[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 177 (Thursday, September 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74375-74376]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20675]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of Foreign Assets Control

[Docket No.: OFAC-2024-0003]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request for Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations and 
Other Information Collections Maintained by the Office of Foreign 
Assets Control

AGENCY: Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing 
effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general 
public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed or continuing 
information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995. Currently, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) within the 
Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning OFAC's 
information collection requirements contained within OFAC's Reporting, 
Procedures and Penalties Regulations, the Cuban Assets Control 
Regulations, the Iran Financial Sanctions Regulations, and the 
Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before November 12, 
2024 to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions on the website for submitting comments.
    Email: [email protected] with Attn: Request for Comments 
(Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations).
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and refer to Docket Number OFAC-2024-0003 and the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) control number 1505-0164. Comments received will be 
made available to the public via https://www.regulations.gov or upon 
request, without change and including any personal information 
provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: OFAC: Assistant Director for 
Licensing, 202-622-2480; Assistant Director for Regulatory Affairs, 
202-622-4855; or Assistant Director for Compliance, 202-622-2490 or 
https://ofac.treasury.gov/contact-ofac.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations.
    OMB Number: 1505-0164.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection; 
consolidation with other approved collections.
    Description: The collections of information are contained in 
sections 501.601 through 501.605, 501.801, and 501.804 through 501.807 
of OFAC's Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations (the 
``Regulations''), and certain other parts of 31 CFR chapter V, and 
pertain to the operation of various economic sanctions programs 
administered by OFAC under 31 CFR chapter V. Section 501.601 addresses 
the maintenance of records, and Sec.  501.602 relates to OFAC demands 
for information relative to any transaction or property subject to the 
provisions of 31 CFR chapter V. Section 501.603 imposes reporting 
requirements pertaining to blocked property and retained funds, as well 
as property that is unblocked or transferred. This information is 
required by OFAC to monitor compliance with regulatory requirements, to 
support diplomatic negotiations concerning the targets of sanctions, to 
support settlement negotiations addressing U.S. claims, and to respond 
to Congressional reporting requirements. Section 501.604 requires the 
filing of reports for compliance purposes by U.S. persons where a 
transaction is not required to be blocked but where processing or 
otherwise engaging in the transaction would nonetheless violate, or 
facilitate a transaction that is prohibited under, other provisions in 
31 CFR chapter V. Section 501.605 requires reporting of information 
pertaining to litigation, arbitration, and other binding alternative 
dispute resolution proceedings in the United States to prevent the 
intentional or inadvertent transfer through such proceedings of blocked 
property or retained funds. Sections 501.801, 501.804, and 501.805 
relate to license requests, the procedures for rulemaking, and records 
requests, respectively. Section 501.806 sets forth the procedures to be 
followed by a person seeking to unblock funds that the person believes 
they have blocked due to mistaken identity or typographical or similar 
errors. Section 501.807 sets forth the procedures to be followed by a 
person seeking administrative reconsideration of the listing of a 
person or property (e.g., a vessel) on any list of sanctioned persons 
or property maintained by OFAC. OFAC maintains mandatory and voluntary 
forms for the bulk of these collections and is not making major changes 
to these existing forms.
    In addition, OFAC seeks to consolidate within this information 
collection five separately approved information collections: OMB 
Numbers 1505-0167, 1505-0168, 1505-0243, 1505-0255, and 1505-0170. 
These information collections are relevant to 31 CFR 501.801, 515,572, 
561.504, and 566.504. OFAC is also extending from five years to 10 
years the recordkeeping requirements codified at 31 CFR 501.601, 
paragraph IV.B of appendix A to part 501, and 515.572 to align with the 
extended statute of limitations for civil and criminal violations of 
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) or the Trading 
with the Enemy Act (TWEA).
    The reports covered by this information collection will be reviewed 
by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and may be used for compliance, 
civil penalty, and enforcement purposes by the agency.
    Forms: For filers who have been granted an exception from 
electronic reporting using the OFAC Reporting System (ORS), OFAC allows 
the submission of the following, through the following approved forms: 
the Annual Report of Blocked Property (ARBP), TD-F 90-22.50; Report on 
Blocked Property--Financial, TD-F 93.02; Report on Blocked Property--
Tangible/Real/Other Non-Financial Property, TD-F 93.08; Report on 
Rejected Transaction, TD-F 93.07. OFAC also maintains the following 
forms related to licensing: TSRA License Application, TD-F 93.04; 
Licensing Cover Sheet, TD-F 98-22.61; and Application for the Release 
of Blocked Funds TD-F 90-22.54. In addition, OFAC issued a new form, 
REPO for Ukrainians Act Report Form, TD-F 93.09, to implement a new 
reporting requirement pursuant to the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity 
and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act for financial institutions holding 
Russian sovereign assets, if not previously reported to OFAC. The other 
information collections covered by this notice do not have mandatory or 
voluntary forms.
    Affected Public: Financial institutions, business organizations, 
nonprofit organizations, individuals, households, nongovernmental 
organizations, and legal representatives.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: OFAC's estimate for the number of 
unique reporting respondents is approximately 10,900. The significant 
increase in the number of unique

[[Page 74376]]

respondents since OFAC's last information collection submission 
regarding the Regulations in 2021 is due to OFAC consolidating several 
information collection requests and, in response to unpredictable 
foreign policy developments and considerations, and given the ongoing 
conflict in Ukraine, has added a number of new prohibitions, as well as 
several thousand new designations, particularly with respect to Ukraine 
and Russian, resulting in a corresponding increase in related reports. 
In addition, a May 2024 amendment to the Cuban Assets Control 
Regulations in 31 CFR 515.584(d) reinstated an authorization for ``U-
turn'' transactions to support independent private sector entrepreneurs 
in Cuba, by facilitating remittances and payments for authorized 
transactions in the Cuban private sector, which is expected to lead to 
an increase in remittances to Cuba over the coming three years.
    Frequency of Response: The estimated annual frequency of responses 
is between 1 and 17,800, varying greatly by entity depending on the 
size, nature, and scope of business activities of each respondent, with 
the majority of filers providing a small number of responses and a 
small number of filers submitting a higher number of responses.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: The estimated total 
number of responses per year is approximately 2,502,086.
    Estimated Time per Response: OFAC assesses that there is an average 
time estimate for reports associated with forms ranging from 15 minutes 
to 2 hours and for reports associated with general licenses, Cuba 
remittances, Cuba travel, closure of correspondent or payable-through 
accounts, and other miscellaneous reports ranging from 1 minute to 5 
hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: The estimated total annual 
reporting burden is approximately 86,223 hours.

Request for Comments

    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will become 
a matter of public record. Comments are invited on: (a) whether the 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the agency, including whether the information has 
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) 
ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology; and (e) estimates 
of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and 
purchase of services required to provide information.
    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

    Dated: September 9, 2024.
Lisa M. Palluconi,
Acting Director, Office of Foreign Assets Control.
[FR Doc. 2024-20675 Filed 9-11-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AL-P