Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2010 / Proposed Rules 1735 

7 The comment must be accompanied by an 

explicit request for confidential treatment, 

including the factual and legal basis for the request, 

and must identify the specific portions of the 

comment to be withheld from the public record. 

The request will be granted or denied by the 

Commission’s General Counsel, consistent with 

applicable law and the public interest. See FTC 

Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c). 

(http://www.ftc.gov/os/ 

publiccomments.shtm). 

Because comments will be made 

public, they should not include any 

sensitive personal information, such as 

any individual’s Social Security 

number; date of birth; driver’s license 

number or other state identification 

number, or foreign country equivalent; 

passport number; financial account 

number; or credit or debit card number. 

Comments also should not include any 

sensitive health information, such as 

medical records or other individually 

identifiable health information. In 

addition, comments should not include 

any ‘‘[t]rade secret or any commercial or 

financial information which is obtained 

from any person and which is privileged 

or confidential...,’’ as provided in 

Section 6(f) of the Federal Trade 

Commission Act (‘‘FTC Act’’), 15 U.S.C. 

46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 

4.10(a)(2). Comments containing 

material for which confidential 

treatment is requested must be filed in 

paper form, must be clearly labeled 

‘‘Confidential,’’ and must comply with 

FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).7

Because paper mail addressed to the 

FTC is subject to delay due to 

heightened security screening, please 

consider submitting your comments in 

electronic form. Comments filed in 

electronic form should be submitted by 

using the following weblink: (https:// 

public.commentworks.com/ftc/ 

iSAFEsafeharbor) (and following the 

instructions on the web-based form). To 

ensure that the Commission considers 

an electronic comment, you must file it 

on the web-based form at the weblink 

(https://public.commentworks.com/ftc/ 

iSAFEsafeharbor). If this document 

appears at (http://www.regulations.gov/ 

search/Regs/home.html#home), you 

may also file an electronic comment 

through that website. The Commission 

will consider all comments that 

regulations.gov forwards to it. You may 

also visit the FTC Website at (http:// 

www.ftc.gov) to read the document and 

the news release describing it. 

A comment filed in paper form 

should include the ‘‘iSAFE Safe Harbor 

Proposal, P094504’’ reference both in the 

text and on the envelope, and should be 

mailed or delivered to the following 

address: Federal Trade Commission, 

Office of the Secretary, Room H-135 

(Annex E), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, 

NW, Washington, DC 20580. The FTC is 

requesting that any comment filed in 

paper form be sent by courier or 

overnight service, if possible, because 

U.S. postal mail in the Washington area 

and at the Commission is subject to 

delay due to heightened security 

precautions. 

The FTC Act and other laws the 

Commission administers permit the 

collection of public comments to 

consider and use in this proceeding as 

appropriate. The Commission will 

consider all timely and responsive 

public comments that it receives, 

whether filed in paper or electronic 

form. Comments received will be 

available to the public on the FTC 

website, to the extent practicable, at 

(http://www.ftc.gov/os/ 

publiccomments.shtm). As a matter of 

discretion, the Commission makes every 

effort to remove home contact 

information for individuals from the 

public comments it receives before 

placing those comments on the FTC 

Website. More information, including 

routine uses permitted by the Privacy 

Act may be found in the FTC’s privacy 

policy, at (http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/ 

privacy.shtm). 

By direction of the Commission. 

Donald S. Clark 

Secretary 

[FR Doc. 2010–291 Filed 1–12–10: 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6750–01–S 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Internal Revenue Service 

26 CFR Part 31 

[REG–137036–08] 

RIN 1545–BI21 

Section 3504 Agent Employment Tax 

Liability 

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 

Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: This document contains 

proposed regulations relating to 

employment tax liability of agents 

authorized by the Secretary under 

section 3504 of the Internal Revenue 

Code (Code) to perform acts required of 

employers with respect to taxes under 

the Federal Unemployment Tax Act on 

wages paid for home care services, as 

defined in these regulations. These 

proposed regulations affect employers 

who are home care service recipients, as 

defined in these regulations, and their 

designated agents. These regulations 

also propose amendments to modify the 

existing regulations under section 3504 

to be consistent with the organizational 

structure of the Internal Revenue 

Service (IRS), and to update the citation 

to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

DATES: Written or electronic comments 

must be received by April 13, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Send submissions to: 

CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG–137036–08), Room 

5203, Internal Revenue Service, POB 

7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington 

DC 20044. Submissions may be hand 

delivered Monday through Friday, 

between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. 

to CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG–137036–08), 

Courier’s Desk, Internal Revenue 

Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue, 

NW., Washington, DC. Additionally, 

taxpayers may submit comments 

electronically via the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. (Indicate IRS and 

REG–137036–08.) 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Concerning the proposed regulations, 

contact Selvan Boominathan at (202) 

622–0047; concerning the submission of 

comments or requests for a hearing, 

contact Oluwafunmilayo (Funmi) 

Taylor, at (202) 622–7180 (not toll-free 

numbers). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Federal, State, and local government 

programs seek to help elderly or 

disabled individuals maintain their 

independence by funding home health 

care and other personal services. See, 

for example, Deficit Reduction Act of 

2005, Public Law 109–171, se. 6071, 120 

Stat. 4, 102–110 (2006) (authorizing the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to, among other things, award grants to 

states to ‘‘[i]ncrease the use of home and 

community-based, rather than 

institutional, long-term care services.’’) 

The government agencies that 

administer the programs seek to assist 

the service recipients with employment 

tax compliance by helping the service 

recipients to designate agents to report, 

file, and pay employment taxes on their 

behalf. The IRS and the Treasury 

Department are proposing changes to 

the regulations under section 3504, the 

section under which a third party can be 

authorized to act as an agent for an 

employer, to permit designated agents to 

provide comprehensive assistance to 

these service recipients who are 

employers. 

1. Employment Taxes in General 

Employers are generally required to 

withhold income tax and Federal 


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1736 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2010 / Proposed Rules 

Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) 

taxes from their employees’ wages 

under sections 3402(a) and 3102(a), 

respectively, and are separately liable 

for the employer’s share of FICA taxes 

and Federal Unemployment Tax Act 

(FUTA) taxes under sections 3111 and 

3301, respectively (collectively referred 

to herein as ‘‘employment taxes’’). 

Sections 3102(b), 3111, 3301, and 3403 

provide that the employer is the person 

liable for the withholding and payment 

of employment taxes; additionally, the 

employer is required to make tax 

deposits, file employment tax returns, 

and file and furnish Forms W–2, Wage 

and Tax Statement, to employees 

(collectively referred to herein as 

‘‘employment tax obligations’’). An 

employer is generally defined as the 

person for whom an individual 

performs services as an employee. See 

Sections 3121(d), 3306(a), and 3401(d). 

FUTA tax is imposed under section 

3301 on each employer in an amount 

equal to a percentage of wages paid by 

the employer with respect to 

employment. FUTA tax is imposed on 

the employer in an amount equal to 6.2 

percent of wages. Under section 3306(b), 

wages of an employee subject to the 

FUTA tax are limited to $7,000 per 

calendar year. Section 3302 provides for 

a credit against FUTA tax in the amount 

of contributions paid by the employer 

into an unemployment fund maintained 

during the taxable year under the 

unemployment law of a State. The 

credit is limited to an amount equal to 

90 percent of the FUTA tax. 

2. Domestic Service Employment 

The employment tax obligations of an 

employer are modified with respect to 

domestic services provided in a private 

home of the employer. Employers are 

not required to withhold income taxes 

on wages paid for domestic services, but 

may enter into a voluntary withholding 

agreement to withhold income taxes 

from one or more domestic employees. 

See sections 3401(a)(3) and 3402(p). An 

employer is not liable for FICA taxes 

with respect to cash wages for domestic 

services as long as the cash wages are 

less than an applicable dollar threshold 

amount, which is adjusted annually. 

Sections 3121(a)(7)(B) and 3121(x). 

When the cash wages equal or exceed 

the threshold amount, all of the cash 

wages (including amounts below the 

threshold) paid to that employee by the 

employer are subject to FICA taxes. For 

example, the FICA wage threshold for 

domestic services for 2009 is $1,700. 

This threshold applies separately to 

each employer with respect to each 

employee. An employer is liable for 

FUTA taxes with regard to domestic 

services if the employer paid aggregate 

wages of $1,000 or more (for all 

domestic employees) in any calendar 

quarter in the current or prior year. 

Section 3306(c)(2). 

3. Agency Relationship Under Code 

Section 3504 

Section 3504 of the Code authorizes 

the Secretary of the Treasury to 

promulgate regulations to authorize an 

agent to perform certain specified acts 

required of employers. Under section 

3504, all provisions of law (including 

penalties) applicable with respect to 

employers are applicable to the agent 

and remain applicable to the employer. 

Accordingly, both the agent and 

employer are liable for the employment 

taxes and penalties associated with the 

employer’s employment tax obligations 

undertaken by the agent. Section 

31.3504–1 of the Employment Tax 

Regulations provides that the IRS may 

authorize an agent to undertake the 

employment tax obligations of an 

employer with respect to income tax 

withholding and FICA taxes. The agent 

is required to file only one return for 

each tax return period using the agent’s 

own employer identification number 

(EIN) regardless of the number of 

employers for whom the agent acts. The 

current regulations do not authorize an 

agent to undertake the employment tax 

obligations of an employer with respect 

to the FUTA tax. Thus, an authorized 

agent can act on behalf of the employer 

for income tax withholding and FICA 

tax purposes, but the employer must 

continue to meet its employment tax 

obligations with respect to FUTA tax. 

4. Home Care Service Recipients 

Federal, State, and local governments 

fund programs to provide elderly or 

disabled individuals with services to 

assist them with health care or other 

personal needs in their homes or 

communities. Following an evolution in 

policy that seeks to empower the 

individuals receiving services to have 

autonomy, these programs generally 

give the service recipients discretion in 

selecting the service providers and 

directing their activities. See Deficit 

Reduction Act of 2005 section 

6071(d)(2)(C)(ii), 120 Stat. at 108 

(providing that the Secretary of Health 

and Human Services shall give 

preference when awarding grants to 

state applications proposing to provide 

eligible individuals with the 

opportunity to receive home and 

community-based long-term care 

services as self-directed services); also 

see ‘‘Roadmap to Medicaid Reform,’’ 

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 

Services, available at http:// 

www.cms.hhs.gov/smdl/downloads/ 

Rvltcneeds.pdf. The programs authorize 

the use of certain intermediaries to serve 

as agents to disburse payments to 

service providers on the service 

recipient’s behalf. The federal, State, or 

local government agencies that 

administer these programs screen 

intermediaries before they are entrusted 

with funds to pay for the services. 

Intermediaries can be public or private 

entities. Many are nonprofit 

organizations. The IRS addressed 

questions with regard to certain 

intermediaries working with state or 

local government agencies in previous 

guidance. See Notice 2003–70, 2003 CB 

916. See § 601.601(d)(2). 

The service recipient is generally the 

employer of the individuals providing 

the services for employment tax 

purposes. However the Service 

recognizes that there are some 

government programs under which 

parents, grandparents, or guardians who 

are engaged in providing care for a 

disabled child or grandchild receive 

funding that do not give rise to an 

employment relationship between the 

service recipient and the care provider. 

Although the services generally 

constitute domestic services under 

section 3401(a)(3) such that income tax 

withholding is not required, FICA tax 

and FUTA tax must still be paid subject 

to the applicable thresholds, and some 

service recipients and their service 

providers may agree to voluntarily 

withhold income tax under section 

3402(p). In recent years, many home 

care service recipients have applied to 

designate the intermediary that arranges 

to pay their service providers as an 

agent under section 3504 so that the 

intermediary can withhold, report, and 

pay income tax withholding and FICA 

tax on the service recipient’s behalf. 

Designating these intermediaries as 

agents reduces the administrative 

burden on the service recipient who 

may not otherwise have an obligation to 

report, file, or pay employment taxes. 

The intermediaries have access to 

training in compliance with 

employment tax requirements and have 

the payroll information from the 

payments they make to the service 

providers. An intermediary that is 

designated as an agent can efficiently 

handle reporting, filing, and paying 

income tax withholding and FICA on 

behalf of multiple service recipients on 

a single return. A service recipient can 

complete the application to designate 

the intermediary as agent at the time the 

recipient enrolls with the intermediary. 

Under the current regulations, a 

service recipient can designate an 

intermediary as agent to handle income 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2010 / Proposed Rules 1737 

tax withholding and FICA but cannot 

designate an intermediary as agent to 

pay FUTA tax and file FUTA returns. As 

a result, separate FUTA returns must be 

prepared for thousands of individual 

service recipients reporting small 

amounts of wages and FUTA tax. 

Explanation of Provisions 

These proposed regulations would 

amend the current regulations to allow 

a home care service recipient to 

designate an agent under section 3504 to 

report, file, and pay all employment 

taxes, including FUTA. This change will 

allow an intermediary to file a single 

FUTA return on behalf of multiple 

home care service recipients as the 

intermediary does currently with 

respect to income tax withholding and 

FICA. 

Specifically, the proposed regulation 

would amend the employment tax 

regulations under section 3504 to 

provide that the IRS may authorize a 

party to act as agent on behalf of 

employers who are home care service 

recipients with respect to FUTA taxes 

imposed on wages paid for home care 

services, provided that the party has 

been authorized to act as an agent for 

those home care service recipients for 

income tax withholding and FICA tax 

purposes. The agent is permitted to act 

for FUTA tax purposes only on behalf 

of employers who are home care service 

recipients, and not for any other type of 

employer on whose behalf the agent is 

authorized to act for income tax 

withholding and FICA tax purposes. 

Additionally, the agent is permitted to 

act as an agent for FUTA tax purposes 

only with respect to wages paid for 

home care services rendered to the 

home care service recipient. 

These regulations propose to define 

the term home care service recipient as 

an individual who is an enrolled 

participant in a program administered 

by a Federal, State, or local government 

agency that provides Federal, State, or 

local government funds to pay, in whole 

or in part, for the provision of home care 

services, as defined in the proposed 

regulations. A participant qualifies as a 

home care service recipient while 

enrolled in such a program and until the 

end of the calendar year in which the 

participant ceases to be enrolled in the 

program. In all such programs, 

intermediaries who are engaged to assist 

beneficiaries to receive and distribute 

funds on the beneficiaries’ behalf are 

reviewed and approved by a state or 

local government agency. 

These regulations propose to define 

home care services to include health 

care and personal attendant care 

services rendered to a home care service 

recipient in his home or local 

community. Services provided outside 

the home care service recipient’s private 

home may qualify as home care services 

for purposes of these regulations even if 

the services do not qualify as domestic 

service in a private home of the 

employer for purposes of sections 

3121(a)(7), 3306(c)(2), and 3401(a)(3), so 

long as the services are provided within 

the service recipient’s local community. 

Because section 3504 provides that all 

provisions of law applicable to an 

employer apply to the agent, the agent 

can report on its aggregate FUTA tax 

return the state unemployment 

contributions paid into a state 

unemployment fund on the home care 

service recipient’s behalf as a credit 

under section 3302 against the FUTA 

tax. The credit can be reported by the 

agent regardless of whether the state 

unemployment contributions are made 

under the name and state identifying 

number of the home care service 

recipient or the agent. 

These regulations also propose 

amendments to modify the existing 

regulations under section 3504 to be 

consistent with the organizational 

structure of the IRS and to update the 

citation to the Internal Revenue Code of 

1986. 

Proposed Effective Date 

These regulations are proposed to 

apply to wages paid on or after January 

1 of the calendar year following the date 

of publication of a Treasury decision 

adopting these rules as final regulations 

in the Federal Register. Taxpayers may 

rely on these proposed regulations for 

guidance pending the issuance of final 

regulations. Additionally, pursuant to 

section 7805(b)(7), taxpayers may apply 

these proposed regulations to all taxable 

years for which a valid designation as 

an agent has been in effect under 

§ 31.3504–1(a) of the Employment Tax 

Regulations. Thus, prior to publication 

of a Treasury decision adopting these 

rules as final regulations, any party 

already authorized under section 3504 

to serve as an agent for a home care 

service recipient, as defined in the 

proposed regulations, or with an 

application pending, will not need to 

file any additional application in order 

to expand the scope of the agency to 

cover FUTA taxes. 

Special Analyses 

It has been determined that this notice 

of proposed rulemaking is not a 

significant regulatory action as defined 

in Executive Order 12866. Therefore, a 

regulatory assessment is not required. It 

also has been determined that section 

553(b) of the Administrative Procedure 

Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 5) does not apply 

to this regulation, and because the 

regulation does not impose a collection 

of information on small entities, the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 

chapter 6) does not apply. Pursuant to 

section 7805(f) of the Internal Revenue 

Code, this regulation has been 

submitted to the Chief Counsel for 

Advocacy of the Small Business 

Administration for comment on its 

impact on small business. 

Comments and Requests for Public 

Hearing 

Before these proposed regulations are 

adopted as final regulations, 

consideration will be given to any 

written or electronic comments that are 

submitted timely to the IRS. The 

Treasury Department and the IRS 

specifically request comments on the 

clarity of the proposed regulations and 

how they can be made easier to 

understand. All comments will be 

available for public inspection and 

copying. A public hearing will be 

scheduled and held upon written 

request by any person who submits 

written comments on the proposed 

regulation. If a public hearing is 

scheduled, notice of the time and place 

for the hearing will be published in the 

Federal Register. 

Drafting Information 

The principal author of these 

proposed regulations is Selvan 

Boominathan, Office of Division 

Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (Tax 

Exempt and Government Entities), 

Internal Revenue Service. However, 

personnel from other offices of the IRS 

and Treasury participated in their 

development. 

List of Subjects in 26 CFR Part 31 

Employment taxes, Income taxes, 

Penalties, Pensions, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Railroad 

retirement, Social Security, 

Unemployment compensation. 

Proposed Amendments to the 

Regulations 

Accordingly, 26 CFR part 31 is 

proposed to be amended as follows: 

PART 31—EMPLOYMENT TAXES AND 

COLLECTION OF INCOME TAX AT 

SOURCE 

Paragraph 1. The authority citation 

for part 31 continues to read in part as 

follows: 

Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * * 

Par. 2. Section 31.3504–1 is revised to 

read as follows: 


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1738 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2010 / Proposed Rules 

§ 31.3504–1 Designation of Agent by 

Application. 

(a) In general. In the event wages as 

defined in chapter 21 or 24 of the 

Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or 

compensation as defined in chapter 22 

of the Code, of an employee or group of 

employees, employed by one or more 

employers, is paid by a fiduciary, agent, 

or other person (‘‘agent’’), or if that agent 

has the control, receipt, custody, or 

disposal of those wages, or 

compensation, the Internal Revenue 

Service may, subject to the terms and 

conditions as it deems proper, authorize 

that agent to perform the acts required 

of the employer or employers under 

those provisions of the Code and the 

regulations which have application, for 

purposes of the taxes imposed by the 

chapter or chapters, in respect of the 

wages or compensation. If the agent is 

authorized by the Internal Revenue 

Service to perform such acts, all 

provisions of law (including penalties) 

and of the regulations applicable to an 

employer shall be applicable to the 

agent. However, each employer for 

whom the agent acts shall remain 

subject to all provisions of law 

(including penalties) and of the 

regulations applicable to an employer. 

Any application to authorize an agent to 

perform such acts, signed by the agent 

and the employer, shall be made on the 

form prescribed by the Internal Revenue 

Service and shall be filed with the 

Internal Revenue Service as prescribed 

in the instructions to the form and other 

applicable guidance. 

(b) Special rule for home care service 

recipients. (1) In general. In the event a 

fiduciary, agent, or other person 

(‘‘agent’’) is authorized pursuant to 

paragraph (a) of this section to perform 

the acts required of an employer under 

chapters 21 or 24 on behalf of one or 

more home care service recipients, as 

defined in paragraph (b)(3) of this 

section, the Internal Revenue Service 

may authorize that agent to perform the 

acts as are required of employers for 

purposes of the tax imposed by chapter 

23 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

with respect to wages paid for home 

care services, as defined in paragraph 

(b)(2) of this section, rendered to the 

home care service recipient. Each home 

care service recipient for whom the 

agent performs the acts of an employer 

and each agent authorized under this 

section to perform the acts of an 

employer shall remain subject to all 

provisions of law (including penalties) 

and of the regulations applicable to an 

employer with respect to those wages 

paid. 

(2) Home care services. For purposes 

of this section, the term home care 

services includes health care and 

personal attendant care services 

rendered in the home care service 

recipient’s home or local community. 

(3) Home care service recipient. For 

purposes of this section, the term home 

care service recipient means any 

individual who receives home care 

services, as defined in paragraph (b)(2) 

of this section, while enrolled, and for 

the remainder of the calendar year after 

ceasing to be enrolled, in a program 

administered by a Federal, state, or local 

government agency that provides 

Federal, state, or local government 

funds, to pay, in whole or in part, for 

the home care services for that 

individual. 

(c) Effective and applicability dates. 

An authorization under paragraph (a) of 

this section in effect prior to the date of 

publication of a Treasury decision 

adopting these rules as final regulations 

in the Federal Register continues to be 

in effect after that date. Paragraph (b) of 

this section applies to wages paid on or 

after January 1 of the calendar year 

following the date of publication of a 

Treasury decision adopting these rules 

as final regulations in the Federal 

Register. However, pursuant to section 

7805(b), taxpayers may rely on 

paragraph (b) of this section for all 

taxable years for which a valid 

designation is in effect under paragraph 

(a) of this section. 

Linda M. Kroening, 

Acting Deputy Commissioner for Services and 

Enforcement. 

[FR Doc. 2010–415 Filed 1–12–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

33 CFR Part 117 

[Docket No. USCG–2009–1021] 

RIN 1625–AA09 

Drawbridge Operation Regulation; New 

Haven Harbor, Quinnipiac and Mill 

Rivers, CT 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard proposes to 

change the regulation governing the 

operation of three bridges across the 

Quinnipiac and Mill Rivers at New 

Haven, Connecticut, to relieve the 

bridge owner from the burden of 

crewing the bridges during time periods 

when the bridges seldom receive 

requests to open while still providing 

for the reasonable needs of navigation. 

DATES: Comments and related material 

must be received by the Coast Guard on 

or before February 12, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by docket number USCG– 

2009–1021 using any one of the 

following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• 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– 

0001. 

• Hand delivery: Same as mail 

address above, between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. The telephone number 

is 202–366–9329. 

To avoid duplication, please use only 

one of these methods. See the ‘‘Public 

Participation and Request for 

Comments’’ portion of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 

below for instructions on submitting 

comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you have questions on this proposed 

rule, call or e-mail Judy Leung-Yee, 

Project Officer, U.S. Coast Guard; 

telephone 212–668–7165, e-mail 

judy.k.leung-yee@uscg.mil. If you have 

questions on viewing or submitting 

material to the docket, call Renee V. 

Wright, Program Manager, Docket 

Operations, telephone 202–366–9826. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Public Participation and Request for 

Comments 

We encourage you to participate in 

this rulemaking by submitting 

comments and related materials. All 

comments received will be posted, 

without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov and will include 

any personal information you have 

provided. 

Submitting Comments 

If you submit a comment, please 

include the docket number for this 

rulemaking (USCG–2009–1021), 

indicate the specific section of this 

document to which each comment 

applies, and provide a reason for each 

suggestion or recommendation. You 

may submit your comments and 

material online (http:// 

www.regulations.gov), or by fax, mail or 

hand delivery, but please use only one 

of these means. If you submit a 

comment online via http:// 

www.regulations.gov, it will be 


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