[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 250 (Wednesday, December 30, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 86514-86515]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28663]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 250 / Wednesday, December 30, 2020 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 86514]]



ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE FEDERAL REGISTER

1 CFR Part 12


Official Subscriptions to the Print Edition of the Federal 
Register

AGENCY: Administrative Committee of the Federal Register.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Administrative Committee of the Federal Register proposes 
to update its regulations for official requests for specific issues or 
subscriptions to the print edition of the Federal Register as required 
by the Federal Register Printing Savings Act of 2017.

DATES: Comments are due January 29, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Docket materials are available for review at the Office of 
the Federal Register, 7 G Street NW, Suite A-734, Washington, DC 20401, 
202-741-6030. Please contact the persons listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section to schedule your inspection of docket 
materials. The Office of the Federal Register's official hours of 
business are Monday through Friday, 8:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., excluding 
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katerina Horska, Director of Legal 
Affairs and Policy, or Miriam Vincent, Staff Attorney, Office of the 
Federal Register, at [email protected], or 202-741-6030.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Purpose

    Under the Federal Register Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 15), the 
Administrative Committee of the Federal Register (Administrative 
Committee, Committee, ACFR, or we) is responsible for issuing 
regulations governing Federal Register publications. This includes 
establishing the number of official print copies of the Federal 
Register that can be distributed to Members of Congress, officers and 
employees of the United States, or Federal agencies (44 U.S.C. 1506). 
The ACFR sets out the number of official copies that Members of 
Congress and any other office of the United States are entitled to 
receive without charge in 1 CFR 12.1. This section also establishes how 
Federal offices of the United States request subscriptions to print 
copies of the Federal Register.
    In January of 2018, the Federal Register Printing Savings Act of 
2017 (Pub. L. 115-120) (the Act) updated 44 U.S.C. 1506 by changing 
subscription terms to yearly and placing other requirements on requests 
for official print copies of the Federal Register. Specifically, the 
Act prohibits the Government Publishing Office (GPO) from distributing 
the Federal Register without charge to Members of Congress or any other 
office of the United States unless they request a specific issue of the 
Federal Register or a subscription to the print edition of the Federal 
Register for that year. The Act also limits subscriptions to single-
year terms. In addition, the Act requires the ACFR to issue regulations 
that notify Members of Congress and any other office of the United 
States of these restrictions and provide information on requesting 
official copies or subscriptions. We are proposing to revise 1 CFR 12.1 
to meet the requirements of the Act by setting out how Members of 
Congress and any other office of the United States may request an 
official copy or a subscription to the print edition of the Federal 
Register.

Other Actions Taken To Implement the Act

    Since the effective date of the Act, GPO has issued two Circular 
Letters related to its implementation. The first, GPO Circular Letter 
1001, announced to official subscribers that GPO was creating a 
database to help implement the requirements of the Act (Gov't Publ'g 
Office, Circular Letter No. 1001 (2018), https://www.gpo.gov/how-to-work-with-us/agency/circular-letters/federal-register-printing-savings-act-of-2017). The second, GPO Circular Letter 1021, announced GPO's new 
online subscription portal for official distribution of the print 
edition of the Federal Register located at https://www.gpo.gov/frsubs 
(Gov't Publ'g Office, Circular Letter No. 1021 (2018), https://www.gpo.gov/how-to-work-with-us/agency/circular-letters/federal-register-printing-savings-act-of-2017-2). On the portal's form, an 
office of the United States may sign up for a yearly subscription to 
the print edition of the Federal Register, with an option for the 
delivery of multiple copies to the office. The subscription will be 
valid for one calendar year. GPO will send subscribers a reminder that 
they will need to sign up for the next calendar year if they wish to 
continue to receive print copies of the daily Federal Register. If 
official subscribers do not use the portal to sign up, they will not 
receive print copies of the Federal Register at the start of the new 
calendar year. Currently, the portal also provides Members of Congress 
and other offices of the United States an email address 
([email protected]) for requesting specific issues of the daily Federal 
Register. However, future versions of the portal's form will allow 
Members of Congress and other offices of the United States to request 
specific issues of the daily Federal Register, in addition to 
subscriptions, directly through the portal.
    To highlight these developments, GPO placed a direct link to the 
subscription portal on its homepage menu (Who We Are>Our 
Agency>Official Federal Register Subscription Form). We will also 
provide updates on any changes to the official distribution of print 
copies of the Federal Register on www.federalregister.gov and in the 
front matter of Federal Register issues.
    We are not proposing any changes to the process for requesting 
quantity overruns or extra copies. The paragraphs of Sec.  12.1 
governing those processes will be re-designated as paragraphs (d) 
through (f) instead of paragraphs (b) through (d), but the processes 
themselves will remain the same. We are also not proposing to change 
the paid subscription process in part 11. The Act did not affect the 
process for paid subscriptions, so this rule applies only to requests 
for distribution of the Federal Register without charge.

Regulatory Analysis

    The Administrative Committee developed this proposed rule after 
considering numerous statutes and Executive orders related to 
rulemaking. Below is a summary of the Committee's determinations after 
analysis of these

[[Page 86515]]

statutes and Executive orders with respect to this rulemaking.

Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 13771

    This proposed rule has been drafted in accordance with Executive 
Order 12866, section 1(b), ``The Principles of Regulation,'' and 
Executive Order 13563, ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.'' 
The Administrative Committee has determined that this proposed rule is 
not a significant regulatory action as defined under section 3(f) of 
Executive Order 12866. Thus, this proposed rule has not been reviewed 
by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and it is exempt under 
OMB guidance from the requirements of Executive Order 13771 (see Office 
of Mgmt. & Budget, Guidance Implementing Executive Order 13771, Titled 
``Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs'' (2017)).

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This proposed rule will not have a significant impact on small 
entities because it imposes no requirements on the public. Members of 
the public can access Federal Register publications for free through 
GPO's website, https://www.govinfo.gov/.

Federalism

    This proposed rule has no federalism implications under Executive 
Order 13132. It does not impose compliance costs on state or local 
governments or preempt state law.

List of Subjects in 1 CFR Part 12

    Code of Federal Regulations, Compilation of Presidential Documents, 
Federal Register, Government publications, Public papers of Presidents 
of U.S., U.S. Government Manual.

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, under the authority at 
44 U.S.C. 1506, the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register 
proposes to amend 1 CFR part 12 as follows:

PART 12--OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

0
1. The authority citation for part 12 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 1506; sec. 6, E.O. 10530, 19 FR 2709; 3 
CFR, 1954-1958 Comp., p. 189.

0
2. Amend Sec.  12.1 by:
0
a. Revising paragraph (a),
0
b. Redesignating paragraphs (b) through (e) as (d) through (g), and
0
c. Adding new paragraphs (b) and (c).
    The revision and additions read as follows:


Sec.  12.1  Federal Register.

    (a) The Federal Register, issued under the authority of the 
Administrative Committee, is officially maintained online and is 
available on at least one Government Publishing Office website.
    (b) Requests for subscriptions to the Federal Register may be made 
as follows:
    (1) Requests from a Member of Congress or any other office of the 
United States for a specific issue or a subscription may be submitted 
via a Government Publishing Office website or by email to an email 
address provided on that website.
    (2) Official subscription requests:
    (i) May be made in the current year for that year or for the 
upcoming year,
    (ii) Will expire at the end of each calendar year, and
    (iii) Will not automatically continue into a new calendar year.
    (c) Notifications regarding procedures for requesting official 
copies of specific issues or print subscriptions are available:
    (1) On a Government Publishing Office website dedicated to official 
subscriptions,
    (2) On www.federalregister.gov, and
    (3) In the front matter of the Federal Register, which is the text 
that precedes the main text of the daily issue of the Federal Register.
* * * * *

Oliver A. Potts,
Secretary, Administrative Committee of the Federal Register.
[FR Doc. 2020-28663 Filed 12-29-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1301-00-P