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[Federal Register: June 15, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 114)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 33734-33735]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15jn10-23]                         

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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

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.

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[[Page 33734]]

ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE FEDERAL REGISTER

1 CFR Parts 9, 11, and 12

 
Regulations Affecting Publication of the United States Government 
Manual

AGENCY: Administrative Committee of the Federal Register.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Administrative Committee of the Federal Register proposes 
to update its regulations for the Federal Register system to remove 
from its regulations the requirement that the United States Government 
Manual (Manual) be published and distributed in a soft bound edition. 
This proposal would also eliminate the requirement to make soft bound 
print copies available to officials of the United States government 
without charge. The general public and United States government 
officials will have access to a redesigned online version of the 
Manual. Soft bound printed copies of the Manual may still be issued and 
would be available from the U.S. Government Bookstore. This action does 
not represent an increase in the burdens on agencies or the public.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 15, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Docket materials are available at the Office of the Federal 
Register, 800 North Capitol Street, NW., Suite 700, Washington, DC 
20001, 202-741-6030. Please contact the persons listed in the FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to schedule your inspection of 
docket materials. The Office of the Federal Register's official hours 
of business are Monday through Friday, 8:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., 
excluding Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy P. Bunk, Director of Legal Affairs 
and Policy, Office of the Federal Register, at Fedreg.legal@nara.gov, 
or 202-741-6030.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background and Purpose

    Under the Federal Register Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 15), the 
Administrative Committee of the Federal Register (Administrative 
Committee) is responsible for issuing regulations governing Federal 
Register publications. The Administrative Committee has general 
authority under 44 U.S.C. 1506 to determine the manner and form for 
publishing the Federal Register and its special editions, including the 
United States Government Manual (Manual).
    Title 1 part 9 of the Code of Federal Regulations regulates the 
publication of the United States Government Manual. This publication 
has been issued as a special edition of the Federal Register since the 
publication was transferred to the Office of the Federal Register from 
the Office of Government Reports within the Bureau of Budget when that 
Office was abolished on June 30, 1948. The first manual, the United 
States Government Organization Manual, produced under the authority of 
regulations of the Administrative Committee, was issued on August 4, 
1949, and sold for $1.00 per copy. Now known as the United States 
Government Manual (Manual), it continued to be one of the Government 
Printing Office's (GPO) ``best sellers'' until public demand for 
printed editions began to decline in favor of more current information 
found on the Internet.
    Under the Government Printing Office Electronic Information Access 
Enhancement Act of 1993 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 41), the OFR/GPO partnership 
developed an online edition of the Manual in both text-only files and 
PDF files. At present, the online version is a direct output of the 
printed edition. The files begin with documents from the 1995-1996 
edition of the Manual and continue through the present. In its present 
form, as an annual-only publication, some agency information published 
in the Manual may be out of date as soon as purchasers receive their 
copy. This proposed rule addresses the declining demand for the printed 
version and the timeliness of publication by establishing a new 
electronic format for the publication. The proposed rule addresses the 
rising costs of print production by discontinuing the requirement that 
OFR/GPO print and make official distribution of the annual edition of 
the Manual. Under this proposal, the Manual would be published and 
officially distributed as a currently updated online database. The new 
online version of the Manual would contain the same information as has 
appeared in the printed edition. OFR editors would continue to review 
all material submitted for publication in the Manual to assure the 
accuracy and integrity of the Manual. The database structure of the new 
electronic version of the Manual would enable Federal agencies to 
submit updated information on an ongoing basis, as new officials take 
office, and agency programs undergo changes.
    OFR/GPO would still have the flexibility to produce a printed 
product based on the strength of customer demand. In the near term, 
OFR/GPO expect that there will be sufficient demand from individuals 
and organizations to produce a printed edition of the Manual, which 
will continue to be available to individual patrons and institutions 
through the U.S. Government Bookstore, and to libraries through the 
Federal Depository Library Program. However, government agencies would 
no longer receive free copies of the printed edition. GPO will provide 
agencies an opportunity to order copies before printing at the rider 
rate. (A rider rate is available before the start of printing 
production and represents the minimal cost of producing additional 
copies as a continuation of the initial printing run.) In the long 
term, the annual printed edition of the Manual may be discontinued 
entirely if customer demand significantly decreases. The proposed 
changes to this publication would not expand any regulated community or 
impose any additional regulatory burden.
    With the advent of the Internet, the printed soft bound copies of 
the Manual became outdated in many cases before the official copies 
were mailed to Federal officials. In addition, the soft bound print 
publication has lost a majority of its sales making the cost of 
publishing the soft bound editions of the Manual cost prohibitive. 
Currently, the Manual has the same publication dilemma faced by the 
Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents before the Administrative 
Committee issued its January 2009 rule to discontinue printing that 
publication. The Manual is presently mailed

[[Page 33735]]

annually via United States Post Office bulk rate postage to Federal 
officials for official use. As mentioned above, by the time these 
officials receive their copy of the Manual, the information published 
in it is, or may be, out of date. These officials can obtain much of 
the same information from other sources, but without the guaranty of 
accuracy and integrity provided by the OFR editors. The new online 
version of the Manual will increase access to the information regarding 
the Federal government and allow for more frequent updating.
    In this proposal, the Administrative Committee proposes non-
substantive formatting changes to Sec.  11.4 and substantive changes to 
part 12 to remove Sec.  12.3. Under the FRA, the Administrative 
Committee is responsible for setting the number of official use copies 
of Federal Register publications distributed free of charge to various 
offices within the Federal government. See, 44 U.S.C. 1506(4). To 
fulfill the requirements of the FRA, the 1 CFR part 12, entitled 
``Official Distribution within Federal Government'' sets out the number 
of official copies of Federal Register publications that various 
Federal government entities are entitled to receive. Specifically, 
Sec.  12.3 addresses the number of printed copies of the Manual 
available to Federal entities without charge. Because the Manual has 
been published in a soft bound edition that may not adequately serve 
the needs of Federal officials, the Administrative Committee believes 
that distributing the Manual in an electronic-only format to Federal 
officials for their official use would meet the intent of the FRA to 
distribute Federal Register publications for official use without 
charge. Thus, the Administrative Committee would remove this section.

Regulatory Analysis

    We developed this proposed rule after considering numerous statutes 
and executive orders related to rulemaking. Below we summarize our 
analyses based on these statutes and executive orders.

Executive Order 12866

    The proposed rule has been drafted in accordance with Executive 
Order 12866, section 1(b), ``Principles of Regulation.'' The 
Administrative Committee has determined that this proposed rule is not 
a significant regulatory action as defined under section 3(f) of 
Executive Order 12866. The proposed rule has not been submitted to the 
Office of Management and Budget under section 6(a)(3)(E) of Executive 
Order 12866.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This proposed rule will not have a significant impact on small 
entities since it imposes no requirements. Members of the public can 
access Federal Register publications free through GPO's Web site.

Federalism

    This proposed rule has no federalism implications under Executive 
Order 13132. It does not impose compliance costs on state or local 
governments or preempt state law.

Congressional Review

    This proposed rule is not a major rule as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804(2). The Administrative Committee will submit a rule report, 
including a copy of this proposed rule, to each House of the Congress 
and to the Comptroller General of the United States as required under 
the congressional review provisions of the Small Business Regulatory 
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1986.

List of Subjects

1 CFR Part 9

    Government publications, United States Government Manual.

1 CFR Part 11

    Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register, Government 
publications, Public Papers of Presidents of United States, United 
States Government Manual, Daily Compilation of.

1 CFR Part 12

    Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register, Government 
publications, Public Papers of Presidents of United States, United 
States Government Manual, Daily Compilation of.

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, under the authority at 
44 U.S.C. 1506 and 1510, the Administrative Committee of the Federal 
Register, proposes to amend parts 9, 11, and 12 of chapter I of title 1 
of the Code of Federal Regulations as set forth below:

    1. Revise part 9 to read as follows:

PART 9--THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT MANUAL

Sec.
9.1 Publication required.
9.2 Scope.

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 1506; sec. 6, E.O. 10530, 19 FR 2709; 3 
CFR, 1954-1958 Comp., p. 189.

Sec.  9.1  Publication required.

    (a) The Director publishes a special edition of the Federal 
Register called ``The United States Government Manual'' as authorized 
by the Administrative Committee.
    (b) The Director may update the Manual when such supplementation is 
considered to be in the public interest.

Sec.  9.2  Scope.

    (a) The Manual will contain appropriate information about the 
Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the Federal 
Government, which for the major Executive agencies will include--
    (1) Descriptions of the agency's legal authorities, public 
purposes, programs and functions;
    (2) Established places and methods whereby the public may obtain 
information and make submittals or requests; and
    (3) Lists of officials heading major operating units.
    (b) Brief information about quasi-official agencies and 
supplemental information that in the opinion of the Director is of 
enough public interest to warrant inclusion will also be included in 
the Manual.

PART 11--[AMENDED]

    2. The authority citation for part 11 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 1506; sec. 6, E.O. 10530, 19 FR 2709, 3 
CFR, 1954-1958 Comp., p. 189.

    3. Revise Sec.  11.4 as follows:

Sec.  11.4  The United States Government Manual.

    (a) Copies of a bound, paper edition of the Manual may be sold at a 
price determined by the Superintendent of Documents under the general 
direction of the Administrative Committee.
    (b) The online edition of the Manual, issued under the authority of 
the Administrative Committee, is available through the Government 
Printing Office's Web site.

PART 12--[AMENDED]

    4. The authority citation for part 12 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 1506; sec. 6, E.O. 10530, 19 FR 2709; 3 
CFR, 1954-1958 Comp., p. 189.

Sec.  12.3  [Removed]

    5. Remove Sec.  12.3.

    By order of the Committee.
Raymond A. Mosley,
Secretary, Administrative Committee of the Federal Register.
[FR Doc. 2010-14465 Filed 6-14-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1505-02-P
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