79432 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 238 / Thursday, December 10, 2020 / Rules and Regulations 

democratic and has a strong and storied 

tradition of a free press. But its libel 

laws are much more plaintiff-friendly. 

Some British papers reflect this in terms 

of the publisher’s authority over the 

newsroom. 

* * * * * 

At the end of the day, the Regulation 

creates substantial hurdles to everyday 

USAGM operations through its lack of 

clarity. Under the Regulation any 

decision that could engender 

controversy and could somehow be 

argued to violate Regulation, must go 

through a long and time consuming 

legal and operational review—no matter 

how minor the decision. This is 

contrary to the purposes of a regulation 

of internal agency procedure, which 

should be to clarify and facilitate agency 

operations. It also undermines the 

purpose of centralizing control of 

USAGM in a single CEO. These points 

strongly support repeal of the 

Regulation. 

Repeal due to the Regulation’s 

vagueness is also supported by another 

related fundamental factor— 

accountability. The Regulation’s 

vagueness breaks and obfuscates clear 

lines of authority and accountability 

within the organization. For example, if 

United States Government employees 

can break a story by knowingly and 

willfully publishing classified 

information, the voters and Congress 

should know why, and most 

importantly, whose call it was. And if 

the President or his officers decide 

against taking such a risk, they should 

have the clear ability to do so and to 

ensure that the decision is carried out 

by the organization. 

Conclusion 

The Regulation was voted on by the 

BBG via an email notation vote hours 

before the CEO was confirmed by the 

United States Senate. The putative 

statutory basis for the Regulation has 

existed for many years and USAGM: (1) 

Did not promulgate a regulation during 

that time; and (2) did not seem to suffer 

any major issues—on this point—for 

want of a regulation. The Regulation is 

repealed. 

Effective Date 

Analogous to the immediate operation 

of the Regulation now being repealed, 

this repeal is already effective upon the 

Agency having been promulgated by the 

CEO. Cf. Firewall and Highest 

Standards of Professional Journalism, 

85 FR 36151. Publication will codify the 

repeal into the Federal Register. Those 

provisions pertaining to nonsupervisory employees deemed subject 

to collective bargaining requirements set 

forth under the Federal Service LaborManagement Relations Statute and the 

Agency’s negotiated labor-management 

agreements would only become effective 

subject to the terms and conditions 

within those bargaining agreements. 

Rulemaking Requirements 

1. This final rule has been determined 

to be exempt from review for purposes 

of Executive Order 12866. 

2. This rule does not impose 

information collection and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Consequently, it need not be reviewed 

by the Office of Management and 

Budget under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

3. This rule does not contain policies 

with federalism implications as this 

term is defined in Executive Order 

13132. 

4. The provisions of the 

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 

553, et seq.,) requiring notice of 

proposed rulemaking, the opportunity 

for public participation, and a delay in 

effective date, are inapplicable because, 

just like the underlying regulation 

hereby being repealed (Firewall and 

Highest Standards of Professional 

Journalism, 85 FR at 36151), this rule 

involves a rule of agency organization, 

procedure, or practice. (5 U.S.C. 

553(b)(A)). Further, no other law 

requires that a notice of proposed 

rulemaking and an opportunity for 

public comment be given for this final 

rule. Because a notice of proposed 

rulemaking and an opportunity for 

public comment are not required to be 

given for this rule under 5 U.S.C. or by 

any other law, the analytical 

requirements of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601, et seq.) are 

not applicable. Accordingly, this rule is 

issued in final form. Although there is 

no formal comment period, public 

comments on this rule are welcome on 

a continuing basis. Comments should be 

submitted to Daniel Rosenholtz, 330 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20237 (email at: Rule_Comments@

usagm.gov). 

List of Subjects in 22 CFR Part 531 

Conflict of interest, Communications, 

News media. 

Authority and Issuance 

For the foregoing reasons, pursuant to 

the Chief Executive Officer’s authorities 

under the U.S. International Broadcast 

Act (22 U.S.C. 6201, et seq.), the United 

States Agency for Global Media amends 

22 CFR chapter V as follows: 

■ 1. Revise the heading for chapter V to 

read as follows: 

Chapter V—UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR 

GLOBAL MEDIA 

PART 531—[Removed and Reserved] 

■ 2. Remove and reserve part 531. 

Michael Pack, 

Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Agency for 

Global Media. 

[FR Doc. 2020–24736 Filed 12–9–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8610–01–P 

POSTAL SERVICE 

39 CFR Part 501 

Authorization To Manufacture and 

Distribute Postage Evidencing 

Systems; Correction 

AGENCY: Postal ServiceTM. 

ACTION: Correcting amendments. 

SUMMARY: On December 4, 2020, the 

Postal Service published a final rule 

concerning decertifying and 

withdrawing all non-Intelligent Mail 

Indicia compliant Postage Evidencing 

Systems. That document incorrectly 

listed the date decertified indicia may 

not be recognized as valid postage for 

use or refunds in one section of the rule 

edits. This document corrects the final 

regulation. 

DATES: This correcting amendment is 

effective December 10, 2020. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ezana Dessie, Principal Business 

Systems Analyst, Ezana.Dessie@

usps.gov, (202) 268–5686. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

final rule published on December 4, 

2020, 85 FR 78234, in § 501.20, the 

Postal Service listed the effective date 

that decertified indicia may not be 

recognized as valid postage for use or 

refunds as June 20, 2025. This should 

instead read June 30, 2025. The Postal 

Service makes this change below. 

List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 501 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Postal Service. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, the Postal Service corrects 39 

CFR part 501 by making the following 

correcting amendment: 

PART 501—[AMENDED] 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 501 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 39 U.S.C. 101, 

401, 403, 404, 410, 2601, 2605; Inspector 

General Act of 1978, as amended (Pub. L. 95– 

452, as amended); 5 U.S.C. App. 3. 

■ 2. Amend § 501.20 by revising 

paragraph (b) to read as follows: 


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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 238 / Thursday, December 10, 2020 / Rules and Regulations 79433 

§ 501.20 Discontinued Postage Evidencing 

Indicia. 

* * * * * 

(b) Effective December 31, 2024 all 

Postage Evidencing Systems that do not 

to produce Intelligent Mail Indicia (IMI) 

for evidence of pre-paid postage must be 

withdrawn from service. Non-IMI 

indicia, which are not compliant with 

the then-current version of the IMI–PC, 

will be decertified and may not be used 

as a valid form of postage evidence. 

These decertified indicia may not be 

recognized as valid postage for use or 

refunds, after June 30, 2025. 

Ruth Stevenson, 

Attorney, Federal Compliance. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27100 Filed 12–7–20; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE P 


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