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

71567 

Vol. 75, No. 226 

Wednesday, November 24, 2010 

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY 

OFFICE 

4 CFR Part 81 

Public Availability of Government 

Accountability Office Records 

AGENCY: Government Accountability 

Office. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: These proposed revisions 

would clarify procedures to obtain 

Government Accountability Office 

(GAO) documents. Published GAO 

documents such as testimonies, reports, 

and decisions are available to the public 

on GAO’s Web site and also may be 

requested over the telephone. Their 

wide availability eliminates the need for 

regulations governing their request, and 

accordingly published GAO documents 

would no longer be subject to the 

procedures of this part under the 

proposed rule. The revisions would also 

clarify that records compiled for law 

enforcement purposes by another 

agency and records provided by GAO to 

another agency for law enforcement 

purposes are not subject to disclosure. 

The existing regulatory language on this 

point is imprecise. The proposed 

changes would add steps to the 

procedures for using GAO’s public 

reading facility, to facilitate the efficient 

use of the facility. Finally, the proposed 

revisions would make various 

housekeeping changes reflecting shifts 

in GAO’s operating procedures. 

These proposed changes will clarify 

for the public which GAO documents 

are subject to this part and how to 

obtain such documents. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before January 10, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Address all comments 

concerning this proposed rule to 

Government Accountability Office, 

Office of the General Counsel, Attn: 

Legal Services, Room 7838, 441 G 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20548; or 

e-mail, bielecj@gao.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

A. Bielec, Assistant General Counsel, 

202–512–2846. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: GAO is 

not subject to the Administrative 

Procedure Act and accordingly is not 

required by law to seek comments 

before issuing a final rule. However, 

GAO has decided to invite interested 

persons to participate in this rulemaking 

by submitting written comments 

regarding the proposed revisions. 

Application of the Administrative 

Procedure Act to GAO is not to be 

inferred from this invitation for 

comments. 

GAO will consider all comments 

received on or before the closing date 

for comments. GAO may change the 

proposed revisions based on the 

comments received. 

GAO proposes to amend paragraph (b) 

of section 81.1 to remove all published 

GAO documents, such as reports and 

decisions, from this part’s purview. All 

such documents are publicly available 

on GAO’s Web site, http://www.gao.gov, 

and may also be ordered over the 

telephone. Accordingly, regulations 

governing requests for public disclosure 

of such documents are unnecessary. It is 

also well-established that when an 

agency makes its documents widely 

available to the public, the agency need 

not reproduce those documents again in 

response to a Freedom of Information 

Act (FOIA) request. Department of 

Justice v. Tax Analysts, 492 U.S. 136, 

152 (1989). While GAO is not subject to 

FOIA, the principle applies equally in 

this context. 

Published GAO documents may be 

downloaded free of charge from GAO’s 

Web site. Print copies may be ordered 

by telephone, but GAO charges a fee to 

print and ship documents requested this 

way. Under the proposed rule, GAO 

would no longer accept requests via fax 

or mail for published documents. 

Requests for GAO documents not 

available on GAO’s Web site would 

remain subject to this part and would 

have to be submitted in writing to GAO, 

via either mail or e-mail, in accordance 

with section 81.4. Technical 

amendments to paragraphs (a) and (c) of 

section 81.1 are proposed as needed to 

conform with these changes. 

Paragraph 81.6(g) would be amended 

to clarify the types of documents GAO 

considers to be compiled for law 

enforcement purposes. Such documents 

are not subject to disclosure under this 

part. 

Although GAO is not a law 

enforcement agency, it occasionally 

collects, during the course of its audits 

and investigations, records from law 

enforcement agencies that those 

agencies compiled for their own law 

enforcement purposes. While GAO did 

not compile the records, they are 

nonetheless exempt from disclosure 

because they were originally compiled 

for law enforcement purposes and may 

still be used for such purposes by the 

originating agency. Disclosure of such 

records would undermine the 

originating agency’s law enforcement 

mission. 

During the course of its work, GAO 

also occasionally receives information 

from non-law enforcement sources that 

indicates possible civil or criminal 

wrongdoing by another party. GAO 

forwards such information to other 

Federal, State or local agencies with 

enforcement jurisdiction over the 

matter. The receiving agencies may use 

the information for their own 

investigations, prosecutions, or other 

law enforcement matters. GAO 

considers such information to be 

compiled for law enforcement purposes 

if, at the time GAO receives a request 

under this part for the information, the 

receiving agency advises GAO that the 

information is being, or will be, used by 

that agency for a law enforcement 

purpose. In these circumstances, GAO’s 

disclosure of the information could 

undermine law enforcement operations. 

‘‘Law enforcement’’ in this context 

includes civil and administrative as 

well as criminal matters. 

This policy is consistent with the 

United States Supreme Court’s ruling 

that information not originally compiled 

for law enforcement purposes is 

nevertheless exempt from public 

disclosure if, at the time of a request, it 

is being used for law enforcement 

purposes. John Doe Agency v. John Doe 

Corp., 493 U.S. 146, 153–55 (1989). 

Section 81.8 would be amended to 

advise individuals who wish to use 

GAO’s public reading facility to 

schedule an appointment and to have 

GAO’s staff determine whether the 

records sought are included in the 

public reading facility collection. 

Section 81.2 would be amended to 

clarify and identify the entity within 

GAO that administers this part. Section 


jdjones on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with PROPOSALS-1
71568 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 226 / Wednesday, November 24, 2010 / Proposed Rules 

81.4 would be amended to delete 

language that GAO records may be 

requested via a link on GAO’s Web site. 

GAO will continue to accept requests 

for GAO records by e-mail. Paragraph 

(m) of section 81.6 would be amended 

to correctly identify the entity within 

GAO that operates GAO FraudNet. 

List of Subjects in 4 CFR Part 81 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Archives and records, 

Computer technology, Electronic 

products, Freedom of information, 

Public reading room, Requests for 

records. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, the Government 

Accountability Office proposes to 

amend 4 CFR part 81 as follows: 

PART 81—PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF 

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY 

OFFICE RECORDS 

1. The authority citation for part 81 

continues to read: 

Authority: 31 U.S.C. 711. 

2. Amend § 81.1 by revising the first 

sentence of paragraph (a), revising 

paragraph (b), and adding paragraph (c) 

to read as follows: 

§ 81.1 Purpose and scope of part. 

(a) This part implements the policy of 

the U.S. Government Accountability 

Office (GAO) with respect to the public 

availability of GAO records, except as 

set forth in paragraph (b) of this section. 

* * * 

(b) GAO published testimonies, 

reports, decisions, special publications, 

or listings of publications are not 

included within the scope of this part. 

These documents may be obtained from 

the GAO Web site, http://www.gao.gov, 

or by telephone at 202–512–6000, TDD 

202–512–2537, or 1–866–801–7077 (toll 

free). These publications may be 

downloaded free of charge from the 

GAO Web site. Paper copies requested 

from GAO are subject to a printing, 

shipping, and handling fee. 

(c) Requests for all other GAO records 

are within the scope of this part and 

should be submitted to GAO as directed 

in § 81.4(a). 

3. Revise § 81.2 to read as follows: 

§ 81.2 Administration. 

GAO’s Chief Quality Officer 

administers this part and may 

promulgate such supplemental rules or 

regulations as may be necessary. 

§ 81.4 [Amended] 

4. In § 81.4, remove the second 

sentence of paragraph (a). 

5. Amend § 81.6 by revising 

paragraphs (g) and (m) to read as 

follows: 

§ 81.6 Records which may be exempt from 

disclosure. 

* * * * * 

(g) Records compiled for law 

enforcement purposes that originate in 

another agency, or records provided by 

GAO to another agency for law 

enforcement purposes. 

* * * * * 

(m) Unsolicited records containing 

information submitted by any person to 

GAO in confidence. Records obtained by 

the GAO Forensic Audits and Special 

Investigations (GAO FraudNet) are an 

example of records that could contain 

information covered by this exemption. 

6. Amend § 81.8 by adding a new 

second sentence, and revising the last 

sentence as follows: 

§ 81.8 Public reading facility. 

* * * To determine if a record is part 

of the public reading facility collection 

and to schedule an appointment to visit 

the facility, contact the Library reference 

desk at 202–512–2585. The facility is 

open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4 

p.m. except Saturdays, Sundays, and 

Federal holidays. 

Lynn H. Gibson, 

Acting General Counsel, U.S. Government 

Accountability Office. 

[FR Doc. 2010–29353 Filed 11–23–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 1610–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 59 

[Doc. No. AMS–LS–10–0080] 

Establishment of Negotiated 

Rulemaking Committee for Changes to 

Livestock Mandatory Reporting 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Establishment of Negotiated 

Rulemaking Committee. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS) is announcing its intent 

to establish a Wholesale Pork Reporting 

Negotiated Rulemaking Committee 

(Committee). The Committee will 

attempt to reach consensus on proposed 

language that AMS will publish as a 

proposed rule in the Federal Register. 

The Committee will include 

representatives of parties who would be 

affected by a final rule. AMS solicits 

comments on this initiative and requests 

interested parties to nominate 

representatives for membership on the 

Committee. 

DATES: Written comments and requests 

for membership must be received on or 

before December 27, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted electronically at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Comments may 

also be sent to Michael Lynch, Chief; 

USDA, AMS, LS, LGMN Branch; 1400 

Independence Ave., SW., Room 2619–S; 

Washington, DC 20250; Telephone 

number (202) 720–6231; or Fax (202) 

690–3732. 

Comments should reference docket 

number AMS–LS–10–0080 and note the 

date and page number of this issue of 

the Federal Register. Submitted 

comments will be available for public 

inspection at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, or during regular 

business hours at the above address. All 

comments submitted in response to this 

document will be included in the record 

and will be made available to the 

public. Please be advised that the 

identity of the individuals or entities 

submitting the comments will be made 

public on the Internet at the address 

provided above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Lynch, Chief; USDA, AMS, LS, 

LGMN Branch; 1400 Independence 

Ave., SW., Room 2619–S; Washington, 

DC 20250; Telephone number (202) 

720–6231; or Fax (202) 690–3732. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

On December 1, 2000, AMS published 

the final rule to implement the LMR 

program as required by the Livestock 

Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 (1999 

Act) (7 U.S.C. 1635–1636h) [65 FR 

75464]. The purpose of the 1999 Act 

was to establish a program of 

information regarding the marketing of 

cattle, swine, lambs, and the products of 

such livestock that provides information 

that can be readily understood by 

producers; improves the price and 

supply reporting services of USDA; and 

encourages competition in the 

marketplace for livestock and livestock 

products. 

The statutory authority for the 

program lapsed on September 30, 2005. 

At that time, AMS sent letters to all 

packers required to report under the 

1999 Act, requesting they continue to 

submit information voluntarily. In 

October 2006, Congress enacted 

legislation to reauthorize the 1999 Act 

through September 30, 2010, and to 

amend the swine reporting requirements 

of the 1999 Act (Reauthorization Act) 


jdjones on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with PROPOSALS-1