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



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Part II



Regulatory Information Service Center



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Introduction to the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and 
Deregulatory Actions

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REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE CENTER



Introduction to the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and 
Deregulatory Actions



AGENCY: Regulatory Information Service Center.

ACTION: Introduction to the Unified Agenda.

_______________________________________________________________________

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 only as part of the October Agenda publication; they are 
not included in the April publication.

    The following separate parts in this issue of the Federal Register 
are the agency agendas, which together comprise the April 1996 edition 
of the semiannual Unified Agenda. 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 Unified Agenda 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 
                                                                        
                                                                        
                   Introduction to the Unified Agenda                   
                                                                        
About the Unified Agenda........................................   22702
How to Use the Unified Agenda...................................   22703
  Unified Agenda Data Elements..................................   22704
Data Limitations................................................   22705
List of Abbreviations...........................................   22705
Information About Additional Copies ............................   22705
                                                                        
                        AGENCY REGULATORY AGENDAS                       
                                                                        
                           Cabinet Departments                          
                                                                        
Department of Agriculture.......................................   22708
Department of Commerce..........................................   22806
Department of Defense...........................................   22878
Department of Education.........................................   22912
Department of Energy............................................   22932
Department of Health and Human Services.........................   22956
Department of Housing and Urban Development.....................   23044
Department of the Interior......................................   23078
Department of Justice...........................................   23174
Department of Labor.............................................   23232
Department of State.............................................   23290
Department of Transportation....................................   23298
Department of the Treasury......................................   23468
Department of Veterans Affairs..................................   23572
                                                                        
                        Other Executive Agencies                        
                                                                        
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.......................   23598
Agency for International Development............................   23600
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board......   23602
Commission on Civil Rights......................................   23606
Corporation for National and Community Service..................   23608
Environmental Protection Agency.................................   23610
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.........................   23738
Federal Emergency Management Agency.............................   23744
General Services Administration.................................   23750
National Aeronautics and Space Administration...................   23764
National Archives and Records Administration....................   23774
National Foundation on the Arts and                                     
    the Humanities                                                      
  Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities................   23780
  Institute of Museum Services..................................   23782
  National Endowment for the Arts...............................   23784
  National Endowment for the Humanities.........................   23786
National Science Foundation.....................................   23788
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight..................   23790
Office of Government Ethics.....................................   23794
Office of Management and Budget.................................   23802
Office of Personnel Management..................................   23810
Panama Canal Commission.........................................   23834
Peace Corps.....................................................   23838
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation............................   23842
Railroad Retirement Board.......................................   23850
Selective Service System........................................   23856
Small Business Administration...................................   23858
Social Security Administration..................................   23874
Tennessee Valley Authority......................................   23896
United States Information Agency................................   23898
                                                                        
                             Joint Authority                            
                                                                        
Department of Defense/General Services Administration/National          
 Aeronautics and Space Administration (Federal Acquisition              
 Regulation)....................................................   23900
                                                                        
                     Independent Regulatory Agencies                    
                                                                        
Commodity Futures Trading Commission............................   23926
Consumer Product Safety Commission..............................   23932
Farm Credit Administration......................................   23940
Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation........................   23948
Federal Communications Commission...............................   23952
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation...........................   23974
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission............................   23982
Federal Housing Finance Board...................................   23988
Federal Maritime Commission.....................................   23996
Federal Reserve System..........................................   24002
Federal Trade Commission........................................   24018
National Credit Union Administration............................   24032
National Indian Gaming Commission...............................   24040
National Labor Relations Board..................................   24044
Nuclear Regulatory Commission...................................   24048
Securities and Exchange Commission..............................   24066
Surface Transportation Board....................................   24094
Thrift Depositor Protection Oversight Board.....................   24104
                                                                        
                    INDEXES TO UNIFIED AGENDA ENTRIES                   
                                                                        
Small Entities Index............................................   24105
Government Levels Index.........................................   24117
Subject Index...................................................   24141
                                                                        


INTRODUCTION TO THE UNIFIED AGENDA

About the Unified Agenda

    The Regulatory Information Service Center (the Center) compiles the 
Unified Agenda for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of

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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, which has been published twice each year since 
1983, provides uniform reporting of data on regulatory activities under 
development throughout the Federal Government. This edition of the 
Unified Agenda includes 62 regulatory agendas from the Federal 
departments, agencies, and commissions that publish agendas. Agencies 
of the United States Congress are not included. Some agencies that have 
published regulatory agendas in the past have nothing to report for 
this edition.

    Except for completed actions, the regulatory activities included 
are, in general, those that will have a regulatory action within the 
next 12 months. In addition, agencies may include in a Long-Term 
Actions section activities that will have 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 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 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 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, one Governmentwide common 
rule is reported by the agencies participating in its development. It 
is:

 New Restrictions on Lobbying

Agencies participating in the development of this common rule have 
reported it in their individual sections of the Unified Agenda.

How To Use the Unified Agenda

    Each agency agenda appears as a separate part in this edition of 
the Federal Register. The parts are organized alphabetically in four 
groups: Cabinet departments; other executive agencies; the Federal 
Acquisition Regulation, a joint authority; and independent regulatory 
agencies. Departments 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 
then lists its entries under one of five headings according to the 
rulemaking stage of the entry. The stages are:

    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 (NPRM) 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 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--items for which the agency does not expect to 
have a regulatory action within the 12 months after publication of this 
edition of the Unified Agenda.

    5. Completed Actions--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.

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

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entry identifies the location of the entry in this edition of 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 
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. This index also contains cross-references 
to facilitate the reader's search.

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. The definition of an ``economically significant'' rule 
    is similar but not identical to the definition of a ``major'' rule 
    under Public Law 104-121 that defers the effective date of a 
    ``major'' rule for at least 60 days from publication of the final 
    rule in the Federal Register.

  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 will be 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 specific action.
 Abstract--a brief 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, a date 
    printed in the form 10/00/96 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 specific 
    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.

    In addition to the Unified Agenda data elements that appear above, 
each entry that was designated a Regulatory Plan entry in the October 
1995 edition may contain the information listed below. Agencies are 
given the choice of reprinting this information in their April agenda 
entries. For those that chose to reprint 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

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    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.

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 April 1, 1996, in the 
judgment of the submitting agencies, except as otherwise noted by the 
agencies. In addition, some 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, published in the Federal Register, announcing 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 
executive agencies, 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 104-5 is 
the fifth public law of the 104th Congress.

    RFA--A Regulatory Flexibility Analysis is a description and 
analysis of the impact of a rule on small entities, including small 
businesses, small governmental jurisdictions, and certain small not-
for-profit organizations. The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601) 
requires each agency to prepare an initial RFA for public comment when 
it is required to publish an NPRM and to make available a final RFA 
when the final rule is published, unless the agency head certifies that 
the rule would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities.

    RIN--The Regulation Identifier Number is assigned by the Regulatory 
Information Service Center to identify each regulatory action listed in 
the Unified Agenda and The Regulatory Plan, as directed by E.O. 12866 
(section 4(b)). Additionally, OMB has asked agencies to include RINs 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 development.

    Seq. No.--The Sequence Number identifies the location of an entry 
in this publication. Note that a specific regulatory action will have 
the same RIN throughout its development but will generally have 
different sequence numbers in different editions of the Unified Agenda 
and The Regulatory Plan.

    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: April 25, 1996.

Mark G. Schoenberg,
Executive Director.

[FR Doc. 96-10756 Filed 05-10-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-27-F