Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 188 / Wednesday, September 29, 2004 / Notices 58203

financial matters. Proposed for 

permanent retention are recordkeeping 

copies of annual budget files. 

(12) National Commission on 

Libraries and Information Science, 

Sister Library Program (N1–220–04–6, 

10 items, 8 temporary items). Records 

relating to the Sister Library Program, 

including such files as applications, a 

database used to manage applications 

and contacts, and electronic copies of 

documents created using word 

processing and electronic mail. 

Proposed for permanent retention are 

recordkeeping copies of general subject 

files and samples of materials produced 

by participant libraries. 

(13) National Commission on 

Libraries and Information Science, 

White House Conference on Libraries 

and Information Services (N1–220–04–

7, 16 items, 9 temporary items). Records 

of the second White House Conference 

on Libraries and Information Sciences 

held during the administration of 

President George H. W. Bush. Included 

are records relating to such subjects as 

travel, printing, and other 

administrative matters, copies of 

informational materials, and electronic 

copies of records created using 

electronic mail and word processing. 

Also included are some records that 

both pre-date and post-date the 

conference. Proposed for permanent 

retention are recordkeeping copies of 

such records as program files, 

audiovisual materials, and hearing and 

open forum files.

Dated: September 20, 2004. 

Michael J. Kurtz, 

Assistant Archivist for Records Services—

Washington, DC.

[FR Doc. 04–21769 Filed 9–28–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7515–01–P

NATIONAL CREDIT UNION 

ADMINISTRATION 

Federal Credit Union Bylaws

AGENCY: National Credit Union 

Administration (NCUA).

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

SUMMARY: The NCUA Board is 

requesting comment on ways to update, 

clarify and simplify the Federal Credit 

Union (FCU) Bylaws. In addition, this 

notice requests comment on specific, 

suggested changes to the FCU Bylaws.

DATES: The NCUA must receive 

comments on or before November 29, 

2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods. (Please 

send comments by one method only): 

• NCUA Web site: http://

www.ncua.gov/

RegulationsOpinionsLaws/

proposed_regs/proposed_regs.html. 

Follow the instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• e-mail: Address to 

regcomments@ncua.gov. Include ‘‘[Your 

name] Comments on FCU Bylaws’’ in 

the e-mail subject line. 

• Fax: (703) 518–6319. Use the 

subject line described above for e-mail. 

• Mail: Address to Mary F. Rupp, 

Secretary of the Board, National Credit 

Union Administration, 1775 Duke 

Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314–

3428. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as 

mail address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Chrisanthy Loizos, Staff Attorney, Office 

of General Counsel, National Credit 

Union Administration, 1775 Duke 

Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314–3428 

or telephone: (703) 518–6540.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The FCU Act requires the NCUA 

Board to prepare bylaws that ‘‘shall be 

used’’ by FCUs. 12 U.S.C. 1758. In 1999, 

the NCUA Board issued revised FCU 

Bylaws. 64 FR 55760 (October 14, 1999). 

The 1999 revision included 

consolidating the existing bylaws into 

one publication, deleting outdated and 

obsolete bylaws, and using plain 

English. 

It has been five years since that 

revision. The NCUA Board has a policy 

of continually reviewing NCUA 

regulations to ‘‘update, clarify and 

simplify existing regulations and 

eliminate unnecessary and redundant 

and unnecessary provisions.’’ NCUA 

Interpretive Ruling and Policy 

Statement (IRPS) 87–2, Developing and 

Reviewing Government Regulations. As 

a result of NCUA’s 2003 review, the 

Board has decided to seek comment on 

the FCU Bylaws to see if there are areas 

needing additional revisions at this 

time. The Board is aware of a few 

provisions in the bylaws it believes 

should be revised and is requesting 

comment on the specific, suggested 

changes discussed below. 

Request for Comment 

Article III, Section 7. In 1999, the 

Board clarified in the FCU Bylaws that 

owners of a joint account may be 

members of the FCU without opening 

separate accounts if they each purchase 

at least one share. Because some FCUs 

may not want to allow joint owners of 

one account to be members, the Board 

is proposing to add an alternative bylaw 

provision that would allow an FCU to 

require separate accounts for 

membership. An FCU would choose in 

its bylaws whether or not to allow joint 

account holders to be members without 

each opening a separate account. The 

Board proposes the following language 

as an alternative Section 7: ‘‘Each 

member must purchase and maintain at 

least one share in a share account that 

names the member as the sole or 

primary owner. Being named as a joint 

owner of a joint account is insufficient 

to establish membership.’’

Article IV, Section 4. This section 

provides the suggested order of business 

at annual meetings but does not require 

that every item of business listed be 

addressed during the meeting. The 

Board seeks comment on whether this 

section should include the required 

items of business that FCU officials 

must present at the annual meeting. For 

instance, the annual meeting must 

include the election of directors to 

vacant seats. 12 U.S.C. 1761(a). The 

supervisory committee is also required 

to provide a summary of its annual 

audit report to the members either orally 

or in writing at the annual meeting. 12 

U.S.C. 1761d; 12 CFR 715.10. An FCU 

that participates in the Community 

Development Revolving Loan Program 

must report on its progress of providing 

needed community services at its 

annual meeting unless it sends the 

information to members in a written 

report. 12 CFR 705.6(b). The Board 

seeks comment on whether annual 

meeting requirements like the ones 

noted should be added to the bylaws. 

Article V, Option A4, Sections 1 and 

2. In Section 2, the sentence ‘‘All 

elections are determined by plurality 

vote’’ was inadvertently omitted from 

the beginning of this section. We 

recommend including this language that 

is present in the other three election 

options. 

In addition, the Board is considering 

changing this provision, which 

currently permits voting electronically, 

to allow for mailing all notices 

electronically if the member consents. 

This would be accomplished by: (1) 

Adding to Section 1 at the end of 

paragraph one ‘‘or the secretary may use 

electronic mail to notify members who 

have opted to receive notices or 

statements electronically’’; (2) deleting 

‘‘written’’ everywhere it appears in 

Section 1, paragraph two; and (3) adding 

to the end of Section 2(b) ‘‘provided, 

however, that electronic mail may be 

used to provide the notice of ballot to 

members who have opted to receive 

notices or statements electronically.’’

Article V, Option A4, Section 2(c)(2).

The Board is considering amending this 

58204 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 188 / Wednesday, September 29, 2004 / Notices 

provision to require an FCU to include 

a mail ballot with its electronic election 

procedure instructions rather than 

require a member without the requisite 

electronic device to request a ballot. 

Requiring members to contact the FCU 

in order to receive a ballot may 

discourage member participation in the 

election process. If the mail ballot is 

included with the electronic election 

instructions, members will have a 

choice as to the voting method without 

having to contact the FCU. 

Article V, Option A4, Section 2(d)(5).

This provision addresses mail ballots 

and states that, if one form is used for 

the ballot and identification form, it 

must be ‘‘properly designed.’’ NCUA’s 

Office of General Counsel has 

interpreted this provision to require 

secrecy in the balloting process. OGC 

Legal Opinions 03–510, dated July 30, 

2003; 03–1048, dated March 12, 2004. 

Prior editions of the FCU Bylaws 

provided instructions that stated: ‘‘[t]he 

ID form will be separated from your 

ballot when it reaches the credit union, 

and before any ballots are opened.’’

Federal Credit Union Standard Bylaw 

Amendments and Guidelines, Sample 

Ballot, p. 41, October 1991. 

The Board is interested in comments 

on whether this bylaw should be revised 

to address the secrecy requirement in 

conjunction with what constitutes a 

‘‘properly designed’’ ballot. One issue to 

consider is the manner in which an FCU 

can establish an election process that 

assures members their votes remain 

confidential and secret from all 

interested parties when an independent 

third-party teller reviews the ballots 

with the members’ signatures. 

In another matter related to properly 

designed ballots, the Board is 

considering a change that would allow 

names printed on ballots to be placed in 

alphabetical order as an alternative to 

determining the order by drawing lots. 

The Board seeks comment on this 

suggestion and other alternatives to a 

fair and properly designed ballot. 

Article V, Section 4. This section 

currently reads: ‘‘Members cannot vote 

by proxy, but a member other than a 

natural person may vote through an 

agent designated in writing for the 

purpose. A trustee, or other person 

acting in a representative capacity, is 

not as such, entitled to vote.’’ The Board 

proposes deleting the second sentence. 

The second sentence reflects a prior 

legal view when FCU authority to 

establish trust accounts was limited to 

trust accounts for minors. Among other 

restrictions on these accounts at the 

time, the trustee had to be a member but 

was not entitled to vote. The provision 

is now outdated because a trust is 

recognized as a legal entity and may 

qualify for membership in its own right. 

Also, formal trust agreements generally 

provide that a trustee has the power to 

vote on behalf of a trust when the trust 

holds shares or stock that entitle the 

owner to vote.

Article V, Section 7. The Board seeks 

comment on whether to include a 

provision that sets a minimum age as a 

qualification for eligibility to vote and 

hold office, as a second option to 

Section 7, which currently allows an 

FCU’s board to establish the age by 

resolution. 

Article IX, Section 1. The FCU Act 

precludes the director who is the 

‘‘compensated officer’’ from being the 

director who can also be on the 

supervisory committee. 12 U.S.C. 

1761(b). The bylaw currently states that 

‘‘[t]he supervisory committee is 

appointed by the board from among the 

members of this credit union, one of 

whom may be a director other than the 

financial officer.’’ The bylaw incorrectly 

assumes that the financial officer is the 

‘‘compensated officer.’’ We propose 

replacing ‘‘financial officer’’ with 

‘‘compensated officer’’ so that the bylaw 

is consistent with the FCU Act. 

The Board is seeking comment on all 

of the above mentioned proposed 

changes and also suggestions on other 

ways to update, clarify and simplify the 

existing FCU Bylaws. For example, 

NCUA has encouraged FCU managers 

and directors to consider improvements 

in matters relating to corporate 

governance and auditing in a manner 

similar to the requirements imposed on 

public companies under the SarbanesOxley Act of 2002. NCUA Letter to 

Federal Credit Unions 03–FCU–07 

(October 2003). The Board believes that 

sound corporate governance practices 

begin with prepared directors and 

managers. The Board welcomes 

comments on whether particular 

corporate governance practices or 

related issues should be added to the 

FCU Bylaws, such as board training or 

ethics. Based upon the comments, the 

Board will issue a notice with proposed 

bylaws and request for comment.

By the National Credit Union 

Administration Board on September 23, 

2004. 

Mary Rupp, 

Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 04–21758 Filed 9–28–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7535–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 50–269, 50–270, and 50–287] 

Duke Energy Corporation; Notice of 

Withdrawal of Application for 

Amendment to Facility Operating 

License 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (the Commission) has 

granted the request of Duke Energy 

Corporation (the licensee) to withdraw 

its June 7, 2002, application for 

proposed amendment to Facility 

Operating License Nos. DPR–38, DPR–

47, and DPR–55, for Oconee Nuclear 

Station, Units 1, 2, and 3, located in 

Oconee County, South Carolina. 

The proposed amendments would 

have revised the Updated Final Safety 

Analysis Report with regard to tornado 

mitigation. The proposed amendments 

would have eliminated credit for the 

flow path from the spent fuel pool to the 

high pressure injection pump following 

a tornado and would have credited the 

standby shutdown facility as the 

assured means of achieving safe 

shutdown following a tornado. 

The Commission had previously 

issued a Notice of Consideration of 

Issuance of Amendment that was 

originally published in the Federal 

Register on July 23, 2002 (67 FR 48216). 

A revised Notice of Consideration of 

Issuance of Amendment was published 

in the Federal Register on February 18, 

2003 (67 FR 7814). However, by letter 

dated September 9, 2004, the licensee 

withdrew the proposed change. 

For further details with respect to this 

action, see the application for 

amendment dated June 7, 2002, and the 

licensee’s letter dated September 9, 

2004, which withdrew the application 

for license amendment. Documents may 

be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at 

the NRC’s Public Document Room 

(PDR), located at One White Flint North, 

Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 

Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 

Maryland. 

Publicly available records will be 

accessible electronically from the 

Agencywide Documents Access and 

Management Systems (ADAMS) Public 

Electronic Reading Room on the Internet 

at the NRC Web site, http://

www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/html. 

Persons who do not have access to 

ADAMS or who encounter problems in 

accessing the documents located in 

ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR 

Reference staff by telephone at 1–800–

397–4209, or 301–415–4737 or by e-mail 

to pdr@nrc.gov.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd 

day of September, 2004.