[The Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations]
[Statement by the Vice President and Introduction to the Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]


_______________________________________________________________________

Part II





Regulatory Information Service Center





_______________________________________________________________________

Statement by the Vice President

Introduction to the Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal 
Regulations

Agency Regulatory Plans

                        Presidential Documents 
___________________________________________________________________


                  

                Statement by the Vice President

                During the past year, a vigorous and often 
                unnecessarily acrimonious debate on regulatory reform 
                has been underway. There is agreement by people in and 
                out of Washington that there are too many regulations; 
                that regulations are too costly, too invasive, and too 
                prescriptive; and that regulatory reform is necessary. 
                That is why changing the way the Federal Government 
                regulates is, and has been since January 1993, a 
                priority for us.

                In September 1993, the President signed Executive Order 
                No. 12866 ``Regulatory Planning and Review.'' In that 
                Order, we reaffirmed our commitment to: (1) the use of 
                the best available scientific and economic data; (2) 
                the use of analysis to inform decision-making; (3) 
                consideration of flexible, cost-effective performance 
                standards; and (4) early public participation in an 
                open and accountable regulatory process.

                We have made great progress implementing the principles 
                set forth in that Order. We have legitimized 
                centralized review (which was a subject of intense 
                controversy in previous administrations). We have 
                improved the use of cost/benefit analyses. We have 
                produced better, more tailored, focused, and cost-
                effective regulations. We have done a better job of 
                coordinating regulatory efforts between Federal 
                agencies. And we have expanded outreach to the 
                regulated communities.

                Building on those efforts, in the fall of 1994, the 
                President asked me to conduct a series of meetings with 
                various agencies to develop additional reforms on both 
                cross-cutting and sector-specific regulatory issues. As 
                a result, we have announced commitments to reinvent 
                significant regulatory programs by the Environmental 
                Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, 
                the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the 
                Health Care Financing Administration, the Small 
                Business Administration, and regarding pension reform, 
                the Departments of Labor and the Treasury and the 
                Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

                In addition, we announced new policies on enforcement 
                and paperwork reduction. Enforcers have been encouraged 
                to use their authority to waive up to 100 percent of 
                punitive fines for small businesses, so that a business 
                that acts in good faith can put its energy into fixing 
                the problem, not fighting with a regulator. Regarding 
                paperwork, agencies are eliminating or consolidating 
                some reports and cutting the frequency of others, 
                reducing the burden of businesses, State, local, and 
                tribal governments and others.

                We have also asked agencies to review, page-by-page, 
                their existing regulations in order to eliminate or 
                revise those that are outdated, unduly burdensome, 
                unproductive, or where circumstances have changed key 
                assumptions. We announced the results this past 
                summer--16,000 pages to be eliminated from the Code of 
                Federal Regulations and another 31,000 to be 
                reinvented. So far, almost a quarter of the pages 
                slated for elimination have been removed.

                This same spirit--a critical review, applying common 
                sense to regulatory programs--infuses this Regulatory 
                Plan. As you will see, a substantial number of the 
                entries in this Plan--more that 50 percent--are 
                identified as efforts to eliminate or reinvent 
                regulations. This is the right way to reform the 
                regulatory system of this Nation. We are doing it 
                deliberately and thoughtfully, with careful analysis, 
                extensive public involvement, ingenuity, and hard 
                work--not with promises of quick fixes or simple, one-
                size-fits-all declarations. We are proud of the work we 
                are doing and the efforts that are reflected in this 
                Regulatory Plan.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 95-29103
Filed 11-24-95; 8:45 am]
Billing Code 3110-01-F




REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE CENTER



Introduction to The Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal 
Regulations



AGENCY: Regulatory Information Service Center.

ACTION: Introduction to The Regulatory Plan and 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. In addition, 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 agencies fulfill all of these 
requirements. All Federal regulatory agencies have chosen to publish 
their regulatory agendas as part of this publication.

    Section 4 of Executive Order 12866 also directs that, as part of 
their submissions to 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 during the upcoming fiscal year. The agency 
plans appear as the first section of this joint publication; the agency 
agendas follow.

    The Regulatory Plan begins with Vice President Gore's statement, 
followed by an introduction, and then the regulatory plans of 30 
Federal departments and agencies. Each of these agencies has also 
submitted a regulatory agenda describing its other regulatory actions. 
The regulatory agendas for these 30 agencies and 34 other Federal 
agencies appear in Parts III-LXVI of this issue of the Federal 
Register, followed by indexes to both Plan and Agenda entries.

    We welcome your comments on this joint publication and your 
suggestions for improving future ones.

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

Electronic Availability

    The full text of this edition of The Regulatory Plan and the 
Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations can be browsed and searched by 
pointing a worldwide web viewer to the U.S. Business Advisor located 
at:

http://www.business.gov

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. You may also send comments by e-
mail to us at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

                            TABLE OF CONTENTS                           
                                                                        
                                                                   Page 
                                                                        
                                                                        
Statement by the Vice President.................................   59503
                                                                        
  Introduction to The Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal 
                               Regulations                              
                                                                        
About The Regulatory Plan.......................................   59506
About the Unified Agenda........................................   59506
How to Use The Regulatory Plan                                          
    and the Unified Agenda                                              
  Regulatory Plan Data Elements.................................   59507
  Unified Agenda Data Elements..................................   59507
Data Limitations................................................   59508
List of Abbreviations...........................................   59508
Information About Additional Copies.............................   59509
                                                                        
                         AGENCY REGULATORY PLANS                        
                                                                        
                           Cabinet Departments                          
                                                                        
Department of Agriculture.......................................   59510
Department of Commerce..........................................   59525
Department of Defense...........................................   59540
Department of Education.........................................   59545
Department of Energy............................................   59551
Department of Health and Human Services.........................   59557
Department of Housing and Urban Development.....................   59582
Department of the Interior......................................   59595
Department of Justice...........................................   59603
Department of Labor.............................................   59608
Department of Transportation....................................   59633
Department of the Treasury......................................   59649
Department of Veterans Affairs..................................   59656
                                                                        
                        Other Executive Agencies                        
                                                                        
Environmental Protection Agency.................................   59658
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.........................   59690
General Services Administration.................................   59693
National Aeronautics and Space Administration...................   59697
National Archives and Records Administration....................   59698
Office of Personnel Management..................................   59700
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation............................   59701
Railroad Retirement Board.......................................   59703
Small Business Administration...................................   59705
Social Security Administration..................................   59707
                                                                        
                     Independent Regulatory Agencies                    
                                                                        
Commodity Futures Trading Commission............................   59711
Consumer Product Safety Commission..............................   59713
Federal Communications Commission...............................   59716
Federal Housing Finance Board...................................   59719
Federal Maritime Commission.....................................   59722
Federal Trade Commission........................................   59725
Nuclear Regulatory Commission...................................   59727
                                                                        
                        AGENCY REGULATORY AGENDAS                       
                                                                        
                           Cabinet Departments                          
                                                                        
Department of Agriculture.......................................   59734
Department of Commerce..........................................   59844
Department of Defense...........................................   59914
Department of Education.........................................   59954
Department of Energy............................................   59972
Department of Health and Human Services.........................   59998
Department of Housing and Urban Development.....................   60078
Department of the Interior......................................   60108
Department of Justice...........................................   60188
Department of Labor.............................................   60246
Department of State.............................................   60288
Department of Transportation....................................   60296
Department of the Treasury......................................   60452
Department of Veterans Affairs..................................   60558
                                                                        
                        Other Executive Agencies                        
                                                                        
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.......................   60588
Agency for International Development............................   60590
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board......   60594
Commission on Civil Rights......................................   60598
Corporation for National and Community Service..................   60600
Environmental Protection Agency.................................   60604
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.........................   60720
Federal Emergency Management Agency.............................   60726
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service......................   60732
General Services Administration.................................   60734
National Aeronautics and Space Administration...................   60748
National Archives and Records Administration....................   60758
National Foundation on the Arts and                                     
    the Humanities                                                      
  Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities................   60764
  Institute of Museum Services..................................   60766
  National Endowment for the Arts...............................   60768
  National Endowment for the Humanities.........................   60772
National Science Foundation.....................................   60774
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight..................   60776
Office of Government Ethics.....................................   60780
Office of Management and Budget.................................   60788
Office of Personnel Management..................................   60796
Panama Canal Commission.........................................   60820
Peace Corps.....................................................   60824
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation............................   60828
Railroad Retirement Board.......................................   60836
Selective Service System........................................   60842
Small Business Administration...................................   60844
Social Security Administration..................................   60862
Tennessee Valley Authority......................................   60886
United States Information Agency................................   60888
                                                                        
                             Joint Authority                            
                                                                        
Department of Defense/General Services Administration/National          
 Aeronautics and Space Administration (Federal Acquisition              
 Regulation)....................................................   60892
                                                                        
                     Independent Regulatory Agencies                    
                                                                        
Commodity Futures Trading Commission............................   60918
Consumer Product Safety Commission..............................   60922
Farm Credit Administration......................................   60930
Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation........................   60938
Federal Communications Commission...............................   60942
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation...........................   60960
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission............................   60972
Federal Housing Finance Board...................................   60980
Federal Maritime Commission.....................................   60986
Federal Reserve System..........................................   60992
Federal Trade Commission........................................   61008
Interstate Commerce Commission..................................   61020
National Credit Union Administration............................   61024
National Indian Gaming Commission...............................   61032
National Labor Relations Board..................................   61036
Nuclear Regulatory Commission...................................   61040
Resolution Trust Corporation....................................   61060
Securities and Exchange Commission..............................   61064
Thrift Depositor Protection Oversight Board.....................   61090
                                                                        
          INDEXES TO REGULATORY PLAN AND UNIFIED AGENDA ENTRIES         
                                                                        
Small Entities Index............................................   61093
Government Levels Index.........................................   61105
Subject Index...................................................   61129
                                                                        


INTRODUCTION TO THE REGULATORY PLAN AND THE UNIFIED AGENDA OF 
FEDERAL REGULATIONS

About The Regulatory Plan

    The Regulatory Plan serves as a defining statement of the 
Administration's regulatory policies and priorities. E.O. 12866 directs 
that an agency's regulatory plan should be published as part of the 
October edition 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.

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 Federal Government. This 
edition of the Unified Agenda includes 64 regulatory agendas from the 
Federal departments, agencies, and commissions that publish agendas. 
Agencies of the United States Congress are not included. Several 
agencies have published regulatory agendas in the past but have nothing 
to report for this edition.

    Except for completed actions, the regulatory activities included 
are, in general, those where there will be a regulatory action within 
the next 12 months. In addition, agencies include in a Long-Term 
Actions section activities where there will be a regulatory action 
within a longer timeframe. Some of the entries in this section may 
contain abbreviated information. The agendas do not include regulations 
that were excluded under E.O. 12866, such as those concerning military 
or foreign affairs functions or regulations related to agency 
organization, management, or personnel matters.

    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 for this publication 
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 for this publication, 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 Plan and the Unified Agenda is used by OFPP to 
produce its report.

    The Plan and the Unified Agenda are 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 and the production of 
the tables of contents and indexes for the publication. To further 
facilitate production of this publication, many agencies currently use 
computer terminals at their offices to enter information into the 
Center's computer system.

    All Plan and 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, two Governmentwide common 
rules are reported by the agencies participating in their development. 
They are:

 Debarment and Suspension
 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 twice each year since 1983. 
The October 1995 edition of the Agenda is the second one to include The 
Regulatory Plan.

How To Use The Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda

    Agency regulatory plans begin with a Statement of Regulatory 
Priorities that is followed by descriptions of the agency's most 
important significant regulatory actions. Each agency introduces its 
part of the Unified Agenda with a preamble providing information 
specific to that part.

    Each agency agenda appears as a separate part in this edition of 
the Federal Register. The sections of the Plan and the parts of the 
Unified Agenda appear alphabetically in four groups: Cabinet 
departments, other executive agencies, the Federal Acquisition 
Regulation, a joint authority (Agenda only), and independent regulatory 
agencies. Departments may in turn be divided into subagencies.

    In the Plan and Unified Agenda, agencies place their entries under 
one of five headings according to the rulemaking stage of the entry, 
although Long-Term and Completed Actions appear only in the Unified 
Agenda portion of this document. The five stages are:

    1. Prerule Stage--actions agencies will undertake 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.

    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. Long-Term Actions (Unified Agenda only)--items not expected to 
result in a regulatory action within the 12 months after publication of 
this edition of the Unified Agenda.

    5. Completed Actions (Unified Agenda only)--actions or reviews the 
agency has completed or withdrawn since publishing its last agenda. 
This section also includes items the agency began and completed between 
issues of the Agenda.

    In the Unified 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 of the 
Plan 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 Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda. The same 
number is used in the indexes to enable readers to find entries on 
specific subjects.

    In the Unified Agenda, 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. 
Regulatory Plan entries are identified in these tables of contents by a 
cross-reference to the Plan that appears in bold brackets.

    This publication 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. This index also contains cross references to assist the 
reader's search.

Regulatory Plan Data Elements

    In addition to the Unified Agenda data elements that appear below, 
each Regulatory Plan entry may contain the following information:

 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 as required by section 
    4(c)(1)(B) of E.O. 12866.
 Anticipated Costs and Benefits--a description of preliminary 
    estimates of the 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.

Unified Agenda Data Elements

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

 Title of the Regulation.
 Priority--agencies have been asked to place each entry into 
    one of the following five categories of significance:

  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.

  Other Significant

  A rulemaking that is not economically significant but is considered 
    significant by the agency. This category includes rules that the 
    agency anticipates will be reviewed under E.O. 12866 or rules that 
    are a priority of the agency head. These rules may or may not be 
    included in The Regulatory Plan.

  Substantive, Nonsignificant

  A rulemaking that has substantive impacts but is neither Significant 
    nor Routine and Frequent nor Informational/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.
 Reinvention--an indication of whether the action is part of 
    the Administration's Reinventing Government effort and, if so, 
    whether the result is elimination of existing text in the Code of 
    Federal Regulations (CFR) or revision of text in the CFR to reduce 
    burden or duplication or to streamline requirements.
 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, 
    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. ``Undetermined'' 
    indicates the agency does not know what action it will take next.
 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. 
    If available, the agency may also provide the fax number, e-mail 
    address, and TDD for the agency contact.
 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.
 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, some agencies have used ``Additional Information'' to 
elaborate on the information they have provided.

Data Limitations

    Agencies prepared entries for this edition of The Regulatory Plan 
and 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 Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda do not create a legal 
obligation on agencies to adhere to schedules within them or to confine 
their regulatory activities to those regulations that appear in those 
publications. The information in this edition is accurate as of 
September 15, 1995, in the judgment of the submitting agencies, except 
as otherwise noted by the agencies. In addition, a number of agencies 
submitted updates after that date.

    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 publication:

    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 publication.

    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. 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: November 1, 1995.

Mark G. Schoenberg,
Executive Director.

[FR Doc. 95-27487 Filed 11-24-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-27-F