[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 231 (Tuesday, December 1, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77139-77140]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26438]


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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
 and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
 statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
 appearing in this section.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 231 / Tuesday, December 1, 2020 / 
Notices  

[[Page 77139]]



ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED STATES


Notice of Public Meeting of the Assembly of the Administrative 
Conference of the United States

AGENCY: Administrative Conference of the United States.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 595, the Assembly of the Administrative 
Conference of the United States will meet during a two-day virtual 
plenary session to consider proposed recommendations, a proposed 
official statement, and to conduct other business. Written comments may 
be submitted in advance, and the meeting will be accessible to the 
public.

DATES: The two-day meeting will take place on Wednesday, December 16, 
2020, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; and Thursday, December 17, 2020, from 10 
a.m.-4 p.m. The meeting may adjourn early if all business is finished.

ADDRESSES: Due to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 
health guidelines, the meeting will be conducted virtually. Information 
on how to access the meeting will be available on the agency's website 
prior to the meeting at https://www.acus.gov/meetings-and-events/plenary-meeting/73rd-plenary-session.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shawne McGibbon, General Counsel 
(Designated Federal Officer), Administrative Conference of the United 
States, Suite 706 South, 1120 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036; 
Telephone 202-480-2088; email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Administrative Conference of the United 
States makes recommendations to federal agencies, the President, 
Congress, and the Judicial Conference of the United States regarding 
the improvement of administrative procedures (5 U.S.C. 594). The 
membership of the Conference, when meeting in plenary session, 
constitutes the Assembly of the Conference (5 U.S.C. 595).
    Agenda: The Assembly will receive updates on past, current, and 
pending Conference initiatives. In addition, pending final action by 
the Conference's subcommittees and the Council, six proposed 
recommendations and one proposed official statement are tentatively 
scheduled for consideration. Summaries of the recommendations and 
statement appear below:
    Agency Appellate Systems. This proposed recommendation addresses 
agencies' appellate review of hearing-level adjudicative decisions. It 
offers best practices with respect to an agency's identification of the 
purpose or objective served by its appellate review; its selection of 
cases for appellate review, when review is not required by statute; its 
procedures for review; its appellate decision-making processes; its 
management, administration, and bureaucratic oversight of its appellate 
systems; and its public disclosure of information about its appellate 
system.
    Agency Litigation web pages. This proposed recommendation offers 
best practices and factors for agencies to consider in deciding whether 
and how to make litigation filings and relevant court opinions publicly 
available on their websites. It identifies costs and benefits agencies 
should weigh when considering whether to post such materials on their 
websites and suggests steps agencies can take to maximize their 
accessibility.
    Agency Use of Artificial Intelligence. This proposed official 
statement identifies important issues agencies should consider as they 
develop and use artificial intelligence systems. Among the topics it 
addresses are transparency, bias, technical capacity building, data 
collection and use, privacy, and internal and external oversight and 
evaluation.
    Government Contract Bid Protests Before Agencies. This proposed 
recommendation addresses the rules governing the resolution of agency-
level procurement contract disputes--commonly called bid protests--
under the Federal Acquisition Regulation and agency-specific 
regulations. It identifies changes agencies can make to current agency-
level bid protest procedures to promote transparency, simplicity, and 
predictability.
    Protected Materials in Public Rulemaking Dockets. This proposed 
recommendation offers best practices for handling personal information 
and confidential commercial information that agencies determine should 
be withheld from public rulemaking dockets. It addresses how agencies 
can best inform members of the public that comments are generally 
subject to public disclosure and encourage them to review comments for 
protected material before submission. It also offers best practices for 
redacting, summarizing, and aggregating comments containing protected 
material before publishing the comments in public rulemaking dockets.
    Public Availability of Information About Agency Adjudicators. This 
proposed recommendation addresses the disclosure of agency policies 
relating to the selection, appointment, supervision, evaluation, 
discipline, and removal of adjudicators. It offers agencies best 
practices for providing plain-language descriptions of such policies 
and access to relevant legal documents on their websites.
    Rules on Rulemakings. This proposed recommendation urges agencies 
to consider adopting rules governing their rulemaking procedures, 
making such rules publicly available, and soliciting public input on 
their content. It identifies the subjects that agencies should consider 
addressing in their rules on rulemakings without prescribing any 
particular procedures that agencies should include.
    Additional information about the proposals and the agenda, as well 
as any changes or updates to the same, can be found at the 73rd Plenary 
Session page on the Conference's website prior to the start of the 
meeting: https://www.acus.gov/meetings-and-events/plenary-meeting/73rd-plenary-session.
    Public Participation: The Conference welcomes the virtual 
attendance of the public at the meeting, subject to bandwidth 
limitations. Members of the public who wish to view the meeting are 
asked to RSVP online at the 73rd Plenary Session web page shown above, 
no later than two days before the meeting, in order to ensure adequate 
bandwidth. For anyone who is unable to view the live event, an archived 
video recording of the meeting will be

[[Page 77140]]

available on the Conference's website shortly after the conclusion of 
the event: https://livestream.com/ACUS.
    Written Comments: Persons who wish to comment on any of the 
proposed recommendations or official statement may do so by submitting 
a written statement either online by clicking ``Submit a comment'' on 
the 73rd Plenary Session web page shown above or by mail addressed to: 
December 2020 Plenary Session Comments, Administrative Conference of 
the United States, Suite 706 South, 1120 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 
20036. Written submissions must be received no later than 10 a.m. 
(EDT), Monday, December 14, to ensure consideration by the Assembly.

    Dated: November 24, 2020.
Shawne McGibbon,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020-26438 Filed 11-30-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6110-01-P