[The Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions]
[Statement by the Vice President and Introduction to the Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions]
[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 
Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions

Agency Regulatory Plans


                          The Regulatory Plan 


___________________________________________________________________


Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 231 / Friday, November 29, 1996 / The 
Regulatory Plan

[[Page 62003]]


                  

                Statement by the Vice President

                This is the third Regulatory Plan that I have the 
                privilege of introducing. If we compare the regulatory 
                environment of 1993, when we issued Executive Order 
                12866, ``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' with that of 
                today, we see that much has changed. We are discarding 
                the ways of the past and replacing them with practices 
                that address today's needs, while keeping in mind that 
                tomorrow will present us with new and different 
                challenges.

                The cornerstone of our regulatory reform effort is 
                Executive Order 12866, issued by the President on 
                September 30, 1993. The objectives of this Order were 
                to enhance planning and coordination; reaffirm the 
                primacy of Federal agencies in the regulatory decision-
                making process; restore the integrity and legitimacy of 
                regulatory review and oversight; and make the process 
                more accessible and open to the public. Our record in 
                meeting these goals is clear and consistent.

                In the first Regulatory Plan, we noted significant 
                strides in overhauling the regulatory process. The 
                Regulatory Plan itself is one device we have used to 
                improve the planning and coordination of Federal 
                rulemaking. The responsibility for regulatory 
                decisionmaking is clearly at Federal regulatory 
                agencies. The Office of Management and Budget has 
                refined its regulatory review and oversight role to a 
                more focused, concentrated, and collegial effort. The 
                regulatory process is more transparent than at any time 
                is the recent past. All of these efforts have resulted 
                in a greatly improved regulatory process.

                Last year, we noted that the thrust of regulatory 
                reform had moved from process changes to changes in 
                focus and direction. Among other things, we began a 
                critical review of regulatory programs with an eye to 
                eliminating or reinventing regulations and paperwork 
                requirements. In key regulatory agencies, we developed 
                plans and policies that began changing the regulatory 
                system and culture to one that used more partnerships 
                with regulated entities. Much has already been done. 
                And the work continues, as evidenced by the fact that 
                50 percent of the entries in this Regulatory Plan are 
                identified as part of our reinvention effort. Also, on 
                January 11, 1996, OMB issued a guide on conducting 
                economic analyses of regulations under Executive Order 
                12866--one of many steps we have taken to create a 
                foundation for better agency decisionmaking.

                We are using the latest technological resources to 
                increase the public's access to regulatory information. 
                This Regulatory Plan and its companion document, the 
                Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory 
                Actions, are available on the Internet at http://
www.business.gov. They can easily be searched or 
                browsed to help readers locate the information of 
                greatest interest to them. This website also allows 
                readers to link to Federal Register source documents, 
                when available, so that they may more fully understand 
                the potential effects of regulatory actions.

[[Page 62004]]

                We are proud of the accomplishments of the past several 
                years; at the same time, we fully recognize that much 
                remains to be done. This Regulatory Plan describes the 
                most significant regulatory activities contemplated for 
                the next year. It provides you, the reader, with a 
                synopsis of these regulatory actions so that you may 
                better participate in the rulemaking process. It is one 
                example of how we are simultaneously marshaling all 
                possible resources in order to continue to advance the 
                regulatory reform work we began almost four years ago.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 96-30163
Filed 11-27-96; 8:45 am]
Billing Code 3110-01-F



Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 231 / Friday, November 29, 1996 / The 
Regulatory Plan

Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 231 / Friday, November 29, 1996 / The 
Regulatory Plan

[[Page 62005]]





REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE CENTER



Introduction to The Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal 
Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions



AGENCY: Regulatory Information Service Center.

ACTION: Introduction to The Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of 
Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.

_______________________________________________________________________

SUMMARY: The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires that agencies publish 
semiannual regulatory agendas describing regulatory actions they are 
developing (5 U.S.C. 602). 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 require the development and 
semiannual publication of a report on procurement regulations (41 
U.S.C. 421(g)).

    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 and 29 other Federal agencies appear 
in Parts III-LXI 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 Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions can be 
searched on the World Wide Web. On the home page of the U.S. Business 
Advisor located at:

http://www.business.gov

select ``Search,'' then ``Search Regulations in Development,'' and then 
select the edition of the Agenda you wish to search.

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 to us 
by e-mail at:

[email protected]



SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

                            TABLE OF CONTENTS                           
                                                                        
                                                                   Page 
                                                                        
                                                                        
Statement by the Vice President.................................   62003
                                                                        
  Introduction to The Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal 
                   Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions                  
                                                                        
About The Regulatory Plan.......................................   62006
About the Unified Agenda........................................   62006
How to Use The Regulatory Plan                                          
    and the Unified Agenda......................................   62007
  Regulatory Plan Data Elements.................................   62007
  Unified Agenda Data Elements..................................   62007
Data Limitations................................................   62008
List of Abbreviations...........................................   62009
Information About Additional Copies.............................   62009
                                                                        
                         AGENCY REGULATORY PLANS                        
                                                                        
                           Cabinet Departments                          
                                                                        
Department of Agriculture.......................................   62010
Department of Commerce..........................................   62022
Department of Defense...........................................   62031
Department of Education.........................................   62038
Department of Energy............................................   62043
Department of Health and Human Services.........................   62049
Department of Housing and Urban Development.....................   62064
Department of the Interior......................................   62071
Department of Justice...........................................   62077
Department of Labor.............................................   62083
Department of Transportation....................................   62111
Department of the Treasury......................................   62128
Department of Veterans Affairs..................................   62136
                        Other Executive Agencies                        
                                                                        
Environmental Protection Agency.................................   62137
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.........................   62175
General Services Administration.................................   62178
National Aeronautics and Space Administration...................   62181
National Archives and Records Administration....................   62182
Office of Personnel Management..................................   62184
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation............................   62186
Railroad Retirement Board.......................................   62189
Small Business Administration...................................   62191
Social Security Administration..................................   62194
                                                                        
                     Independent Regulatory Agencies                    
                                                                        
Commodity Futures Trading Commission............................   62199
Consumer Product Safety Commission..............................   62202
Federal Housing Finance Board...................................   62205
Federal Maritime Commission.....................................   62208
Federal Trade Commission........................................   62211
Nuclear Regulatory Commission...................................   62214
Surface Transportation Board....................................   62218
                                                                        
                             AGENCY AGENDAS                             
                                                                        
                           Cabinet Departments                          
                                                                        
Department of Agriculture.......................................   62222
Department of Commerce..........................................   62338
Department of Defense...........................................   62408
Department of Education.........................................   62442
Department of Energy............................................   62460
Department of Health and Human Services.........................   62486
Department of Housing and Urban Development.....................   62572
Department of the Interior......................................   62602
Department of Justice...........................................   62694
Department of Labor.............................................   62748
Department of State.............................................   62790
Department of Transportation....................................   62798
Department of the Treasury......................................   62968
Department of Veterans Affairs..................................   63074
                                                                        
                        Other Executive Agencies                        
                                                                        
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.......................   63108
Agency for International Development............................   63110
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board......   63114
Commission on Civil Rights......................................   63118
Corporation for National and Community Service..................   63120
Environmental Protection Agency.................................   63122
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.........................   63238
Federal Emergency Management Agency.............................   63244
General Services Administration.................................   63252
National Aeronautics and Space Administration...................   63266
National Archives and Records Administration....................   63276
National Foundation on the Arts and                                     
    the Humanities                                                      
  National Endowment for the Arts...............................   63282
  National Endowment for the Humanities.........................   63284
National Science Foundation.....................................   63286
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight..................   63288

[[Page 62006]]

                                                                        
Office of Government Ethics.....................................   63292
Office of Management and Budget.................................   63300
Office of Personnel Management..................................   63306
Panama Canal Commission.........................................   63328
Peace Corps.....................................................   63332
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation............................   63336
Railroad Retirement Board.......................................   63342
Selective Service System........................................   63348
Small Business Administration...................................   63350
Social Security Administration..................................   63358
Tennessee Valley Authority......................................   63380
United States Information Agency................................   63382
                                                                        
                             Joint Authority                            
                                                                        
Department of Defense/General Services Administration/National          
 Aeronautics and Space Administration (Federal Acquisition              
 Regulation)....................................................   63386
                                                                        
                     Independent Regulatory Agencies                    
                                                                        
Commodity Futures Trading Commission............................   63410
Consumer Product Safety Commission..............................   63416
Farm Credit Administration......................................   63424
Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation........................   63432
Federal Communications Commission...............................   63436
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation...........................   63460
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission............................   63472
Federal Housing Finance Board...................................   63478
Federal Maritime Commission.....................................   63484
Federal Reserve System..........................................   63488
Federal Trade Commission........................................   63508
National Credit Union Administration............................   63518
National Indian Gaming Commission...............................   63524
National Labor Relations Board..................................   63528
Nuclear Regulatory Commission...................................   63532
Securities and Exchange Commission..............................   63548
Surface Transportation Board....................................   63580
                                                                        
          INDEXES TO REGULATORY PLAN AND UNIFIED AGENDA ENTRIES         
                                                                        
Small Entities Index............................................   63587
Government Levels Index.........................................   63601
Subject Index...................................................   63625
                                                                        




INTRODUCTION TO THE REGULATORY PLAN AND THE UNIFIED AGENDA OF 
FEDERAL REGULATORY AND DEREGULATORY ACTIONS



About The Regulatory Plan

    The Regulatory Plan serves as a defining statement of the 
Administration's regulatory and deregulatory 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 
Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda) and contain two 
sections: (1) a narrative statement of its regulatory priorities; and 
(2) a description of the most important significant regulatory and 
deregulatory 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 Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions 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, 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 59 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 a Long-Term Actions 
section describing 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 requires that agencies publish 
regulatory agendas identifying those rules that may have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities (5 U.S.C. 
602). Agencies meet that requirement by including the information in 
their submissions for this publication. Agencies may also indicate 
those regulations that they are reviewing as part of their periodic 
review of existing rules under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 
610).

    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.

    In addition, title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(P.L. 104-4) requires agencies to prepare written assessments of the 
costs and benefits of significant regulatory actions ``that may result 
in the expenditure by State, local, and tribal governments, in the 
aggregrate, or by the private sector, of $100,000,000 or more...in any 
1 year....'' The requirement does not apply to independent regulatory 
agenices, nor does it apply to certain subject areas excluded by 
section 4 of the Act. This edition of the Unified Agenda contains a new 
data element that allows agencies to identify those regulatory actions 
they believe are subject to title II of the Act.

    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 (41 U.S.C. 421(g)). 
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.

    Public Law 104-121, passed by Congress and signed by the President 
earlier this year, established a procedure for congressional review of 
rules (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), which defers, unless exempted, the 
effective date of a ``major'' rule for at least 60 days from the 
publication of the final rule in the Federal Register. The Act 
specifies that a rule is ``major'' if it has resulted or is likely to 
result in an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or

[[Page 62007]]

meets other criteria specified in that Act. If the issuing agency 
believes that a rule may be major, it indicates that fact under the 
``Priority'' heading of the entry. The Act provides that the 
Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs will 
make the final determination as to whether a rule is major.

    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, 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 common rules report them 
in their individual sections of the Unified Agenda.



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 agenda appears as 
a separate part in this edition of the Federal Register. Each agency 
introduces its part of the Agenda with a preamble providing information 
specific to that part.

    The sections of the Plan and the parts of the Unified Agenda are 
organized 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, each agency presents its 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 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 (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 (Unified Agenda only)--items under development 
but 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 (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 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 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 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 type.

    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 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.



Unified Agenda Data Elements

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

 Title of the Regulation. The notation ``Section 610 Review'' 
    following the title indicates that the agency is reviewing the rule 
    as part of its periodic review of existing rules

[[Page 62008]]

    under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 610).
 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 5 U.S.C. 801 (P.L. 104-121). (See below.)

  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.
  If an agency believes that a rule may be ``major'' under 5 U.S.C. 801 
    (P.L. 104-121) because it has resulted or is likely to result in an 
    annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more, or meets 
    other criteria specified in that Act, this is also indicated under 
    the ``Priority'' heading. (The Act provides that the Administrator 
    of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs will make the 
    final determination as to whether a rule is major.)
 Unfunded Mandates--indicates whether the rule is covered by 
    section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-
    4). The Act requires that, before issuing an NPRM likely to result 
    in a mandate that may result in expenditures by State, local, and 
    tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector of 
    more than $100 million in 1 year, agencies, other than independent 
    regulatory agencies, shall prepare a written statement containing 
    an assessment of the anticipated costs and benefits of the Federal 
    mandate. If the agency believes the entry is not subject to the 
    Act, this data element will not be printed.
 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. If the 
    action is not specifically part of this effort, the data element 
    will not be printed.
 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 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 12/00/98 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 et seq.) 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 et seq.), 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.

[[Page 62009]]

    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 these 
publications. The information in this edition is accurate as of October 
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 
et seq.) 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: November 18, 1996.

Mark G. Schoenberg,
Executive Director.

[FR Doc. 96-29805 Filed 11-27-96; 8:45 am]
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