This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

54893 

Vol. 71, No. 182 

Wednesday, September 20, 2006 

FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT 

INVESTMENT BOARD 

5 CFR Part 1653 

Court Orders and Legal Processes 

Affecting Thrift Savings Plan Accounts 

AGENCY: Federal Retirement Thrift 

Investment Board 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Executive Director, 

Federal Retirement Thrift Investment 

Board (Agency) is adopting as final, the 

Agency’s proposed rule amending the 

Thrift Savings Plan’s (TSP’s) regulations 

to improve processing of court orders 

that seek to divide a TSP account 

pursuant to a divorce. The final rule 

limits the types of court orders the 

Agency will accept to either one that 

requires payment of a specific dollar 

amount or that requires payment of a 

stated percentage or fraction of the 

account. The Agency will no longer 

accept formula court orders. 

EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule is 

effective January 1, 2007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Merritt Willing on (202) 942–1660. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Agency administers the TSP, which was 

established by the Federal Employees’ 

Retirement System Act of 1986 

(FERSA), Public Law 99–335, 100 Stat. 

514. The TSP provisions of FERSA are 

codified, as amended, largely at 5 U.S.C. 

sections 8351 and 8401–79. The TSP is 

a tax-deferred retirement savings plan 

for Federal civilian employees and 

members of the uniformed services. The 

TSP is similar to cash or deferred 

arrangements established for privatesector employees under section 401(k) 

of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 

401(k)). 

On August 9, 2006, the Agency 

published a proposed rule with request 

for comments in the Federal Register 

(71 FR 45437). The Agency received no 

comments on the proposed rule. 

The rule limits acceptable court 

orders that divide a TSP account to 

those that either require payment of a 

specific dollar amount or that require 

payment of a stated percentage or 

fraction of the account. The Agency will 

no longer accept formula-based court 

orders because they are overly complex 

and often are not acceptable by the 

Agency or, if acceptable, would result in 

payments that were not anticipated by 

either party to the order. As a 

consequence, the parties must return to 

court and obtain an amended order. 

Additionally, the formula court order 

requires the Agency to interpret the 

order and results in considerable 

administrative expense. These expenses 

are borne by all TSP participants. 

The rule will make it easier for the 

parties in a divorce to ensure that the 

Agency will divide a TSP account in 

accordance with their wishes. The rule 

simplifies the types of court orders the 

Agency will accept. The rule also 

contains model paragraphs that 

attorneys can use to ensure that, in 

drafting orders, the language they select 

will both produce the intended result 

and meet the Agency’s processing 

requirements. 

The rule will ensure accuracy of court 

order payments and will ensure that the 

administrative expenses of the court 

order program are reasonable for a 

retirement savings plan. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

I certify that these regulations will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

They will affect only employees of the 

Federal Government. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

I certify that these regulations do not 

require additional reporting under the 

criteria of the Paperwork Reduction Act. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 

1995 

Pursuant to the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. sections 

602, 632, 653, 1501–1571, the effects of 

this regulation on State, local, and tribal 

governments and the private sector have 

been assessed. This regulation will not 

compel the expenditure in any one year 

of $100 million or more by State, local, 

and tribal governments, in the aggregate, 

or by the private sector. Therefore, a 

statement under § 1532 is not required. 

Submission to Congress and the 

Government Accountability Office 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A), the 

Agency submitted a report containing 

this rule and other required information 

to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of 

Representatives, and the Comptroller 

General of the United States before 

publication of this rule in the Federal 

Register. This rule is not a major rule as 

defined at 5 U.S.C. 804(2). 

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 1653 

Alimony, Child support, Claims, 

Government employees, Pensions, 

Retirement. 

Gary A. Amelio, 

Executive Director, Federal Retirement Thrift 

Investment Board. 

■ For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Agency amends 5 CFR 

chapter VI as follows: 

PART 1653—COURT ORDERS AND 

LEGAL PROCESSES AFFECTING 

THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN ACCOUNTS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1653 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 8435, 8436(d), 8437(e), 

8439(a)(3), 8474(b)(5), and 8474(c)(1). 

■ 2. Amend § 1653.2 by revising 

paragraphs (a)(3)(ii), (iii), and (iv) to 

read as follows: 

§ 1653.2 Qualifying retirement benefits 

court order. 

(a) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(i) * * * 

(ii) A stated percentage or fraction of 

the account; or 

(iii) A survivor annuity as provided in 

5 U.S.C. 8435(d). 

(iv) The following examples would 

qualify to require payment from the 

TSP, although ambiguous or conflicting 

language used elsewhere could cause 

the order to be rejected. 

Example (1). ORDERED: [payee’s name, 

Social Security number (SSN), and address] 

is awarded $lll from the [civilian or 

uniformed services] Thrift Savings Plan 

account of [participant’s name, SSN, and 

address]. 

Example (2). ORDERED: [payee’s name, 

SSN, and address] is awarded lll% of the 

[civilian and/or uniformed services] Thrift 

Savings Plan account[s] of [participant’s 

name, SSN, and address] as of [date]. 


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54894 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 182 / Wednesday, September 20, 2006 / Rules and Regulations 

Example (3). ORDERED: [payee’s name, 

SSN, and address] is awarded [fraction] of 

the [civilian and/or uniformed services] 

Thrift Savings Plan account[s] of 

[participant’s name, SSN, and address] as of 

[date]. 

Note: The following optional language can 

be used in conjunction with any of the above 

examples. FURTHER ORDERED: Earnings 

will be paid on the amount of the entitlement 

under this ORDER until payment is made. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 06–7925 Filed 9–19–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6760–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Cooperative State Research, 

Education, and Extension Service, 

USDA 

7 CFR Part 3411 

RIN 0524–AA32 

National Research Initiative 

Competitive Grants Program—

Revisions to Administrative Provisions 

AGENCY: Cooperative State Research, 

Education, and Extension Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Cooperative State 

Research, Education, and Extension 

Service (CSREES) is updating and 

making technical corrections to the 

administrative provisions for the 

National Research Initiative Competitive 

Grants Program (NRICGP). In addition, 

CSREES is revising 7 CFR 3411.3(d), the 

‘‘Eligibility requirements’’ for NRICGP 

Postdoctoral Fellowships, New 

Investigator Awards, and Strengthening 

Awards, and 7 CFR 3411.4(c)(8), the 

Agency instructions to applicants 

preparing project budgets for NRICGP 

conference grants and postdoctoral 

fellowships. CSREES anticipates the 

changes to the eligibility requirements 

will increase the impact of the 

Agricultural Research Enhancement 

Awards, while the changes to the budget 

instructions will facilitate additional 

conference and postdoctoral fellowship 

awards. 

DATES: Effective date: September 20, 

2006. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gail 

McLean at (202) 401–6060 or via 

electronic mail at 

gmclean@csrees.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Overview 

The Cooperative State Research, 

Education, and Extension Service 

(CSREES) revises the administrative 

provisions for the National Research 

Initiative Competitive Grants Program 

(NRICGP), which was authorized in 

section 2(b) of the Act of August 4, 

1965, as amended by section 1615 of the 

Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and 

Trade Act of 1990 (FACT Act), (7 U.S.C. 

450i(b)). Some of the revisions are mere 

technical corrections, including updates 

to the Agency’s name. Other revisions 

reflect the Agency’s developing 

capabilities to exchange proposal and 

grant data electronically. Finally, 

CSREES is substantively revising the 

eligibility requirements for Agricultural 

Research Enhancement Awards (7 CFR 

3411.3(d)) and the Agency’s instructions 

to applicants preparing project budgets 

for NRICGP conference grants and 

postdoctoral fellowships (7 CFR 

3411.4(c)(8)). 

CSREES published a Proposed Rule 

(71 FR 32479, June 6, 2006) on this topic 

and received three comments from the 

public by the August 7, 2006 deadline. 

The Agency is not revising the Proposed 

Rule based on these comments. Two of 

the comments supported the proposed 

changes, agreeing they would create 

additional flexibility for, and increase 

the competitiveness and continuity of 

funding at small and minority serving 

university research programs. The third 

comment was an expression of concern 

that the Agency might fund illegal 

aliens with NRICGP funds, which the 

Proposed Rule neither suggests nor 

encourages. 

The Agricultural Research 

Enhancement Awards are intended to 

help institutions develop competitive 

research programs and to attract 

scientists to research in agriculture, 

food, and environmental sciences. To 

increase the impact of the Agricultural 

Research Enhancement Awards, 

CSREES is changing the eligibility 

requirements for Postdoctoral 

Fellowships, New Investigator Awards, 

and Strengthening Awards. Anticipated 

impacts include, (1) for Postdoctoral 

Fellowships, improved funding 

continuity and potentially more 

postdoctoral scientists entering into an 

agricultural research career; (2) for New 

Investigator Awards, improved project 

design and increased probability of a 

successful agricultural research 

program; and (3) for Strengthening 

Awards, improved research project 

continuity and more incentive for 

researchers to stay at USDAExperimental Program for Stimulating 

Competitive Research (EPSCoR) or 

small/mid-sized institutions. The 

revisions to Agency instructions 

regarding the preparation of project 

budgets apply narrowly and should 

optimize the use of NRICGP funds for 

scientific meetings and for postdoctoral 

researchers. 

Postdoctoral Fellowships 

Previously, provisions indicated a 

postdoctoral fellowship applicant 

should not have received a doctoral 

degree before January 1 of the fiscal year 

three years prior to the submission of 

the proposal and not later than June 15 

of the fiscal year during which the 

proposal is submitted (7 CFR 

3411.3(d)(1)(i)). In the past, NRICGP 

proposal submission dates were 

grouped together and occurred within 

an approximate range of three to four 

months. As a result, applicants had 

similar amounts of time from the date 

they submitted their proposals until 

they were notified of awards. This was 

important because applicants used the 

time to arrange for postdoctoral 

positions and ensure continuity of 

funding for their postdoctoral research. 

Now, however, NRICGP proposal 

submission dates are spread throughout 

the year. The old provisions put at a 

disadvantage postdoctoral fellowship 

applicants to NRICGP programs with 

proposal submission dates that are later 

in the fiscal year than the doctoral 

degree cutoff date of June 15. In order 

to ensure the availability of their 

awards, applicants to these programs 

may wait a year between receiving their 

doctoral degrees and applying for the 

postdoctoral fellowships. The gap in 

funding can result in postdoctoral 

researchers leaving agricultural research 

because they cannot find a laboratory 

with sufficient funding to support them 

during this interim. 

CSREES is revising the provisions for 

NRICGP postdoctoral fellowships to 

base cutoff dates for receipt of doctoral 

degrees on proposal due dates for 

specific NRICGP programs. This change 

adds equity to the process and allows 

applicants sufficient time to make 

arrangements for financial support of 

their postdoctoral research prior to 

graduation. In doing so, it should 

further the engagement of the best and 

brightest young scientists in agricultural 

research. 

New Investigator Awards 

The previous provisions required that, 

in addition to the Project Director, all 

co-Project Directors must meet NRICGP 

New Investigator Award eligibility 

requirements (7 CFR 3411.3(d)(2)). 

When evaluating the scientific merit of 

a proposal, reviewers frequently suggest 

that New Investigators work with 

established investigators. Established 

investigators can provide valuable 

expertise on scientific subjects and 


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