Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 9 / Thursday, January 14, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 3015 

involving persons who were not parties 

to the litigation, the Department must— 

(1) Publish that document, either in 

full or by citation if publicly available, 

in the Federal Register or on the 

Department’s guidance repository 

described in § 1.4, and 

(2) Publish an explanation of the 

document’s jurisdictional implications. 

(c) Before seeking judicial deference 

to the Department’s interpretation of a 

document arising out of litigation (other 

than a publicly published opinion of an 

adjudicator) in order to establish a new 

or expanded claim of jurisdiction in a 

different case, the Department must— 

(1) Publish the document or a notice 

of availability in the Federal Register or 

on the Department’s guidance repository 

described in § 1.4, and 

(2) Publish an explanation of the 

document’s jurisdictional implications. 

■ 7. Section 1.9 is added to read as 

follows: 

§ 1.9 Opportunity to contest agency 

determination. 

(a) Departmental overview. Except as 

provided in paragraph (c) of this 

section, prior to the Department taking 

any civil enforcement action with 

respect to a particular entity that has 

legal consequence for that entity, 

including by issuing to such a person a 

notice of noncompliance, or other 

similar notice that has immediate 

regulatory consequence, but excluding 

communications that have no 

immediate regulatory implications for 

the entity, such as those that serve as an 

interim step in the agency’s compliance 

communications with the entity or that 

are intended to encourage voluntary 

compliance, the Department shall 

provide— 

(1) Written notice to the affected 

entity of the initial legal and factual 

determinations underpinning the initial 

adverse determination; 

(2) An opportunity for the affected 

entity to respond in writing and, if 

determined appropriate by the 

Department, orally; and 

(3) A written response from the 

Department to the affected entity after 

receiving a timely request from the 

affected entity under paragraph (a)(2) of 

this section. 

(b) Timing and content of written 

responses. (1) The Department will 

select a meaningful amount of time in 

which the affected entity must submit a 

written response to the Department. 

This writing must be submitted within 

the time period specified by the 

Department, unless the Department 

concludes an extension is warranted, 

and state the reasons for the entity’s 

disagreement with the Department’s 

proposed action for purposes of 

requiring a response in accordance with 

paragraph (a)(3) of this section. 

(2) The Department’s written response 

must respond to the affected entity and 

articulate the basis for its final decision. 

This written response may be issued 

contemporaneous to the Department 

taking the action with legal 

consequence. 

(c) Exceptions. The procedures in 

paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section do 

not apply where the Department, in its 

discretion, determines there is a serious 

threat to health, safety, or similar 

emergency, or where a statute 

specifically authorizes proceeding 

without a prior opportunity to be heard. 

In such event, HHS would still provide 

an affected entity with an opportunity to 

be heard and a written response as soon 

as practicable. The procedures in 

paragraphs (a) and (b) do not apply to 

settlement negotiations between 

agencies and regulated parties, to 

notices of a prospective legal action, to 

litigation before courts, or any action 

related to a criminal investigation or 

prosecution, including undercover 

operations that may be used in a 

criminal investigation or prosecution, or 

any civil enforcement action either 

related to an investigation by the 

Department of Justice, or referred to the 

Department of Justice. 

Dated: January 7, 2021. 

Alex M. Azar II, 

Secretary, Department of Health and Human 

Services. 

[FR Doc. 2021–00592 Filed 1–12–21; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4150–26–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 73 

[MB Docket No. 20–340; RM–11865; DA 20– 

1425; FRS 17287] 

Television Broadcasting Services; 

Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Media Bureau, Video 

Division (Bureau) has before it a Notice 

of Proposed Rulemaking issued in 

response to a petition for rulemaking 

filed by Multimedia Holdings 

Corporation (Multimedia), licensee of 

KARE, channel 11, Minneapolis, 

Minnesota, requesting the substitution 

of channel 31 for channel 11 at 

Minneapolis in the DTV Table of 

Allotments. The Bureau had instituted a 

freeze on the acceptance of rulemaking 

petitions by full power television 

stations requesting channel 

substitutions in May 2011 and waived 

the freeze to consider Multimedia’s 

proposal to substitute channel 31 at 

Minneapolis. TEGNA, Inc., filed 

comments in support of the petition 

reaffirming its commitment to applying 

for channel 31. The Bureau believes the 

public interest would be served by the 

substitution and will permit the station 

to better serve its viewers, who have 

experienced reception problems with 

VHF channel 11. 

DATES: Effective January 14, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Joyce Bernstein, Media Bureau, at 

Joyce.Bernstein@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

synopsis of the Commission’s Report 

and Order, MB Docket No. 20–340; RM– 

11865; DA 20–1425, adopted December 

2, 2020, and released December 2, 2020. 

The full text of this document is 

available for download at https://

www.fcc.gov/edocs. To request materials 

in accessible formats for people with 

disabilities (braille, large print, 

electronic files, audio format), send an 

email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the 

Consumer & Governmental Affairs 

Bureau at 202–418–0530 (voice), 202– 

418–0432 (tty). 

This document does not contain 

information collection requirements 

subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 

of 1995, Public Law 104–13. In addition, 

therefore, it does not contain any 

proposed information collection burden 

‘‘for small business concerns with fewer 

than 25 employees,’’ pursuant to the 

Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 

2002, Public Law 107–198, see 44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(4). Provisions of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C. 601– 

612, do not apply to this proceeding. 

The Commission will send a copy of 

this Report and Order in a report to be 

sent to Congress and the Government 

Accountability Office pursuant to the 

Congressional review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 

801(a)(1)(A). 

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73 

Television. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Thomas Horan, 

Chief of Staff, Media Bureau. 

Final Rule 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Federal Communications 

Commission amends 47 CFR part 73 as 

follows: 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES
3016 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 9 / Thursday, January 14, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

1See 49 CFR 553.21 

2Optical character recognition (OCR) is the 

process of converting an image of text, such as a 

scanned paper document or electronic fax file, into 

computer-editable text. 

PART 73—Radio Broadcast Service 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 73 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 334, 336, 

and 339. 

§ 73.622 [Amended] 

■ 2. In § 73.622(i), amend the PostTransition Table of DTV Allotments, 

under Minnesota, by removing channel 

11 and adding channel 31 at 

Minneapolis. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27277 Filed 1–13–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

49 CFR Part 578 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2021–0001] 

RIN 2127–AM32 

Civil Penalties 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Interim final rule; request for 

comments; response to petition for 

rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: On October 2, 2020, NHTSA 

received a petition for rulemaking from 

the Alliance for Automotive Innovation 

regarding when to apply an increase to 

the civil penalty rate applicable to 

automobile manufacturers that fail to 

meet applicable corporate average fuel 

economy (CAFE) standards and are 

unable to offset such a deficit with 

compliance credits. After carefully 

considering the issues raised, NHTSA 

has granted the petition and 

promulgates an interim final rule 

providing that the increase will go into 

effect beginning in model year 2022 in 

accordance with NHTSA’s December 

2016 rule on the same issue, except if 

the August 31, 2020 decision of the 

United States Court of Appeals for the 

Second Circuit in Case No. 19–2395 is 

vacated. This interim final rule amends 

the relevant regulatory text accordingly 

and requests comment. This document 

also responds to a petition for 

reconsideration of NHTSA’s July 2019 

rule from the Institute for Policy 

Integrity at New York University School 

of Law. 

DATES: 

Effective date: This rule is effective 

January 14, 2021 

Comments: Comments must be 

received by January 25, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

to the docket number identified in the 

heading of this document by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

M–30, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, West Building, Ground 

Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: U.S. 

Department of Transportation, West 

Building, Ground Floor, Room W12– 

140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 

Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m. Eastern time, Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251 

• Instructions: NHTSA has 

established a docket for this action. 

Direct your comments to Docket ID No. 

NHTSA–2021–0001. See the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section on 

‘‘Public Participation’’ for more 

information about submitting written 

comments. 

• Docket: All documents in the 

docket are listed on the 

www.regulations.gov website. Although 

listed in the index, some information is 

not publicly available, e.g., confidential 

business information or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

is not placed on the internet and will be 

publicly available only in hard copy 

form. Publicly available docket 

materials are available either 

electronically through 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the following location: Docket 

Management Facility, M–30, U.S. 

Department of Transportation, West 

Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 

Washington, DC 20590. The telephone 

number for the docket management 

facility is (202) 366–9324. The docket 

management facility is open between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Kuppersmith, Office of Chief 

Counsel, NHTSA, email 

michael.kuppersmith@dot.gov, 

telephone (202) 366–2992, facsimile 

(202) 366–3820, 1200 New Jersey Ave. 

SE, Washington, DC 20590. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

A. Public Participation 

B. Statutory and Regulatory Background 

C. Civil Penalties Inflationary Adjustment 

Act Improvements Act of 2015 

D. NHTSA’s Actions to Date Regarding CAFE 

Civil Penalties 

1. Interim Final Rule 

2. Initial Petition for Reconsideration and 

Response 

3. NHTSA Reconsideration 

E. IPI Petition for Reconsideration 

F. The Alliance Petition for Rulemaking 

G. NHTSA Response to Petitions 

H. Interim Final Rule and Public Comment 

I. Rulemaking Analyses and Notices 

1. Executive Order 12866, Executive Order 

13563, and DOT Regulatory Policies and 

Procedures 

2. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

3. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism) 

4. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

5. National Environmental Policy Act 

6. Executive Order 12778 (Civil Justice 

Reform) 

7. Paperwork Reduction Act 

8. Privacy Act 

9. Congressional Review Act 

A. Public Participation 

NHTSA requests comment on this 

interim final rule. This section describes 

how you can participate in this process. 

(1) How do I prepare and submit 

comments? 

Your comments must be written and 

in English. To ensure that your 

comments are correctly filed in the 

Docket, please include the Docket 

number NHTSA–2021–0001 in your 

comments. Your comments must not be 

more than 15 pages long.1 NHTSA 

established this limit to encourage you 

to write your primary comments in a 

concise fashion. However, you may 

attach necessary additional documents 

to your comments, and there is no limit 

on the length of the attachments. If you 

are submitting comments electronically 

as a PDF (Adobe) file, we ask that the 

documents submitted be scanned using 

the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) 

process, thus allowing the Agency to 

search and copy certain portions of your 

submissions.2 Please note that pursuant 

to the Data Quality Act, in order for the 

substantive data to be relied upon and 

used by the Agency, it must meet the 

information quality standards set forth 

in the OMB and Department of 

Transportation (DOT) Data Quality Act 

guidelines. Accordingly, we encourage 

you to consult the guidelines in 

preparing your comments. OMB’s 

guidelines may be accessed at http://

www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg/ 

reproducible.html. DOT’s guidelines 

may be accessed at http://www.dot.gov/ 

dataquality.htm. 

(2) Tips for Preparing Your Comments 


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