9488 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 40 / Tuesday, March 2, 2010 / Notices 

is controlled by the meaning of that 

term in section 14504a(a)(1)(A), the 

change in meaning made by the 

statutory amendment also applies to the 

term used in § 367.20. This is a 

necessary result of this basic principle: 

‘‘First, always, is the question whether 

Congress has directly spoken to the 

precise question at issue. If the intent of 

Congress is clear, that is the end of the 

matter; for the court, as well as the 

agency, must give effect to the 

unambiguously expressed intent of 

Congress.’’ Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. 

Natural Resources Defense Council, 

Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 842–43 (1984). 

Congress has clearly expressed its intent 

to change the meaning of the term 

‘‘commercial motor vehicles’’ as used in 

section 14504a for years beginning after 

December 31, 2009. The relevant 

FMCSA regulation implementing the 

statutory provisions must be interpreted 

accordingly. 

Purpose and Effect of This 

Interpretation 

FMCSA has received a 

recommendation by the UCR Plan 

regarding an adjustment in fees for 2010 

in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 

14504a(d)(7)(A). Although FMCSA 

published a notice of proposed 

rulemaking regarding a recommended 

adjustment in the fees on September 3, 

2009 (74 FR 45583), a final rule has not 

yet been issued due to unexpected 

delays. States may, of course, await the 

publication of the final rule before 

assessing and collecting UCR Plan fees 

for 2010. However, the interpretation of 

§ 367.20 set forth in this regulatory 

guidance—namely, the fact that the fee 

schedule in § 367.20 is not limited, but 

can be used in any registration year— 

allows the States participating in the 

UCR Plan to consider the option of 

assessing and collecting fees for 

registration year 2010 by applying that 

existing fee structure. In doing so, States 

would have to base fees on the number 

of self-propelled vehicles (not including 

towed vehicles) that are owned or 

operated by exempt or non-exempt 

motor carriers, motor private carriers, or 

freight forwarders. 

This option allows those States to 

continue meeting their commitment, in 

accordance with section 14504a(e)(1)(B), 

‘‘that an amount at least equal to the 

revenue derived by the State from the 

unified carrier registration agreement 

shall be used for motor carrier safety 

programs, enforcement, or the 

administration of the UCR plan and 

UCR agreement.’’ In addition, the 

participating States will also have funds 

available to meet their share of the costs 

of participating in the Motor Carrier 

Safety Assistance Program’s grants, as 

permitted by 49 U.S.C. 31103(a), as 

amended by section 4307 of SAFETEA– 

LU, 119 Stat. 1774. To be sure, because 

the fees set in § 367.20 were based on 

the previous definition of commercial 

motor vehicles that included trailers, 

many motor carriers would pay fees 

based on a smaller number of 

commercial motor vehicles, thus 

producing less revenues for the 

participating States. Nonetheless, 

registration and payment of fees for 

2010 under § 367.20 would allow 

participating States an opportunity to 

receive at least a partial flow of 

revenues in order to meet the statutory 

objectives. 

The final rule establishing the 

adjusted fees beginning with registration 

year 2010 is presently under 

consideration by the Agency and the 

Department and will most likely be 

reviewed by the Office of Information 

and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of 

Management and Budget. Once a final 

determination is made concerning a 

final rule, participating States that 

decided to assess and collect fees under 

the current fee schedule may then assess 

and collect the balance due from any 

motor carrier entities that registered and 

paid the fees established in the current 

fee schedule. 

Regulatory Guidance 

Part 367—Standards for Registration 

With States 

Sections Interpreted 

Section 367.20 Fees Under the 

Unified Carrier Registration Plan and 

Agreement for Each Registration Year. 

Question: Do the fees set by this 

section apply to registration years 

beginning after December 31, 2009? 

Guidance: Yes. The States 

participating in the Unified Carrier 

Registration Plan and Agreement may 

assess and collect fees pursuant to the 

fee schedule set forth in 49 CFR 367.20. 

The statutory amendment of the 

applicable definition of commercial 

motor vehicles in 49 U.S.C. 14504a that 

applies beginning after December 31, 

2009, also governs the application of the 

fees established by this section. 

Issued on: February 22, 2010. 

Rose A. McMurray, 

Associate Administrator and Chief Safety 

Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4294 Filed 3–1–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of Thrift Supervision 

Basel Comprehensive Quantitative 

Impact Study 

AGENCY: Office of Thrift Supervision 

(OTS), Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice and request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The Department of the 

Treasury, as part of its continuing effort 

to reduce paperwork and respondent 

burden, invites the general public and 

other Federal agencies to comment on 

proposed and continuing information 

collections, as required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 

U.S.C. 3507. The Office of Thrift 

Supervision within the Department of 

the Treasury will submit the proposed 

information collection requirement 

described below to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review, as required by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act. Today, OTS is soliciting 

public comments on its proposal to 

extend this information collection. 

DATES: Submit written comments on or 

before May 3, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments, referring to 

the collection by title of the proposal or 

by OMB approval number, to 

Information Collection Comments, Chief 

Counsel’s Office, Office of Thrift 

Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20552; send a facsimile 

transmission to (202) 906–6518; or send 

an e-mail to 

infocollection.comments@ots.treas.gov. 

OTS will post comments and the related 

index on the OTS Internet Site at http:// 

www.ots.treas.gov. In addition, 

interested persons may inspect 

comments at the Public Reading Room, 

1700 G Street, NW., by appointment. To 

make an appointment, call (202) 906– 

5922, send an e-mail to 

public.info@ots.treas.gov, or send a 

facsimile transmission to (202) 906– 

7755. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: You 

can request additional information 

about this proposed information 

collection from Roberta M. Renz (202) 

906–6447, Office of Thrift Supervision, 

1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20552. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OTS may 

not conduct or sponsor an information 

collection, and respondents are not 

required to respond to an information 

collection, unless the information 

collection displays a currently valid 

OMB control number. As part of the 

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 40 / Tuesday, March 2, 2010 / Notices 9489 

1The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is 

a committee of banking supervisory authorities, 

which was established by the central bank 

Governors of the Group of Ten countries in 1975. 

It consists of senior representatives of bank 

supervisory authorities and central banks from 

Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, 

China, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, India, 

Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, 

the Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, 

South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, 

the United Kingdom and the United States. It 

usually meets at the Bank for International 

Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland, where its 

permanent Secretariat is located. 

2Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, 

Strengthening the resilience of the banking sector, 

consultative document, December 17, 2009. 

3Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, 

Revisions to the Basel II market risk framework, July 

2009. 4Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, 

Guidelines for computing capital for incremental 

risk in the trading book, July 2009. 5Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, 

Enhancements to the Basel II framework, July 2009. 6See footnote 2. 7Basel Committee on Banking and Supervision, 

International Framework for liquidity risk 

measurement, standards and monitoring, 

consultative document, December 17, 2009. 8See 12 CFR Part 3, Appendix C. 9See 12 CFR Part 3, Appendix A. 

approval process, we invite comments 

on the following information collection. 

Comments should address one or 

more of the following points: 

a. Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of OTS; 

b. The accuracy of OTS’s estimate of 

the burden of the proposed information 

collection; 

c. Ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; 

d. Ways to minimize the burden of the 

information collection on respondents, 

including through the use of 

information technology. 

We will summarize the comments 

that we receive and include them in the 

OTS request for OMB approval. All 

comments will become a matter of 

public record. In this notice, OTS is 

soliciting comments concerning the 

following information collection. 

Title of Proposal: Basel 

Comprehensive Quantitative Impact 

Study. 

OMB Number: 1550–0NEW. 

Form Numbers: N/A. 

Regulation requirement: 12 CFR Part 

567. 

Description: The International 

Convergence of Capital Measurement 

and Capital Standards: A Revised 

Framework, also known as the Basel II 

Capital Accord, sets out a general 

international capital framework for 

financial institutions. The Basel II 

Capital Accord was adopted under the 

auspices of the Basel Committee on 

Banking Supervision 1 (Basel 

Committee), and was implemented into 

domestic regulations in the United 

States by the Federal financial agencies 

on December 7, 2007 (72 FR 69288). In 

an effort to refine the Basel II Capital 

Accord, the Basel Committee will 

conduct a quantitative impact study 

(QIS) to assess the impact of the 

proposed revisions that were published 

by the Basel Committee on December 

17, 2009.2 As part of this effort, the OTS, 

in coordination with the other Federal 

financial agencies, is proposing to 

collect data from national financial 

institutions with respect to the 

following subjects: 

› Revisions to the Basel II market 

risk framework 3 and guidelines for 

computing capital for incremental risk 

in the trading book,4 including the 

incremental risk capital charge; the 

comprehensive risk measure for 

correlation trading portfolios; the new 

rules for securitization exposures in the 

trading book; and the revised capital 

charges for certain equity exposures 

subject to the standardized 

measurement method for market risk. 

› Enhancements to the Basel II 

framework 5 including the revised risk 

weights for re-securitizations held in the 

banking book. 

› Enhancements to strengthen the 

resilience of the financial institution 

sector 6 including the proposed changes 

to the definition of capital; the proposed 

introduction of a leverage ratio; and the 

proposed changes to the treatment of 

counterparty credit risk. 

› Liquidity enhancements referring 

to the international framework for 

liquidity risk measurement, standards 

and monitoring.7

› Operational risk and 

countercyclical tools. 

The OTS intends to collect data for 

the QIS from financial institutions 

subject to the Basel II Capital 

Framework 8 and those subject to the 

current risk-based capital guidelines 

(Basel I).9 Unless otherwise noted, all 

data would be reported on a 

consolidated basis. Ideally, financial 

institutions should include all their 

assets in this information collection. 

However, due to data limitations, 

inclusion of some assets (for example, 

the portfolio of a minor subsidiary) may 

not be feasible. Exclusion of such assets 

is acceptable, as long as the remaining 

assets are representative of the financial 

institution as a whole. 

Type of Review: New collection. 

Affected Public: Businesses or other 

for-profit. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 5. 

Estimated Burden Hours per 

Response: 117. 

Estimated Frequency of Response: On 

occasion. 

Estimated Total Burden: 585 hours. 

Dated: February 24, 2010. 

Ira L. Mills, 

Paperwork Clearance Officer, Office of Chief 

Counsel, Office of Thrift Supervision. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4203 Filed 3–1–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6720–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

[OMB Control No. 2900–0585] 

Proposed Information Collection 

(Brand Name or Equal) Activity: 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Office of Acquisition and 

Logistics, Department of Veterans 

Affairs. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Office of Acquisition and 

Logistics (OA&L), Department of 

Veterans Affairs (VA), is announcing an 

opportunity for public comment on the 

proposed collection of certain 

information by the agency. Under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 

1995, Federal agencies are required to 

publish notice in the Federal Register 

concerning each proposed collection of 

information including each proposed 

extension of a currently approved 

collection and allow 60 days for public 

comment in response to the notice. This 

notice solicits comments on the 

information needed to allow firms to 

offer items that are equal to the brand 

name item stated in the bid. 

DATES: Written comments and 

recommendations on the proposed 

collection of information should be 

received on or before May 3, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments 

on the collection of information through 

Federal Docket Management System 

(FDMS) at http://www.Regulations.gov; 

or to Arita Tillman, Office of 

Acquisition and Logistics (049A5A), 

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 

Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 

20420; or e-mail: arita.tillman@va.gov. 

Please refer to ‘‘OMB Control No. 2900– 

0585’’ in any correspondence. During 

the comment period, comments may be 

viewed online through FDMS. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Arita Tillman at (202) 461–6859 or Fax. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

PRA of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–13; 44 U.S.C. 

3501–3521), Federal agencies must 

obtain approval from the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for each 

collection of information they conduct 

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES