection and copying in Treasury's Library, Department of the 
Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20220, on 
official business days between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. 
Eastern Time. All comments received, including attachments and other 
supporting materials, will be part of the public record and subject to 
public disclosure. You should submit only information that you wish to 
make publicly available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janet Vail, Office of Gulf Coast 
Restoration, [email protected] or 202-622-6873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The Act makes funds available for the restoration and protection of 
the Gulf Coast region, and certain programs with respect to the Gulf of 
Mexico, through a trust fund in the Treasury of the United States known 
as the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund (trust fund). The trust fund 
holds 80 percent of the administrative and civil penalties paid after 
July 6, 2012, under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in 
connection with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. The Act gives Treasury 
several roles in administering the trust fund. One role is to establish 
procedures, in consultation with the Departments of the Interior and 
Commerce, concerning the expenditure of amounts from the trust fund and 
compliance measures for the programs and activities carried out under 
the Act. On December 14, 2015, Treasury promulgated final regulations 
on the RESTORE Act, 80 FR 77239, which became effective on February 12, 
2016.
    The Act established an independent Federal entity, the Gulf Coast 
Ecosystem Restoration Council (Council), to administer certain 
components of the Act, including the Comprehensive Plan Component. The 
Council is comprised of members from six Federal agencies or 
departments and the five Gulf Coast States. One of the Federal members, 
currently the Secretary of Agriculture, serves as Chairperson of the 
Council. The authority for the Council terminates on the date all funds 
in the trust fund have been expended.
    The Council is responsible for developing and implementing a 
Comprehensive Plan to restore and protect the natural resources, 
ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, and 
coastal wetlands of the Gulf Coast region. To carry out the 
Comprehensive Plan, the Act makes available to the Council, 30 percent 
of penalties deposited into the trust fund plus one half of interest 
earned on trust fund investments.
    The Act provides that ``[o]f the amounts received by the Council . 
. . , not more than 3 percent may be used for administrative expenses, 
including staff,'' to carry out the Comprehensive Plan. 33 U.S.C. 
1321(t)(2)(B)(iii).
    The Act does not specify when the statutory three percent cap on 
administrative expenses is applied to the Council.\1\ In its final 
regulations, Treasury specified that ``the three percent limit is 
applied to the total amount of funds received by the Council, beginning 
with the first fiscal year the Council receives funds through the end 
of the fourth, or most recent fiscal year, whichever is later.'' 31 CFR 
34.204(b). The final regulations recognized that as a new independent 
Federal entity, the Council's startup administrative expenses would be 
greater in its initial years, and as a result the final regulations 
apply the three percent cap for administrative expenses at the end of 
the fourth fiscal year, and at the end of each fiscal year thereafter.
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    \1\ Treasury considered whether the three percent limitation 
applies at any time, but determined that Congress did not provide 
for such a requirement. Specifically, the Act was enacted as part of 
Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). MAP-21 
contains non-RESTORE Act sections that include limitations that 
apply ``at any time.'' See MAP-21 Sec.  100121. Treasury believes 
that if Congress had intended the three percent limitation on 
administrative expenses to apply ``at any time,'' Congress would 
have included those words in the RESTORE Act just as it did 
elsewhere in MAP-21. Moreover, such a requirement would undermine 
the RESTORE Act's purpose of ensuring effective and long-term 
planning in the restoration of the Gulf Coast.
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    However, in the Supplementary Information section of the final 
regulations, Treasury stated that it ``will propose to cap the 
Council's administrative expenses at three percent of amounts the 
Council receives under the Comprehensive Plan Component before the 
termination of the Trust Fund,'' and open this proposal for a 45 day 
comment period.\2\ Under this formulation, the application of the three 
percent limit to the Council's administrative expenses would be 
extended from the end of the fourth fiscal year to the date that the 
trust fund terminates. Treasury expects that the trust fund will 
terminate after 2032. Treasury included this language because the 
Council expressed a need for more flexibility on when the statutory 
three

[[Page 66530]]

percent cap on administrative expenses will be applied. Specifically, 
Treasury understands that the Council anticipated its annual 
administrative expenses would remain relatively constant, while the 
amount of funds received and transferred by the Council for projects 
undertaken by its members may vary considerably from one year to the 
next, depending on the Council's funded priorities list. The Council 
also anticipated that its members would seek to fund large-scale 
projects under the Comprehensive Plan Component, but anticipated that 
such large-scale projects would occur in later years after sufficient 
civil penalties had been deposited into the trust fund. Treasury 
supports the Council's goal of restoring and protecting the Gulf Coast 
region under the Comprehensive Plan Component, and is amending section 
34.204(b), with a 45 day comment period.
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    \2\ 80 FR 77239, 77241.
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II. This Interim Rule

    For the reasons described above, Treasury is amending when the 
statutory three percent cap on administrative expenses is applied to 
the Council under 31 CFR 34.204(b). This Interim Final Rule provides 
that the Council's three percent limit applies to the total amount the 
Council will receive under the Comprehensive Plan Component and ensures 
that the Council will not exceed the statutory three percent cap before 
the termination of the trust fund. Specifically, the Interim Final Rule 
provides that amounts used by the Council for administrative expenses 
may not at any time exceed three percent of the total of the amounts 
received by the Council from the trust fund and the amounts in the 
trust fund that are allocated to, but not yet received by, the Council. 
Treasury believes that this Interim Final Rule balances the Council's 
need for greater flexibility with compliance with the statutory 
limitation. The Interim Final Rule amends only section 34.204(b) 
pertaining to when the three percent cap on administrative expenses is 
measured. It does not amend the definition of ``administrative 
expenses'' found at section 34.2. Nor does it amend section 34.204(a) 
regarding limitations on administrative costs associated with grants 
from the Council under the Comprehensive Plan Component.\3\
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    \3\ The final regulations define the term ``administrative 
expenses.'' 31 CFR 34.2. Note that the final regulations distinguish 
``administrative expenses'' from ``administrative costs,'' also 
defined in 31 CFR 34.2.
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    Treasury requests public comment on the amendment to section 
34.204(b).

III. Procedural Requirements

A. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Because no notice of proposed rulemaking is required, the 
provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) do 
not apply.

B. Regulatory Planning and Review (Executive Orders 12866 and 13563)

    The amendment to the regulation is a significant regulatory action 
as defined in Executive Order 12866, as supplemented by Executive Order 
13563. Accordingly, it has been reviewed by the Office of Management 
and Budget.

C. Administrative Procedure Act

    The Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.) (APA) 
provides that agencies issue regulations with prior notice and an 
opportunity for public comment and that rules should become effective 
30 days after publication in the Federal Register. See 5 U.S.C. 553. 
The APA, however, allows agencies to dispense with these procedures 
when the agency finds that good cause exists. In this case, Treasury 
finds that good cause exists to dispense with prior notice and comment 
procedures and make this rule immediately effective. As discussed 
earlier in the preamble, the revision in this Interim Final Rule amends 
when the Council calculates the statutorily required three percent 
administrative expense limitation, and does not impose any new 
obligations on the Act's eligible recipients. While Treasury had 
previously indicated it would issue a proposed rule, Treasury has 
determined that the revision will have minimal, and more than likely 
no, effect on the Act's eligible recipients. Nor does the Interim Final 
Rule impact the receipt and deposit into the trust fund of the civil 
penalties which are generally fixed by consent decree. Finally, the 
revision will help ensure that the Council can continue to function 
effectively by supporting predictable, long term financial planning and 
operations. As a result, Treasury has determined that prior notice and 
comment and a delayed effective date are unnecessary and that good 
cause exists to make this Interim Final Rule effective immediately.

List of Subjects in 31 CFR Part 34

    Coastal zone, Fisheries, Grant programs, Grants administration, 
Intergovernmental relations, Marine resources, Natural resources, Oil 
pollution, Research, Science and technology, Trusts, Wildlife.

    For the reasons set forth herein, the Department of the Treasury 
amends 31 CFR part 34 to read as follows:

PART 34--RESOURCES AND ECOSYSTEMS SUSTAINABILITY, TOURIST 
OPPORTUNITIES, AND REVIVED ECONOMIES OF THE GULF COAST STATES

0
1. The authority citation for part 34 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 31 U.S.C. 301; 31 U.S.C. 321; 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.


0
2. Revise paragraph (b) of Sec.  34.204 to read as follows:


Sec.  34.204  Limitations on administrative costs and administrative 
expenses.

* * * * *
    (b) Of the amounts received by the Council under the Comprehensive 
Plan Component, not more than three percent may be used for 
administrative expenses. The three percent limit is applied to the 
amounts it receives under the Comprehensive Plan Component before 
termination of the Trust Fund. Amounts used for administrative expenses 
may not at any time exceed three percent of the total of the amounts 
received by the Council and the amounts in the Trust Fund that are 
allocated to, but not yet received by, the Council under Sec.  34.103.

David A. Lebryk,
Fiscal Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-23348 Filed 9-27-16; 8:45 am]
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