[Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations]
[Introduction to the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 23001]]

_______________________________________________________________________

Part II





Regulatory Information Service Center





_______________________________________________________________________



Introduction to the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations

Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 88 / Monday, May 8, 1995 / Unified 
Agenda

Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 88 / Monday, May 8, 1995 / Unified 
Agenda
                             [[Page 23002]]

REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE CENTER




Introduction to the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations



AGENCY: Regulatory Information Service Center.

ACTION: Introduction to the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations.

_______________________________________________________________________

SUMMARY: The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 602) requires that 
agencies publish semiannual regulatory agendas describing regulatory 
actions they are developing. Executive Order 12866 ``Regulatory 
Planning and Review'' (58 FR 51735; October 4, 1993) and Office of 
Management and Budget memoranda implementing section 4 of that Order 
establish minimum standards for agencies' agendas, including specific 
types of information for each entry.

    Section 4 of Executive Order 12866 also directs that, as part of 
the October edition of the Unified Agenda, agencies prepare a 
regulatory plan of the most important significant regulatory actions 
that the agency reasonably expects to issue in proposed or final form. 
The agency plans appear only as part of the October Agenda publication; 
they are not included in the April publication.

    The Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act Amendments of 1988 (41 
U.S.C. 402) require the development and semiannual publication of a 
report on procurement regulations. The Unified Agenda helps fulfill 
that requirement as well.

    All Federal regulatory agencies have chosen to publish their 
regulatory agendas as part of this publication. The following separate 
parts in this issue of the Federal Register are the agency agendas, 
which together comprise the April 1995 edition of the semiannual 
Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations.

ADDRESSES: Regulatory Information Service Center, 750 17th Street NW., 
Suite 500, Washington, DC 20006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about specific 
regulatory actions, please refer to the Agency Contact listed for each 
entry.

    To provide comment on or to obtain further information about this 
publication, contact: Mark G. Schoenberg, Executive Director, 
Regulatory Information Service Center, 750 17th Street NW., Suite 500, 
Washington, DC 20006, (202) 395-6222.



SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

                            TABLE OF CONTENTS                           
                                                                        
                                                                   Page 
                                                                        
                                                                        
        Introduction to the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations       
                                                                        
About the Unified Agenda........................................   23002
About the Regulatory Plan.......................................   23003
How to Use the Unified Agenda...................................   23003
  Unified Agenda Data Elements..................................   23009
Data Limitations................................................   23005
List of Abbreviations...........................................   23005
Information About Additional Copies.............................   23005
                                                                        
                        AGENCY REGULATORY AGENDAS                       
                                                                        
                           Cabinet Departments                          
                                                                        
Department of Agriculture.......................................   23008
Department of Commerce..........................................   23130
Department of Defense...........................................   23208
Department of Education.........................................   23244
Department of Energy............................................   23260
Department of Health and Human Services.........................   23288
Department of Housing and Urban Development.....................   23368
Department of the Interior......................................   23408
Department of Justice...........................................   23480
Department of Labor.............................................   23536
Department of State.............................................   23586
Department of Transportation....................................   23590
Department of the Treasury......................................   23754
Department of Veterans Affairs..................................   23880
                                                                        
                        Other Executive Agencies                        
                                                                        
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.......................   23912
Agency for International Development............................   23914
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board......   23918
Commission on Civil Rights......................................   23922
Corporation for National and Community Service..................   23924
Environmental Protection Agency.................................   23928
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.........................   24040
Federal Emergency Management Agency.............................   24044
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service......................   24050
General Services Administration.................................   24052
National Aeronautics and Space Administration...................   24068
National Archives and Records Administration....................   24082
National Foundation on the Arts and                                     
    the Humanities                                                      
  Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities................   24088
  Institute of Museum Services..................................   24090
  National Endowment for the Arts...............................   24092
  National Endowment for the Humanities.........................   24096
National Science Foundation.....................................   24100
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight..................   24104
Office of Government Ethics.....................................   24108
Office of Management and Budget.................................   24116
Office of Personnel Management..................................   24124
Panama Canal Commission.........................................   24148
Peace Corps.....................................................   24152
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation............................   24156
Railroad Retirement Board.......................................   24166
Selective Service System........................................   24172
Small Business Administration...................................   24174
Social Security Administration..................................   24190
Tennessee Valley Authority......................................   24212
United States Information Agency................................   24216
                                                                        
                             Joint Authority                            
                                                                        
Department of Defense/General Services Administration/National          
 Aeronautics and Space Administration (Federal Acquisition              
 Regulation)....................................................   24220
                                                                        
                     Independent Regulatory Agencies                    
                                                                        
Commodity Futures Trading Commission............................   24250
Consumer Product Safety Commission..............................   24256
Farm Credit Administration......................................   24266
Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation........................   24272
Federal Communications Commission...............................   24276
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation...........................   24296
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission............................   24308
Federal Housing Finance Board...................................   24316
Federal Maritime Commission.....................................   24322
Federal Reserve System..........................................   24326
Federal Trade Commission........................................   24344
Interstate Commerce Commission..................................   24354
National Credit Union Administration............................   24360
National Indian Gaming Commission...............................   24366
National Labor Relations Board..................................   24370
Nuclear Regulatory Commission...................................   24374
Resolution Trust Corporation....................................   24398
Securities and Exchange Commission..............................   24402
Thrift Depositor Protection Oversight Board.....................   24430
                                                                        
                    INDEXES TO UNIFIED AGENDA ENTRIES                   
                                                                        
Small Entities Index............................................   24433
Government Levels Index.........................................   24445
Subject Index...................................................   24469
                                                                        




About the Unified Agenda

    The Regulatory Information Service Center (the Center) compiles the 
Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations for the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Center 
provides information about Federal regulatory activity to the President 
and his Executive Office, the Congress, agency managers, and the 
public.

    The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is responsible for 
overseeing the Federal Government's regulatory, paperwork, and 
information resource management activities, including implementation of 
E.O. 12866.

    The Unified Agenda provides uniform reporting of data on regulatory 
activities under development throughout the [[Page 23003]] Federal 
Government. This edition of the Unified Agenda includes 64 regulatory 
agendas from all Federal departments, agencies, and commissions that 
publish agendas. Agencies of the United States Congress are not 
included. The Merit Systems Protection Board, the National Capital 
Planning Commission, the Office of Special Counsel, and the 
Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation have published regulatory 
agendas in the past but have nothing to report for this edition.

    The agendas do not include regulations that were excluded under 
E.O. 12866, such as those concerning military or foreign affairs 
functions and regulations related to agency organization, management, 
or personnel matters. The regulatory activities included in the agency 
agendas are those currently planned to have an ANPRM, NPRM, or Final 
Rule within the next 12 months. In order to keep readers better 
informed of their opportunities for participation in the rulemaking 
process, agencies have placed many of their rules that are not 
scheduled to have a regulatory action within that time period into the 
Completed/Long-term Actions section of their agenda. Once the agency 
schedules a regulatory action on one of these rules within a 12-month 
timeframe, the item will reappear in the agency's agenda.

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601) requires that 
agencies publish regulatory agendas identifying those rules that may 
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. Agencies meet that requirement by including the information 
in their submissions for this publication.

    In addition, Executive Order 12875 entitled ``Enhancing the 
Intergovernmental Partnership'' (October 26, 1993; 58 FR 58093) directs 
agencies to reduce the imposition of unfunded mandates upon State, 
local, and tribal governments. The Order directs agencies that are 
proposing to impose nonstatutory unfunded mandates to consult with 
affected governmental officials and document their concerns, report 
those concerns to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 
and explain the agency's position supporting the continuing need to 
issue the regulation in light of those concerns. As part of this 
effort, agencies include in their submissions information on whether 
their regulatory actions may have an effect on the various levels of 
government.

    The Unified Agenda also helps fulfill the statutory requirement 
that the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) publish a 
Procurement Regulatory Activity Report as required by the Office of 
Federal Procurement Policy Act Amendments of 1988 (102 Stat. 4055; 41 
U.S.C. 402). In their submissions, agencies indicate which regulatory 
actions are procurement-related, as well as whether or not there is a 
statutory requirement or a paperwork burden associated with the 
procurement-related actions. Information that agencies publish in the 
Unified Agenda is used by OFPP to produce its report.

    The Unified Agenda is produced through a computer system designed 
and maintained by the Center with the advice and assistance of the 
Government Printing Office. The system was designed to save agencies 
time and money by automating the preparation and printing of their 
materials in a uniform format, as well as the tables of contents and 
indexes for the publication. In order to further facilitate producing 
this publication, many agencies currently use computer terminals at 
their offices to enter information into the Center's computer system.

    Agenda entries contain uniform data elements, which are described 
below. Agencies may also include any additional information they 
consider important.

    Congress generally authorizes a single Federal agency to implement, 
through regulation, a specific policy objective. Sometimes, however, a 
statute may require that several agencies issue regulations to 
accomplish the objective. In such cases, the agencies, working with a 
central coordinator, jointly publish the documents issued in the course 
of the rulemaking proceeding. These proceedings are referred to as 
Governmentwide common rules.

    In this edition of the Unified Agenda, four Governmentwide common 
rules are reported by the agencies participating in their development. 
They are:

 Debarment and Suspension
 New Restrictions on Lobbying
 Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative 
    Agreements to State and Local Governments
 Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative 
    Agreements to State and Local Governments (Thresholds)

Agencies participating in the development of these common rules have 
reported them in their individual sections of the Unified Agenda.

    Regulatory agendas have been required by Executive orders since 
1978. The Unified Agenda has been published in April and October of 
each year since 1983. The October 1994 edition was the first one to 
include The Regulatory Plan. The Center welcomes your comments on this 
edition and suggestions for improving future ones.



About the Regulatory Plan

    The Regulatory Plan serves as a defining statement of the 
Administration's regulatory policies and priorities. The Plan, 
published annually in October, contains descriptions of the agency's 
most important significant regulatory actions.

    E.O. 12866 directs that an agency's regulatory plan should be 
published as part of the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations (Unified 
Agenda) and contain two sections: (1) a narrative statement of its 
regulatory priorities; and (2) a description of the most important 
significant regulatory actions that the agency reasonably expects to 
issue in proposed or final form during the upcoming fiscal year.

    The Regulatory Plan was published as part of the October 1994 
edition of the Unified Agenda and will be published again in October 
1995.



How To Use the Unified Agenda

    Each agency agenda appears as a separate part in this edition of 
the Federal Register. Each part is organized alphabetically in four 
groups: Cabinet departments, other executive agencies, joint 
authorities, and independent regulatory agencies. Departments are 
divided into agencies, which may in turn be divided into subagencies.

    Each agency introduces its section of the Unified Agenda with a 
preamble providing information specific to that section. Each agency 
lists its entries in four groups by rulemaking stage:

    1. Prerule Stage--actions agencies will undertake in the next 12 
months to determine whether or how to initiate rulemaking. Such actions 
occur prior to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and may include Advance 
Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRMs) and reviews of existing 
regulations.

    2. Proposed Rule Stage--actions for which agencies plan to publish 
a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) as the next step in their 
rulemaking process or for which the closing date of the NPRM Comment 
Period is the next step. [[Page 23004]] 

    3. Final Rule Stage--actions for which agencies plan to publish a 
final rule or an interim final rule or to take other final action as 
the next step in their rulemaking process.

    4. Completed/Long-term Actions--actions or reviews the agency 
completed or withdrew since publishing its last agenda. This section 
also includes items not expected to have a regulatory action (ANPRM, 
NPRM, or Final Rule) within the 12 months after publication of this 
edition of the Unified Agenda, as well as items that were begun and 
completed between issues of the Agenda.

    An agency may use a subheading to identify regulations that it has 
grouped according to a particular topic. When these subheadings are 
used, they appear above the title of the first regulation in the group.

    A bullet () preceding an entry indicates that the entry 
appears in the publication for the first time.

    All entries are numbered sequentially from the beginning to the end 
of the Unified Agenda. The Sequence Number (Seq. No.) preceding the 
title of each entry identifies the location of the entry in this 
edition of the the Unified Agenda. The same number is used in the 
indexes to enable readers to find entries on specific subjects.

    For each agency that requests it, the Center provides a computer-
produced Table of Contents that appears after the agency preamble. The 
agency Tables of Contents help readers locate quickly those entries 
within an agency that may be of most interest to them. Sequence numbers 
also appear in agency Tables of Contents.

    The Unified Agenda contains three indexes. The first two indexes 
list the regulatory actions that agencies believe may have effects on 
small entities or levels of government. The third is a Subject Index 
based on the Federal Register Thesaurus of Indexing Terms to help 
readers locate entries from various agencies that may affect a 
particular area of interest. The index also contains cross references 
to assist the reader's search.

    In order to make it easier for readers to understand the content of 
the Unified Agenda, major regulatory agencies were asked to provide a 
more detailed explanation of the relative importance of their 
regulatory actions. They provided this information under the heading 
``Priority,'' which appears in each of their agenda entries.



Unified Agenda Data Elements

    Entries describing regulations in the Unified Agenda should 
contain, at a minimum, the following information:

 Title of the Regulation.
 Priority--Most agencies reported Priority as either a 
    Regulatory Plan entry from the October 1994 Plan or as an agency 
    priority. If the agency indicated neither, the Priority heading 
    does not appear.

  Major agencies were asked to provide additional information about the 
    nature of their rulemakings. They were asked to place each entry 
    into one of the following six categories of significance:

  REGULATORY PLAN--ECONOMICALLY SIGNIFICANT

  As defined in Executive Order 12866, a rulemaking action that will 
    have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or 
    will adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of 
    the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, 
    public health or safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or 
    communities.

  REGULATORY PLAN--OTHER

  A rulemaking that does not meet the criteria for economically 
    significant but has been or is likely to be included in an agency's 
    regulatory plan.

  OTHER SIGNIFICANT

  A rulemaking that is not in The Regulatory Plan but is considered 
    significant by the agency.

  SUBSTANTIVE NONSIGNIFICANT

  A rulemaking that has substantive impacts but is neither significant 
    nor routine, frequent, informational, or administrative.

  ROUTINE AND FREQUENT

  A rulemaking that is a specific case of a multiple recurring 
    application of a regulatory program in the Code of Federal 
    Regulations and that does not alter the body of the regulation.

  INFORMATIONAL/ ADMINISTRATIVE/OTHER

  A rulemaking that is primarily informational or pertains to agency 
    matters not central to accomplishing the agency's regulatory 
    mandate but that the agency places in the Agenda to inform the 
    public of the activity.
 Legal Authority--the section(s) of the United States Code 
    (U.S.C.) or Public Law (P.L.) or the Executive order (E.O.) that 
    authorize(s) the regulatory action. Agencies may provide popular 
    name references to laws in addition to these citations.
 CFR Citation--the section(s) of the Code of Federal 
    Regulations that will be affected by the action.
 Legal Deadline--an indication of whether the rule is subject 
    to a statutory or judicial deadline, the date of that deadline, and 
    whether the deadline pertains to an NPRM, a Final Action, or some 
    ``Other'' action.
 Abstract--a description of the problem the regulation will 
    address; the need for a Federal solution; to the extent available, 
    the alternatives that the agency is considering to address the 
    problem; and the potential costs and benefits of the action.
 Timetable--the dates and citations (if available) for all past 
    steps and at least a projected date for the next step for the 
    regulatory action. If a date appears in this section as 00/00/00, 
    it means the date of the action is currently undetermined. 
    Similarly, 10/00/95 means the agency can predict the month and year 
    the action will take place but not the day it will occur.
 Small Entities Affected--indicates whether the rule is 
    expected to have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
    number of ``small entities'' as defined by the Regulatory 
    Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601) and, if so, whether the small 
    entities are businesses, governmental jurisdictions, or 
    organizations.
 Government Levels Affected--indicates whether the rule is 
    expected to affect levels of government and, if so, whether the 
    governments are State, local, tribal, or Federal.
 Agency Contact--the name, title, address, and phone number of 
    a person in the agency who is knowledgeable about the regulation.
 Procurement--a statement identifying procurement-related 
    actions and indicating whether there is a statutory requirement for 
    the action and whether there is a paperwork burden associated with 
    the action. The Procurement heading appears only if the entry is a 
    procurement-related action.

    Some agencies have provided other optional information at their 
discretion; this information may include:

 Compliance Cost to the Public--the estimated gross compliance 
    cost to the public of the action.
 Affected Sectors--the industrial sectors that the action may 
    most affect, either directly or indirectly. Affected Sectors are 
    identified by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) numbers. 
    [[Page 23005]] 
 Analysis--agencies may indicate if a Regulatory Flexibility 
    Analysis, within the meaning of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 
    U.S.C. 601), is being prepared or if any other kind of analysis or 
    evaluation is being prepared (e.g., an environmental impact 
    statement).

    In addition to the Unified Agenda data elements that appear above, 
each entry that was designated a Regulatory Plan entry in the previous 
October edition may contain the information listed below. Agencies are 
given the choice of retaining this information in their April agenda 
entries. For those that chose to retain it, this information will 
appear as part of their agenda entries:

 Statement of Need--a description of the need for the 
    regulatory action.
 Summary of the Legal Basis--a description of the legal basis 
    for the action, including whether any aspect of the action is 
    required by statute or court order.
 Alternatives--a description of the alternatives to be 
    considered or that were considered for analysis as required by 
    section 4(c)(1)(B) of E.O. 12866.
 Anticipated Costs and Benefits--a description of preliminary 
    estimates of the anticipated costs and benefits of the action.
 Risks--a description of the magnitude of the risk being 
    addressed by the action, the amount by which this risk is expected 
    to be reduced by the action, and the relation of these risks and 
    risk reduction efforts to other risks and risk reduction efforts 
    within the agency's jurisdiction.

    In addition, some agencies have used ``Additional Information'' to 
elaborate on the information they have provided.



Data Limitations

    Agencies prepared entries for this edition of the Unified Agenda to 
give the public notice of their plans to review, propose, and issue 
regulations. They have tried to predict their activities over the next 
12 months as accurately as possible, but dates and schedules are 
subject to change. Agencies may withdraw some of the regulations now 
under development, and they may issue or propose other regulations not 
included in their agendas. Agency actions in the rulemaking process may 
occur before or after the dates they have listed.

    The Unified Agenda does not create a legal obligation on agencies 
to adhere to schedules within it or to confine their regulatory 
activities to those regulations that appear in this publication. The 
information in this edition is accurate as of February 24, 1995, in the 
judgment of the submitting agencies, except as otherwise noted by the 
agencies. In addition, updates were permitted through March 31.

    Where applicable, individual actions will be subject to review for 
compliance with applicable Executive orders, the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act Amendments of 1988, 
and the Paperwork Reduction Act at appropriate points in the regulatory 
process.



List of Abbreviations

    The following abbreviations appear throughout this edition of the 
Unified Agenda:

    ANPRM--An Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is a preliminary 
notice that an agency is considering a regulatory action. The agency 
issues an ANPRM before it develops a detailed proposed rule. The ANPRM 
describes the general area that may be subject to regulation and 
usually asks for public comment on the issues and options being 
discussed. An ANPRM is issued only when an agency believes it needs to 
gather more information before proceeding to a notice of proposed 
rulemaking.

    CFR--The Code of Federal Regulations is an annual codification of 
the general and permanent regulations published in the Federal Register 
by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government. The Code is 
divided into 50 titles, and each title covers a broad area subject to 
Federal regulation. The CFR is keyed to and kept up to date by the 
daily issues of the Federal Register.

    EO--An Executive order is a directive from the President to an 
executive agency, issued under constitutional or statutory authority. 
Executive orders are published in the Federal Register and in title 3 
of the Code of Federal Regulations.

    FR--The Federal Register is a daily Federal Government publication 
that provides a uniform system for publishing Presidential documents, 
all proposed and final regulations, notices of meetings, and other 
official documents issued by Federal departments and agencies.

    FY--The Federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30.

    NPRM--A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is the document an agency 
issues and publishes in the Federal Register that describes and 
solicits public comments on a proposed regulatory action. Under the 
Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553), an NPRM must include, at a 
minimum:

 A statement of the time, place, and nature of the public 
    rulemaking proceeding;
 a reference to the legal authority under which the rule is 
    proposed; and
 either the terms or substance of the proposed rule or a 
    description of the subjects and issues involved.

    PL--A Public Law is a law passed by Congress and signed by the 
President or enacted over his veto. It has general applicability, as 
opposed to a private law that applies only to those persons or entities 
specifically designated. Public laws are numbered in sequence 
throughout the 2-year life of each Congress; for example, PL 103-5 is 
the fifth public law of the 103rd Congress.

    RFA--A Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, within the meaning of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601), describes the impact of a 
proposed rule on small entities. An RFA describes why the agency is 
considering the action; the objectives of and legal basis for the 
proposed rule; an estimate of the number of small entities that could 
be affected and the compliance requirements they would have to fulfill; 
any other duplicative, overlapping, or conflicting Federal rules; and 
alternatives to the proposed action. When required, an initial RFA 
accompanies an NPRM, and a final RFA accompanies a final rule.

    RIN--The Regulation Identifier Number is assigned by the Regulatory 
Information Service Center to identify each regulatory action listed in 
this publication as directed by E.O. 12866 (section 4(b)). 
Additionally, OMB has asked agencies to include RIN numbers in the 
headings of their Rule and Proposed Rule documents when publishing them 
in the  Federal Register to make it easier for the public and agency 
officials to track the publication history of regulatory actions 
throughout their life cycles.

    Seq. No.--The Sequence Number identifies the location of an entry 
in this edition of the Unified Agenda.

    USC--The United States Code is a consolidation and codification of 
all general and permanent laws of the United States. The USC is divided 
into 50 titles, and each title covers a broad area of Federal law.



Information About Additional Copies

    Additional copies of this edition of the Federal Register are 
available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. 
[[Page 23006]] Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325, 
(202) 512-1800.

    Copies of individual agency materials may be available directly 
from the agency. Please contact the particular agency for further 
information.

Dated: April 18, 1995.

Mark G. Schoenberg,
Executive Director.

[FR Doc. 95-10084 Filed 05-05-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-27-F