This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

71388

Vol. 69, No. 236

Thursday, December 9, 2004

1These restrictions also apply to the national 

congressional campaign committees and to ‘‘an 

entity that is directly or indirectly established, 

financed, maintained, or controlled by any such 

national, State, district, or local committee or its 

agent, and an officer or agent acting on behalf of any 

such party committee or entity * * *’’ and 

references to political party committees in this 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking also include these 

entities, agents and officers. See 2 U.S.C. 441i(d); 

11 CFR 300.11(b), 300.37(b), 300.50(b), and 

300.51(b); see also Advisory Opinion 2004–25 

(concluding that the chairman of a national 

congressional campaign committee, under the facts 

presented, was acting in his personal capacity and 

not as an officer or agent of a national congressional 

campaign committee when donating his personal 

funds to organizations engaged in voter registration 

activity).

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

11 CFR Part 300

[Notice 2004–17] 

Political Party Committees Donating 

Funds to Certain Tax-Exempt 

Organizations and Political 

Organizations

AGENCY: Federal Election Commission.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: The Federal Election 

Commission requests comments on 

proposed amendments to its rules 

governing limitations on national, State, 

district, and local political party 

committees making or directing 

donations to certain tax-exempt 

organizations and political 

organizations. These proposed rules 

would conform to the decision of the 

U.S. Supreme Court in McConnell v. 

FEC, which included a narrowing 

construction of section 101 of the 

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 

2002. The Commission has not made 

any final decisions on the issues 

presented in this rulemaking. Further 

information is provided in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION that 

follows.

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before January 10, 2005. If the 

Commission receives sufficient requests 

to testify, it may hold a hearing on these 

proposed rules. Commenters wishing to 

testify at the hearing must so indicate in 

their written or electronic comments.

ADDRESSES: All comments should be 

addressed to Ms. Mai T. Dinh, Assistant 

General Counsel, and must be submitted 

in either electronic or written form. 

Commenters are strongly encouraged to 

submit comments electronically to 

ensure timely receipt and consideration. 

Electronic mail comments should be 

sent to partytaxexempts@fec.gov, and 

must include the full name, electronic 

mail address and postal service address 

of the commenter. Electronic mail 

comments that do not contain the full 

name, electronic mail address and 

postal service address of the commenter 

will not be considered. If the electronic 

mail comments include an attachment, 

the attachment must be in the Adobe 

Acrobat (.pdf) or Microsoft Word (.doc) 

format. Faxed comments should be sent 

to (202) 219–3923, with printed copy 

follow-up to ensure legibility. Written 

comments and printed copies of faxed 

comments should be sent to the Federal 

Election Commission, 999 E Street, 

NW., Washington, DC 20463. The 

Commission will post public comments 

on its Web site. If the Commission 

decides that a hearing is necessary, the 

hearing will be held in its ninth floor 

meeting room, 999 E Street, NW., 

Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Mai T. Dinh, Assistant General Counsel, 

or Mr. Albert J. Kiss, Attorney, 999 E 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20463, 

(202) 694–1650 or (800) 424–9530.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 

2002, Public Law 107–155, 116 Stat. 81 

(Mar. 27, 2002) (‘‘BCRA’’), contained 

extensive and detailed amendments to 

the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

1971 (‘‘FECA’’ or ‘‘the Act’’), as 

amended, 2 U.S.C. 431 et seq. The 

Supreme Court upheld most of BCRA in 

McConnell v. FEC, 540 U.S. 93, 124 S. 

Ct. 619 (2003). Under BCRA section 

101(a), a national, State, district or local 

political party committee must not 

solicit any funds for, or make or direct 

donations to, certain tax-exempt 

organizations. 2 U.S.C. 441i(d). Section 

441i(d)’s restrictions apply to 

solicitations for, and making or 

directing donations to, two types of taxexempt organizations (‘‘certain taxexempt organizations’’). These consist of 

(1) organizations described in 26 U.S.C. 

501(c) that are exempt from tax under 

26 U.S.C. 501(a) (or that have submitted 

an application for determination of tax 

exempt status under section 501(a)) and 

that make expenditures or 

disbursements in connection with an 

election for Federal office (including 

expenditures or disbursements for 

Federal election activity); and (2) 

political organizations described in 26 

U.S.C. 527 (other than a political 

committee, a State, district or local 

committee of a political party, or the 

authorized campaign committee of a 

candidate for State or local office). 

In 2002, the Commission promulgated 

rules at 11 CFR 300.11, 300.37, 300.50, 

and 300.51 implementing 2 U.S.C. 

441i(d). Explanation and Justification 

for Rules on Prohibited and Excessive 

Contributions: Non-Federal Funds or 

Soft Money, 67 FR 49,064, 49,089–

49,091, and 49,105–49,106 (July 29, 

2002). Except for the title of each, the 

final rule at 11 CFR 300.11 is identical 

to the final rule at 11 CFR 300.50, and 

the final rule at 11 CFR 300.37 is 

identical to the final rule at 11 CFR 

300.51. Id. at 49,106. 

Subsequently, the Supreme Court 

upheld 2 U.S.C. 441i(d)’s prohibitions 

on the solicitation of funds for certain 

tax-exempt organizations. In a separate 

analysis, however, the Supreme Court 

stated that 2 U.S.C. 441i(d) raises 

overbreadth concerns ‘‘if read to restrict 

donations from a party’s federal 

account—i.e., funds that have already 

been raised in compliance with FECA’s 

source, amount and disclosure 

limitations.’’ McConnell, 124 S. Ct. at 

680–681. The Court found ‘‘no evidence 

that Congress was concerned about, 

much less that it intended to prohibit, 

donations of money already fully 

regulated by FECA * * * [t]hus, 

political parties remain free to make or 

direct donations of money to any taxexempt organization that has otherwise 

been raised in compliance with FECA.’’ 

Id. at 681–682. Accordingly, the 

Commission now proposes to modify its 

regulations at 11 CFR 300.11, 300.37, 

300.50 and 300.51 to provide that the 

prohibition on political party 

committees 1 making or directing 

donations to certain tax-exempt 

organizations is limited to donations of 

non-Federal funds and thus would not 

apply to donations of Federal funds to 

these organizations.

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 236 / Thursday, December 9, 2004 / Proposed Rules 71389

I. Proposed 11 CFR 300.11—

Prohibitions on Fundraising For And 

Donating To Certain Tax-Exempt 

Organizations 

The Commission proposes to revise 

11 CFR 300.11 by modifying the 

prohibition in current section 300.11 on 

national party committees, making or 

directing any donations to certain taxexempt organizations. As modified, 

section 300.11 would prohibit the 

making or directing of donations of nonFederal funds to these organizations. 

Section 300.2(k) defines ‘‘non-Federal 

funds’’ as funds that are not subject to 

the limitations and prohibitions of the 

Act. 11 CFR 300.2(k). 

As revised, section 300.11 would be 

consistent with 2 U.S.C. 441i(a)(1) and 

11 CFR 300.10, under which national 

party committees may not solicit, 

receive, or direct to another person a 

contribution, donation or transfer of 

funds or any other thing of value, or 

spend any funds, not subject to the 

amount limitations, source prohibitions 

and reporting requirements of the Act, 

because national party committees are 

barred from accepting non-Federal 

funds. 

Although only national party 

committees are the subject of the 

prohibitions in section 300.11, current 

paragraph 300.11(b)(3) erroneously 

expands the scope of these restrictions 

to include ‘‘an agent of a national, State, 

district, or local party committee of a 

political party’’ [emphasis added]. 

Accordingly, the Commission also 

proposes to make a technical correction 

to paragraph 300.11(b)(3) which would 

strike the reference to a State, district, 

or local party committee. 

II. Proposed 11 CFR 300.37—

Prohibitions on Fundraising For And 

Donating To Certain Tax-Exempt 

Organizations 

The Commission proposes revisions 

to 11 CFR 300.37, which applies to 

State, district and local party 

committees, that are similar to the 

proposed revisions to 11 CFR 300.11 

discussed above. Under the draft 

amendments, a State, district, or local 

committee of a political party would be 

prohibited from soliciting any funds for, 

or making or directing any donations of 

non-Federal funds to, certain taxexempt organizations. 

The Commission invites comment on 

whether the Supreme Court’s rationale 

for limiting section 441i(d)’s prohibition 

on directing or donating non-Federal 

funds applies to Levin funds. See 

McConnell, 124 S. Ct. at 680–682. Levin 

funds are funds that a State, district or 

local party committee of a political 

party raises itself pursuant to State law, 

and are limited to $10,000 per calendar 

year from any person other than foreign 

nationals and those prohibited from 

making a donation under State law. 2 

U.S.C. 441i(b)(2)(A)(ii); 11 CFR 300.2(h) 

and (i). A State, district or local 

committee of a political party may 

spend Levin funds on ‘‘[a]ny use that is 

lawful under the laws of the State in 

which the committee is organized’’

other than two types of Federal election 

activities: (1) Public communications 

that promote, support, attack or oppose 

a Federal candidate and (2) services 

provided by certain party committee 

employees. 11 CFR 300.32(b)(2). The 

donation of Levin funds is subject to 

amount limitations, certain source 

prohibitions, and reporting 

requirements under the FECA, even 

though these amount limitations, source 

prohibitions and reporting requirements 

are different than those applicable to 

Federal funds. See, e.g., 11 CFR 

300.31(c) and (d) and 300.36(b). Thus, 

Levin funds may fall within the 

Supreme Court’s description of funds 

‘‘already fully regulated by FECA,’’ and 

‘‘otherwise * * * raised in compliance 

with FECA’’ that are outside the Court’s 

narrow construction of the prohibition 

in 2 U.S.C. 441i(d). However, the 

Commission has stated that Levin funds 

are a ‘‘new type of non-Federal funds’’

and are ‘‘unlike Federal funds, which 

are fully subject to the Act’s 

requirements, and unlike ordinary nonFederal funds because they are subject 

to certain additional requirements under 

BCRA.’’ Explanation and Justification to 

Final Rules; Prohibited and Excessive 

Contributions: Non-Federal Funds or 

Soft Money, 67 FR 49,064, 49,065, and 

49,085 (July 29, 2002). The Commission 

invites comments on whether State, 

district and local political party 

committees should be allowed to make 

or direct donations of Levin funds to 

certain tax-exempt organizations to the 

extent permitted by State law. 

III. Proposed 11 CFR 300.50—

Prohibited Fundraising by National 

Party Committees

For the reasons addressed above in 

the discussion of proposed section 

300.11, the Commission proposes to 

revise 11 CFR 300.50 by modifying the 

prohibition in current section 300.50 on 

national party committees making or 

directing any donations to certain taxexempt organizations. As modified, 

section 300.50 would prohibit national 

party committees from soliciting any 

funds for, or making or directing 

donations of non-Federal funds to, 

certain tax-exempt organizations. 

The Commission also proposes to 

make a technical correction to 11 CFR 

300.50(b)(3) that is similar to the 

proposed technical change to 11 CFR 

300.11(b)(3) discussed above. 

IV. Proposed 11 CFR 300.51—

Prohibited Fundraising by State, 

District, or Local Party Committees 

For the reasons addressed above in 

the discussion of proposed sections 

300.11 and 300.37, the Commission 

proposes to revise 11 CFR 300.51 to 

provide a State, district, or local 

committee of a political party is 

prohibited from soliciting any funds for, 

or making or directing any donations of 

non-Federal funds to, certain taxexempt organizations. 

For the reasons addressed in the 

discussion of proposed section 300.37, 

the Commission invites comment on 

whether or not Levin funds should be 

subject to the section 300.51 

prohibition. 

Certification of No Effect Pursuant to 5 

U.S.C. 605(b) (Regulatory Flexibility 

Act) 

The Commission certifies that the 

attached proposed rules, if promulgated, 

would not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The basis for this certification 

is that the national, State, district and 

local party committees of the two major 

political parties are not small entities 

under 5 U.S.C. 601, and the number of 

other small entities to which the rules 

would apply is not substantial. 

Moreover, the proposed rules narrow 

the scope of certain restrictions 

applicable to the affected political party 

committees, and thus would not have a 

significant economic impact on the 

affected entities.

List of Subjects in 11 CFR Part 300

Campaign funds, Nonprofit 

organizations, Political committees and 

parties.

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, the Federal Election 

Commission proposes to amend 

subchapter C of chapter I of title 11 of 

the Code of Federal Regulations as 

follows:

PART 300—NON-FEDERAL FUNDS

■ 1. The authority citation for Part 300 

would continue to read as follows:

Authority: 2 U.S.C. 434(e), 438(a)(8), 

441a(a), 441i, 453.

2. In § 300.11, the introductory text of 

paragraph (a) and paragraph (b)(3) 

would be revised to read as follows:

71390 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 236 / Thursday, December 9, 2004 / Proposed Rules 

§ 300.11 Prohibitions on fundraising for 

and donating to certain tax-exempt 

organizations (2 U.S.C. 441i(d)). 

(a) Prohibitions. A national committee 

of a political party, including a national 

congressional campaign committee, 

must not solicit any funds for, or make 

or direct any donations of non-Federal 

funds to, the following organizations:

* * * * *

(b) * * *

(3) An entity that is directly or 

indirectly established, financed, 

maintained or controlled by an agent of 

a national committee of a political party, 

including a national congressional 

campaign committee.

* * * * *

3. In § 300.37, the introductory text of 

paragraph (a) would be revised to read 

as follows:

§ 300.37 Prohibitions on fundraising for 

and donating to certain tax-exempt 

organizations (2 U.S.C. 441i(d)). 

(a) Prohibitions. A State, district or 

local committee of a political party must 

not solicit any funds for, or make or 

direct any donations of non-Federal 

funds to:

* * * * *

4. In § 300.50, the introductory text of 

paragraph (a) and paragraph (b)(3) 

would be revised to read as follows:

§ 300.50 Prohibited fundraising by national 

party committees (2 U.S.C. 441i(d)). 

(a) Prohibitions on fundraising and 

donations. A national committee of a 

political party, including a national 

congressional campaign committee, 

must not solicit any funds for, or make 

or direct donations of non-Federal funds 

to the following organizations:

* * * * *

(b) * * *

(3) An entity that is directly or 

indirectly established, financed, 

maintained or controlled by an agent of 

a national committee of a political party, 

including a national congressional 

campaign committee.

* * * * *

5. In § 300.51, the introductory text of 

paragraph (a) would be revised to read 

as follows:

§ 300.51 Prohibited fundraising by State, 

district, or local party committees (2 U.S.C. 

441i(d)). 

(a) Prohibitions. A State, district or 

local committee of a political party must 

not solicit any funds for, or make or 

direct any donations of non-Federal 

funds to:

* * * * *

Dated: December 3, 2004. 

Ellen L. Weintraub, 

Vice-Chair, Federal Election Commission.

[FR Doc. 04–27025 Filed 12–8–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6715–01–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[R05–OAR–2004–MN–0002; FRL–7846–8] 

Approval and Promulgation of 

Implementation Plans: Minnesota: 

Minneapolis-St. Paul Carbon Monoxide 

Maintenance Plan Update

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve 

a revision to the Minnesota State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) for the 

maintenance of the Carbon Monoxide 

(CO) ambient air quality standard 

(NAAQS) submitted on November 10, 

2004. Specifically, EPA is proposing 

approval of Minnesota’s revised 2009 

emissions inventories and 2009 Motor 

Vehicle Emissions Budgets (MVEB) 

recalculated using MOBILE6 for the 

Minneapolis-St. Paul CO maintenance 

area. 

In the final rules section of this 

Federal Register, EPA is approving the 

SIP revision as a direct final rule 

without prior proposal, because EPA 

views this as a noncontroversial 

revision and anticipate no adverse 

comments. A detailed rationale for the 

approval is set forth in the direct final 

rule. If no adverse comments are 

received in response to this proposed 

rule, no further activity is contemplated 

in relation to this proposed rule. If EPA 

receives adverse comments, the direct 

final rule will be withdrawn and all 

public comments received will be 

addressed in a subsequent final rule 

based on this proposed rule. EPA will 

not institute a second comment period 

on this action. Any parties interested in 

commenting on this action should do so 

at this time.

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before January 10, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, 

identified by Regional Material in 

EDocket (RME) ID No. R05–OAR–2004–

MN–0002 by one of the following 

methods: 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Agency Web site: http://

docket.epa.gov/rmepub/index.jsp. 

Regional Material in EDocket (RME), 

EPA’s electronic public docket and 

comment system, is EPA’s preferred 

method for receiving comments. Once 

in the system, select ‘‘quick search,’’

then key in the appropriate RME Docket 

identification number. Follow the online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

E-mail: bortzer.jay@epa.gov. 

Fax: (312) 886–5824. 

Mail: You may send written 

comments to: J. Elmer Bortzer, Chief, 

Air Programs Branch, (AR–18J), U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 77 

West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 

Illinois 60604.

Hand delivery: Deliver your 

comments to: J. Elmer Bortzer, Chief, 

Air Programs Branch (AR–18J), U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 

18th floor, Chicago, Illinois 60604. 

Such deliveries are only accepted 

during the Regional Office’s normal 

hours of operation. The Regional 

Office’s official hours of business are 

Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m. excluding Federal holidays. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Regional Material in EDocket (RME) ID 

No. R05–OAR–2004–MN–0002. EPA’s 

policy is that all comments received 

will be included in the public docket 

without change, including any personal 

information provided, unless the 

comment includes information claimed 

to be Confidential Business Information 

(CBI) or other information whose 

disclosure is restricted by statute. Do 

not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through Regional Material in 

EDocket (RME), regulations.gov, or email. The EPA Regional Material in 

EDocket (RME) Web site and the federal 

regulations.gov Web site are 

‘‘anonymous access’’ systems, which 

means EPA will not know your identity 

or contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your comment. 

If you send an e-mail comment directly 

to EPA without going through RME or 

regulations.gov, your e-mail address 

will be automatically captured and 

included as part of the comment that is 

placed in the public docket and made 

available on the Internet. If you submit 

an electronic comment, EPA 

recommends that you include your 

name and other contact information in 

the body of your comment and with any 

disk or CD–ROM you submit. If EPA 

cannot read your comment due to 

technical difficulties and cannot contact 

you for clarification, EPA may not be 

able to consider your comment. 

Electronic files should avoid the use of 

special characters, any form of