[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 12, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 44191-44192]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14485]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

6 CFR Part 37

[Docket No. DHS-2023-0016]


Minimum Standards for Driver's Licenses and Identification Cards 
Acceptable by Federal Agencies for Official Purposes; Corrections

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, (DHS).

ACTION: Final rule; technical amendment.

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SUMMARY: This final rule amends the Department of Homeland Security 
REAL ID regulations by making non-substantive technical revisions to 
two provisions that incorporate standards by reference. It also 
consolidates and updates the standardized incorporation by reference 
approval language into one centralized section for this part. This 
action is editorial in nature and does not impose any new regulatory 
requirements on affected parties.

DATES: This rule is effective July 12, 2023. The incorporation by 
reference of the material listed in this rule into Sec.  37.4 is 
approved by the Director of the Federal Register as of July 12, 2023. 
The incorporation by reference of the material listed in this rule 
elsewhere was approved by the Director of the Federal Register as of 
March 31, 2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia Follick, Office of General 
Counsel, DHS; telephone: (202) 875-4913; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The REAL ID Act sets minimum security requirements for the issuance 
and production of driver's licenses and identification cards in order 
for federal agencies to accept these documents for official 
purposes.\1\ DHS regulations implementing the Act are codified at 6 CFR 
part 37.\2\ Within this part, Sec. Sec.  37.17 and 37.19 incorporate 
four standards by reference.
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    \1\ Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the 
Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005, Public Law 109-13, 
Div. B. title II, sections 201 to 207, May 11, 2005, as amended 
(codified at 49 U.S.C. 30301 note) (the REAL ID Act). The REAL ID 
Act applies to the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 
the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth 
of the Northern Mariana Islands.
    \2\ 73 FR 5272 (Jan. 29, 2008).
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    Incorporation by reference (IBR) allows federal agencies to comply 
with the requirement to publish rules in the Federal Register and Code 
of Federal Regulations (CFR) \3\ by referring to material already 
published elsewhere.\4\ The regulations agencies must follow to IBR 
publications into the CFR are found at 1 CFR part 51. Part 51 requires 
agencies to provide specific information related to the publications 
along with contact information for the publishers, the agency and the 
National Archives and Records Administration. In order to help Federal 
agencies meet this and the other requirements established in 1 CFR part 
51, the Office of the Federal Register publishes the IBR Handbook.\5\ 
The IBR Handbook provides standardized language that meets the 
requirements of part 51. It also provides examples of the ways agencies 
can set out this language in their regulations depending on whether the 
agency is incorporating one standard in one section or multiple 
standards into multiple sections in a part. When Federal agencies seek 
to IBR multiple standards into different sections, the OFR provides 
agencies the option to codify one section that contains the 
standardized approval language along with all the standards 
incorporated by reference into a discrete CFR unit, such as a Chapter, 
Subchapter, Part or Subpart. This ``centralized IBR section'' allows 
Federal agencies to consolidate IBR information into a single section 
instead of repeating this language in each section where the 
publication is incorporated.
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    \3\ 44 U.S.C. chapter 15.
    \4\ 5 U.S.C. 552(a). Congress in the Freedom of Information Act 
authorized the Director of the Federal Register (Director) to 
normalize the process used by federal agencies to IBR publications 
into the CFR.
    \5\ The Office of the Federal Register's IBR Handbook: Release 
1-2022 can be found at: https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/write/handbook/ibr-supplement.
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II. Description of Technical Revisions

    Currently, 6 CFR 37.17 and 37.19 are formatted so that the 
standardized IBR approval language required by 1 CFR part 51 is 
repeated in Sec. Sec.  37.17(e), (g), (m) and 37.19. This means that 
the detailed information related to IBR approval, publisher 
information, and agency contact information is repeated in its entirety 
in four separate CFR paragraphs in two separate sections in part 37. 
This rule removes the IBR approval language from each of these 
individual paragraphs and consolidates the language into new Sec.  37.4 
Incorporation by Reference. This consolidation increases the 
readability of the part by removing duplicative language from 
Sec. Sec.  37.17 and 37.19.
    Finally, in the course of drafting this technical amendment, DHS 
realized that our contact information in these provisions was out of 
date. This rule also revises the IBR approval language in Sec.  37.4 to 
update the email address to contact the department if you are 
interested in examining the standards incorporated by reference into 6 
CFR part 37.

III. Administrative Procedure Act

    DHS has determined that this rule is exempt from notice-and-comment 
rulemaking requirements under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A) and 5 U.S.C. 
553(b)(B). The revisions set out in this rule pertain to reformatting 
the current codified text and updating contact information and 
constitutes ``rules of agency organization, procedure, or practice''

[[Page 44192]]

not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act's (APA) notice and 
comment requirements under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A). The revisions set out in 
this rule are technical or editorial non-substantive formatting 
changes, which are intended to consolidate standardized information 
already published in the CFR and to update out of date contact 
information for the department. These changes are necessary to 
consolidate redundant language into one centralized section to 
streamline CFR formatting to improve the clarity of the CFR. They also 
update department contact information. None of the revisions included 
in this action will have a substantive impact on the public nor will 
they alter the regulatory requirements in the affected part. 
Accordingly, DHS finds for good cause that this final rule is exempt 
from public notice-and-comment rulemaking procedures under 5 U.S.C. 
553(b)(B) because such procedures are unnecessary.
    For the same reasons that this rule is exempt from notice-and-
comment rulemaking requirements, and because affected parties will not 
need time to adjust to the revisions made through this action, DHS 
finds that good cause exists to make this final rule effective upon 
publication in the Federal Register under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3).

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order 12866

    Because DHS has determined that this rule is exempt from notice and 
comment rulemaking requirements, the provisions of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) do not apply to this action. 
This technical amendment also does not meet the criteria for a 
``significant regulatory action'' as specified in Executive Order 
12866.

V. Paperwork Reduction Act

    There is no new or amended collection of information required by 
this document; therefore, the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507) are inapplicable.

List of Subjects in 6 CFR Part 37

    Incorporation by reference, Licensing and registration, Motor 
vehicle safety, Motor vehicles, Personally identifiable information, 
Privacy, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Security measures.
    For the reasons set out in the preamble, the Department of Homeland 
Security corrects 6 CFR part 37 by making the following technical 
amendments:

PART 37--REAL ID DRIVER'S LICENSES AND IDENTIFICATION CARDS

0
1. The authority citation for part 37 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30301 note; 6 U.S.C. 111, 112.

0
2. Add Sec.  37.4 to read as follows:


Sec.  37.4  Incorporation by reference.

    Certain material is incorporated by reference into this part with 
the approval of the Director of the Federal Register under 5 U.S.C. 
552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. All approved incorporation by reference (IBR) 
material is available for inspection at the Department of Homeland 
Security (DHS) and at the National Archives and Records Administration 
(NARA). For information on the availability of this material at DHS 
Headquarters in Washington DC, please email 
[email protected]. For information on the 
availability of this material at NARA, visit www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations.html or email [email protected]. The 
material may be obtained from the following sources:
    (a) American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) 
4301 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 400, Arlington, VA 22203; website: 
www.aamva.org.
    (1) 2005 AAMVA Driver's License/Identification Card Design 
Specifications, Annex A, section A.7.7.2., March 2005 (AAMVA 
Specifications); IBR approved for Sec.  37.17.
    (2) [Reserved]
    (b) International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), I CAO, 
Document Sales Unit, 999 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 
H3C 5H7; email: [email protected].
    (1) ICAO 9303, ``Machine Readable Travel Documents,'' Volume 1, 
part 1, Sixth Edition, 2006; IBR approved for Sec.  37.17.
    (2) [Reserved]
    (c) International Organization for Standardization, Chemin de 
Blandonnet 8, CP 401, 1214 Vernier, Geneva, Switzerland; phone: +41 22 
749 01 11; email: [email protected]; website: www.iso.org/contact-iso.html. (Also available by contacting ANSI at ANSI, 25 West 
43rd Street, 4th Floor, New York, New York 10036 website: 
www.ansi.org.)
    (1) ISO/IEC 19794-5:2005(E) Information technology--Biometric Data 
Interchange Formats--Part 5: Face Image Data, dated June 2005; IBR 
approved for Sec.  37.17.
    (2) ISO/IEC 15438:2006(E) Information Technology--Automatic 
identification and data capture techniques--PDF417 symbology 
specification, dated June 2006; IBR approved for Sec.  37.19.

0
3. In Sec.  37.17, revise paragraphs (e)(1), (g)(1), and (m) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  37.17  Requirements for the surface of the driver's license or 
identification card.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *
    (1) States shall follow specifically ISO/IEC 19794-5:2005(E) 
(incorporated by reference; see Sec.  37.4).
* * * * *
    (g) * * *
    (1) The card must include the signature of the card holder. The 
signature must meet the requirements of the AAMVA Specifications 
(incorporated by reference; see Sec.  37.4). This standard includes 
requirements for size, scaling, cropping, color, borders, and 
resolution.
* * * * *
    (m) Printed information. The name, date of birth, gender, card 
number, issue date, expiration date, and address on the face of the 
card must be in Latin alpha-numeric characters. The name must contain a 
field of no less than a total of 39 characters, and longer names shall 
be truncated following the standard established by ICAO 9303 
(incorporated by reference; see Sec.  37.4).
* * * * *

0
4. In Sec.  37.19, revise the introductory paragraph to read as 
follows:


Sec.  37.19  Machine readable technology on the driver's license or 
identification card.

    For the machine readable portion of the REAL ID driver's license or 
identification card, States must use ISO/IEC 15438:2006(E) 
(incorporated by reference; see Sec.  37.4). The PDF417 bar code 
standard must have the following defined minimum data elements:
* * * * *

Alejandro N. Mayorkas,
Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2023-14485 Filed 7-11-23; 8:45 am]
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